Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable are paired as an heiress-on-the-run and a reporter-on-the-hunt in this unforgettable screwball comedy. Released a couple of months before the Motion Picture Production Code was adopted by the MPPDA, It Happened One Night memorably features a bare-chested Gable, Colbert’s leggy self-awareness, and an iconic Biblical innuendo that pushed the envelope of decency at the time. A part of film royalty, It Happened One Night is the first of only three films to have won all five major Academy Awards for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay.
“As buoyant and elegant as bubbles in a glass of champagne, Frank Capra’s sublime 1934 comedy, written by long-time collaborator Robert Riskin, survives triumphantly because of its wit, charm, romantic idealism and its shrewd sketch of married life.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“Even now, It Happened One Night carries the unmistakable tenor of a breakout hit, fueled by confidently zippy repartee and manic comic invention that almost none of the innumerable pretenders to the throne of romantic comedy can match.” – Chris Cabin, Slant
