Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert team up for laughs as mismatched lovers in this 1934 screwball comedy classic. Spoiled Ellie Andrews (Colbert) escapes from her millionaire father (Walter Connolly), who wants to stop her from marrying a worthless playboy. En route to New York, Ellie gets involved with an out-of-work newsman, Peter Warne (Gable). When their bus breaks down, the bickering couple set off on a madcap hitchhiking expedition. Peter hopes to parlay the inside story of their misadventures into a job. But complications fly when the runaway heiress and brash reporter fall in love. Directed by Frank Capra, It Happened One Night was the first movie to be honoured with all five major Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Screenplay.
Directed by
Frank Capra
Written by
Samuel Hopkins Adams (story) Robert Riskin (screenplay)
Starring
Clark Gable (Peter Warne); Claudette Colbert (Ellie Andrews); Walter Connolly (Alexander Andrews); Roscoe Karns (Oscar Shapeley); Jameson Thomas (King Westley); Alan Hale (Danker); Arthur Hoyt (Zeke); Blanche Friderici (Zeke's wife); Charles C. Wilson (Joe Gordon). Please contact SFC to add other cast members and characters.
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Five Big Oscars for a Five Star Film
Mark Banks (United Kingdom)
Opinion: Recommended
The lesser known of Capra’s two greats (the other being It’s a Wonderful Life), It Happened One Night is almost as much of a staple on quiz night questions as the other is on Top-100 lists: the reason being that it was the first film to be awarded all five major Oscars. And deserving of these it is. Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert have great on-screen chemistry as the ever-bickering couple in this well-paced comedy and romance the likes of which Hollywood hasn’t produced for quite some time. A must-see for all movies fans, Christian or otherwise.
