The idea of watching a 1930s black-and-white movie that hit the theatres when our grandparents were kids is not a usual weekend watch idea for millennials and Gen-Z alike. Except It Happened One Night is entertaining and makes for a good watch. Why wouldn’t it? The flirtations haven’t changed. Nor has people’s snarky attitude towards unmarried couples looking for an overnight stay. Solo travel for women at night continues to be as hard as it was back in the day (Did we tell you the movie is an adaptation of the book Night Bus by Samuel Hopkins Adams?). And well, the possibility of love finding you when you least expect it continues to remain. There you have it! 

It Happened One Night is more than all of it. You wouldn’t be able to do a mental counting of the several movies, storylines, character arcs, and plot twists watching this Clark Gable Oscar-winning movie will bombard you with. Frank Capra, the director, has been known to create masterful pieces of cinema out of mundane themes. His It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) is another example of bringing together everyday life and the exotic world. But his ability to create narratives from simple, everyday occurrences that remain etched in memories wins the audiences’ hearts. 

Claudette Colbert has this distinctive charm that works wonders in It Happened One Night. There’s little she does regarding her antics; she portrays things as they are. Ellie Andrews is no passive princess. She relinquishes control of her father and reclaims her agency despite no experience of being on her own. From jumping into the ocean to running away from the media frenzy of a wedding, she has done it all with panache. That also includes the hitchhiking scene where she outsmarts Peter using tact instead of style – something women continue to have throughout the ages. Nowhere would you find her overdoing it, even if your idea of a 1930s damsel is of a crying, sobbing woman desperate to find shelter in the arms of a man. 

Surprisingly, Capra’s leading man is no typical male chauvinist. Throughout the movie, he remains steadfast in his resolve to help Ellie and supports her choices while despising people of her class. Peter Warne is flawed and ambitious yet places Ellie’s decisions above his own. 

The movie was categorized as a screwball comedy and is largely known as the “first rom-com ever.” 90 years later, it continues to be as delightful as it was for the audiences caught between the two world wars. The movie was filmed during the Great Depression, and rumor has it that Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler were great fans of the movie. The “walls of Jericho” continue to resonate throughout the movie. Another pop culture trivia? The cartoon character Bugs Bunny is rumored to be based on Clark Gable’s role in the movie – Peter Warne and his love for carrots. And, let’s not forget, the love story arc between a man of little means and a high-profile princess already married or due to be married off to someone of her stature appeals to the masses (and the Academy). Remember Titanic (1997)?

There’s nothing an audience in today’s time will be surprised at while watching the movie. Every scene in the movie will remind you of some familiar setting in some other romantic comedy. The climax of the bride running away from her wedding, encouraged by her own family, is a common trope hallmarked by It Happened One Night. Two strangers running away from their struggles and ending up with accidental love and a nearly-missed marital union is a plotline we are all familiar with. Yet you will wonder if something of the sort is possible now. Of course, it is! Love hasn’t changed after all. The only thing that has changed is that you can’t escape a nationwide man-hunt with all the invasive technology dominating today. 

It Happened One Night is one of the prestigious and rare movies to have attained the Big Five in Hollywood history. All the major Academy Awards fell in its kitty in 1935. But that’s not all that the movie’s status is about. It’s how relatable it is in every aspect. How close to life it continues to be nine decades after its release! Of course, the trope of a runaway heiress rescued by a cynical reporter (newspaperman in the 30s) during an overnight bus journey was a pretty worn-out subject even for the 30s. But it continues to draw its appeal well into the third decade of the 21st century.

Also, just like in the olden days, you have to rent the movie. 

Article Courtesy of Neha Jha

Feature Image Credit to Columbia Pictures Entertainment via IMDb