Romantic road trip next up on the quest to get through all of the AFI Top 100 (10th Anniversary Edition) in a very concentrated time (a little less than 12 months duration wise - just over 15 months on the calendar. I had to take 5 months off).
Film 84
84. "It Happened One Night" (AFI Rank #46)
If you've followed this series at all, you know this answer, but you may not remember it. As such, I'm starting off with a TRIVIA QUESTION! (answer at bottom of post) There are three (3) films that have won the "Grand Slam" at the Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress). I'm going to tell you that this film is one of them. Now. Name the other two. Like I said, answer below.
So, this is the second of three Best Picture winners I'll be watching in a row. What separates it from the other two, besides the "Grand Slam" thing, is that it appears as if NO ONE associated with this film thought very much of it. Practically inventing an entire film category or two (screwball comedy and "road" movie), this film was so different from anything else out at the time, it's little wonder it was viewed with such skepticism. This film was directed by Frank Capra, starred "The King," Clark Gable, and he played opposite an absolutely dynamite female lead in Claudette Colbert. The pieces all make sense for this to gel into a remarkable whole. And largely, this film does.What makes it great, though? The story is pretty basic. Rich girl elopes against her father's wishes, her father announces that she will be annulling the marriage, rich girl escapes father's clutches, and goes to bus to go from Miami to New York, where she will continue her life with her husband. On the bus, she meets a freshly unemployed newspaperman, who recognizes her, and offers to help her if she'll give him an exclusive to her story. Along the way, they encounter problems with theft, her "fish out of water" persona, lack of money, wacky characters, and suspicious hotel owners. They also fall in love. It's Hollywood, so they wind up with her getting a divorce, them getting married, the end. Simple story we've seen a million times.
No, what makes this film unique in this regard are a couple of things. It is really well written, and really well acted. Relying on witty rejoinders, an INTELLIGENT woman character (if naive), and a sense of defying current moral tide, the script really clips along at a furious pace. We get to know these two people - intimately - and we wind up really rooting for them to succeed in whatever the hell it is they are trying to accomplish. The script never sets up HUGE exposition which would be denying us our intelligence. It shows us situations, we get to figure out how they got into them, and away we go. The longer I go on this quest, the more I enjoy films that treat me with respect, and allow me to get it for myself. This one does that. The entire opening of the film, set aboard a yacht, is bristling with energy. Why? Because the people involved in the scene speak to each other like whatever they are talking about didn't just start right then, at that moment. We feel like we got dropped into the middle of something, and we are privileged to not have to have EVERYTHING spelled out for us. This intelligence continues throughout the film, as the love story that we witness doesn't really just spring from nowhere, but we see the machinations of attraction, of recognition of commonalities/differences, and of willingness to compromise. It's a love story for people who think. I love it.
Capra directed this. There are some stunning visuals in this (a moonlit landscape is particularly juicy), but for the most part, Capra focused on relationship building. He paid attention to details. There is a moment where Colbert's character heads for a shower in a motor park. Outside, Capra didn't skimp on details. He fleshes out the scene with LOTS of background characters, generally from lower economic status. We see a typical low-rent motel. Maybe you've stayed in one at some point, and maybe you remember kids everywhere, playing in the dirt, or the little playground, or whatever. It would be easy to spare those details and just have Colbert walk to the shower. No, we NEED that moment, so we see just how out of her element she is. Mr. Capra was one of the greats, no doubt, and we sense his touch throughout. I guarantee he thought he did better work on other films. That doesn't mean that what was accomplished here wasn't also first-rate.
I mentioned acting. Clark Gable was a HUGE movie star. HUGE. You know what he is in this? An actor. Yes. I said it. Sure, he's got a knack for tying to make himself look good (I suffer from a similar affliction, often, on stage), but in this film, he lets artifice slip away. Maybe because he thought it was so bad, maybe because he was lent to the film by his studio as a punishment for having an affair with Joan Crawford, whatever. Gable is uninhibited in this. He allows himself to look foolish at times. He really goes for physical comedy when it is presented to him. And his timing is exquisite. I think that's probably it. Gable had absolutely zero fucks to give about the quality of the film, and as a result, just WENT for it. It's precisely that performance that makes him look so natural. Check out the hitchhiking scene. Gable really looks like a goof explaining the 3 different ways to signal drivers. Then, watch as he flawlessly executes those moves one after the other, as cars whiz by, and the comedy escalates. He may not have been having fun, but his body says otherwise. There is great freedom in not caring about something. Gable has it in spades here.
So does Claudette Colbert. Like Gable, she's not afraid to look foolish in this film, nor afraid to be vulnerable. But what really, REALLY, makes her so good is the fierce intelligence that she imbues into the role. We understand why Gable falls in love with her. We understand why she doesn't want King Westley (current husband). We understand how much she loves her father, and how much she, in turn, is loved by him. Her acting choices are clear. She may be an idealized socialite, but dammit, she's real. Ultimately, this is kind of a wacky screwball comedy, though, and it does a great job of that. There was another one on the list, "Bringing Up Baby." This one really resonates with me, and really feels like a great film. The other one feels like a great vehicle for a couple of major movie stars. That's me. And tell me that the line of demarcation, the "walls of Jericho," and watching what happens on either side isn't just sexy as hell.
There you have it. It's a terrific film that invented a couple of genres...and didn't even know it. And everyone doing it didn't like it, or think much of it. Here we sit, 82 years later, still entertained by it, still a little in awe of the skill on display, and still loving it. That's some amazing kismet, that's for sure. Oh, and this movie doesn't happen in one night. It happens over several. I kinda like that the title is what it is...you need to see it.
I want you to watch this movie if you haven't. I want you to watch it again if you have. It's that good. I really enjoyed watching it again this year.
No Ebert this time. There is an essay about the film if you Google "Ebert it happened one night," but it's not written by him. More of what you see above, but much snobbier.
Bah. Great film.
TRIVIA ANSWER: There have been 3 films that hit the Oscar "Grand Slam" (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay). They are: "It Happened One Night" (1934); "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" (1975); and "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991). Did you get it right?
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