It Happened One Night

Director: Frank Capra
Written by: Robert Riskin, based on "Night Bus" by Samuel Hopkins Adams
Year: 1934
Genre: Romantic comedy
My rating: 4 and a half out of 5

Clearly one of the many, many influential aspects of "It Happened One Night" is its story, which has been picked apart and recycled by many screwball comedies from the past 40 years. It begins with a rebellious and spoiled young woman named Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) leaping from her excruciatingly wealthy father's yacht after having an argument with him about her attempt to elope with King Westley (King as in a name, not a monarchic title). She swims ashore and makes her way to a bus stop, where she bribes someone to buy her a ticket to New York. On the bus, she ends up sitting next to a druken, recently-fired newspaper reporter, Peter Warne (Clark Gable). Peter recognizes her and realizes that a story has just landed in his lap that could get him his job back. He offers to escort her safely to New York in exchange for it. The movie follows their trip, and their ability to get out of sticky situations using their fortunately remarkable acting skills.

What powers this film so effectively is its script and lead actors. So strong are both that we believe the romantic chemistry between them as well as the near-familial chemistry. The dialogue is consistently and marvelously clever (at least enough to carry on every scene), bringing the characters closer together and simultaneously establishing them as individuals. Often, the dialogue is not even remotely related to the plot (one of the trickiest and most brilliant techniques in film), which allows us comfortably see many sides of Gable's character. He can be stern ("Listen, Brat, I'm going to count to ten. If you're not out of bed by then I'm going to yank you out myself."), or playfully facetious ("Who are you?" "Who, me? Why, I'm the whippoorwill that cries in the night. I'm the soft morning breeze that caresses your lovely face.")

"It Happened One Night" became the first of only three movies to win the Oscar Grand Slam: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay. Though from our 21st century perspective we can see the massive impact it has had on cinema, it plays humbly like something that doesn't know its own brilliance, and was made purely for fun. If someone had told Capra and Riskin and Gable and Colbert that they would be winning Academy Awards, I don't think it would have turned out half as good.


Structure/Form:
What does the title mean in relation to the film as a whole?
It could mean any of the several nights during the course of the film. My guess (partially based on the title of the original story) is the night when they meet on the bus.

How are the opening credits presented? Do they relate to the meaning?
In the background of the opening credits, we see images of the setting where the first scene takes place.

Why does the film start in the way that it does?
It is the earliest point in the film's events that it could begin and not have any awkward explanations of earlier events.

Are there any repeated scenes, images, dialogue, etc.? What purpose do they serve?
Peter repeatedly hangs a blanket over a rope between their beds, which he aptly refers to as the "walls of Jericho." They are somewhat symbolic of their relationship throughout the movie. Peter also often calls Ellie "brat," showing that he has little respect for her.

What specific scene constitutes the film's climax? How does this scene resolve the central issue of the film?
Ellie runs out on King in the middle of their formal marriage, assuring us that she loves Peter and not King.

Does the film leave any disunities at the end?
Not really, no. It does a nice job of tying up the most prominent loose ends.

Why does the film conclude on this particular image?
The "walls of Jericho," still symbolic of their relationship, are shown being pulled down.


Theme:
How does this film relate to the issues presented or developed? What questions are evoked by the film? Does the film present a clear point of view on an issue? How?
I think it would be foolish to assume this movie was made for any purpose other than to entertain.

How does this film relate to other films you have viewed or literary texts you have read?
Like I said, this one of those films that was simply destined to entertain. Many of those films are either tempted into trying to be more than they can be, or just plain stupid. "It Happened One Night" manages to sidestep both pitfalls, while still having room for some handstands and backflips.


Mise en Scene:
The part where Peter attempts to hitch a ride from the side of the road.

Dominant: Where is our eye attracted first? Why?
To Peter's thumb, because that's where he tells Ellie to watch.

Lighting key: High key? Low key? High contrast? Some combination of these?
High key, because it's a sunny day.

Shot and camera distance: What type of shot? How far away is the camera from the action?
The camera is set up on the other side of the road, so we can see the cars go by and the way Peter reacts.

Angle: Are we (and the camera) looking up or down on the subject? Or is the camera eye level?
Eye level.

Subsidiary contrasts: What are the main eye-stops after taking in the dominant?
Peter's expressions, and Ellie watching from the fence behind him.

Density: How much visual information is packed into the image?
Enough for us to see that Peter is shocked at the failure of his hitchhiking methods.