It Happened One Night (1934)

OVERVIEW:

Spoiled Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) escapes from her millionaire father (Walter Connolly) who wants to annul her recent marriage to worthless playboy and fortune hunter King Westley (Jameson Thomas). With virtually no money in her pocket, Ellie boards a bus headed for New York City to re-unite with husband Westley, but en route, she gets involved with a recently-fired newspaper man, Peter Warne (Clark Gable), who gives her an ultimatum: either give him her exclusive story or he'll turn her over to her father. When their bus breaks down, the bickering couple set off on a madcap hitch-hiking expedition. Complications fly when the runaway heiress and brash reporter fall in love.

It Happened One Night was released on February 3, 1934 to moderate-to-indifferent reviews. But audiences across the country adored the film and made it the sleeper hit of the year. The first screwball comedy, it went on to sweep the Academy Awards, winning all five major Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Screenplay.

RELUCTANT STARS

Production of the $325,000 project began on November 13, 1933. Although Gable was initially reluctant to work on the film, he soon warmed up to Capra, and gave a charming performance, one that would forever cement his screen image as a breezy, good-natured man of the world (Capra would later say that Gable was merely playing himself). Colbert, however, was another story. Although she too gave a winning performance (and found her niche as a sophisticated screen comedienne), she did not want to make the film and continued to give Capra a difficult time throughout production. (When Capra asked her to expose her legs for the hitch-hicking scene, Colbert refused; it was only after Capra hired a body double for the close-up that she changed her mind -- "Get her out of here! I'll do it. That's not my leg.") After her scenes were completed, Colbert went on vacation to Sun Valley, where she told friends, "I've just finished the worst picture in the world." But it was Claudette Colbert who acknowledged exactly who was responsible for the film when, after accepting her Oscar for Best Actress, graciously told the Academy, "I owe Frank Capra for this."