Content

Short synopsis

It Happened One Night tells the story of Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert), the pampered, strong-willed daughter of a Wall Street tycoon. Ellie’s desire to escape from her overbearing father has led her to marry King Westley (Jameson Thomas), an upper-class aviator whom Daddy regards as a fake and something of a joke. The film’s plot centers on Ellie s attempt to rejoin her husband after her father has kidnapped her to prevent the consummation of her marriage. Her journey brings her into contact with Peter Warne (Clark Gable), a newspaper reporter, who decides to help her, banking that an exclusive account of her travels will help him regain his job. On their way to New York, Ellie and Peter fall in love, but a misunderstanding between them on the eve of their arrival threatens to drive Ellie back into her marriage to Westley. The film ends happily, however, with Ellie and Peter embarked on matrimony, Ellie’s marriage to Westley having been annulled.” (47)

• Wartenberg, Thomas. 1999. Unlikely Couples: Movie Romance as Social Criticism. Boulder: Westview Press.

Frames

• Frames from the whole film, taken at 2-seconds intervals (PDF; SB login required)

Notes on the film

Basic info

• the film came out in Feb. 1934, before the Motion Picture Production Code went into effect
• it is based on Samuel Hopkins Adams’ 1933 short novel “Night Bus” (Cosmopolitan)
  • differences: the characters’ personalities
• directed by Frank Capra
• screenplay by Robert Riskin
• screwball comedy
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screwball_comedy
    • This Wikipedia article contains quite a few references to It Happened One Night

Awards

It won 5 Oscars in 1935

• Best Picture
• Best Director
• Best Actress