Review of It Happened One Night (1958) by Paul B — 06 Dec 2014

This movie set the standard as high as it could go for the Depression-era rom-com. The script by Riskin is probably the best part. He created two rich characters for Gable and Colbert, and they deliver.

It's a comedy about the assumptions different social classes make about each other--especially relevant in the 30's, perhaps, but it'll never go out of style. Capra was The Man in that decade, and this film shows why.

Everyone is simply having too much fun for it to get in any way heavy-handed. To top everything off, this movie was the inspiration for the shtick of the greatest cartoon character of all time. That would be reason enough to praise its existence.

But the very scene I'm referring to takes it several dozen steps further with the most brilliant hitchhiking scene ever filmed. I run out of superlatives to describe this charming film.