On I List of Movie Reviews
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It Happened One Night (1934)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
4/14
4/14:
There's a good reason why Clark Gable was given the moniker: King of Hollywood.
It's because he was that good of an actor. The Best Picture Winner of 1934, It Happened One Night is very much
buoyed by Clark Gable's presence. It's also the same film that caused a massive drop in white T-shirt sales when he was
shown undressing without one on. And it would stay that way until Marlon Brando brought it back into fashion in
A Streetcar Named Desire.
Claudette Colbert is okay, but she's nothing special. Clark Gable makes her look good. The reason for my
low rating of '7' is that the premise is difficult to swallow. Because It Happened One Night
was released during the Depression, it's hard to believe the film garnered acclaim back then.
Personalities do not change after years of induration unless one has a traumatic brain injury. So, there's no way Peter Warne
would put up with the poor little rich girl female for any length of time after getting know to each other more. Billed as a comedy,
It Happened One Night is mostly not, but the pace can be lively. The funniest and best scene is when Peter Warne
pretended he's a gangster, telling the nosy passenger to scram and stay quiet for good.
All in all, It Happened One Night is an okay picture that Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, both Oscar
winners as a result, had disliked being part of.