Released in 1934, "It Happened One Night" is the seventh winner of the Best Picture Oscar. It is also the first romantic comedy to win the coveted prize. It is most notable for being the first of only three films to win the big five awards. That means it won Best Writing, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Picture. The film starred Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, and directed by Frank Capra. So to say expectations were high would be an understatement.
The actual plot and script of the film just does not hold up to today's standards for a romantic comedy. There were moments that were great but a lot of the film felt as though it was just wandering aimlessly. The romantic comedies of today need more plot, more characters and more laughs. However, being one of the very first romantic comedies, it does a pretty good job of keeping an audience entertained.
Most romantic comedies live and die by the chemistry of the two leads, and this movie is no different. But due to the era when the film was made, the chemistry had to be seen but limited. Fortunately, the acting in this film was amazing. There is a reason why these two are considered legendary actors and this movie is a great example of everything that they are capable of.
The last piece I want to talk about is the directing. Upon first glance there doesn't seem to be much to it. There are no epic battle scenes or even great scenic shots. But, Capra was able to use his actors and use the script to show a chemistry that back then could not be shown the way it is shown now. Looking at it in this light, you can see how truly amazing the directing is.
While the movie does show its age, it was still a very good movie and gets 4 out of 5 stars.
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