It Happened One Night

                                                     It Happened One Night



1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening. 
As learned in class lecture the time of It Happened One Night was the time of when actors and actresses really began to showcase their talents.  Actors were challenged more in their on screen performances and abilities.  This was also the time that the industry became farmiliar with "Screwball Comdies" which are primariliy characterized by the female's role to be held more powerful than the man's and challenging their masculinity.  It also became known as the war of the sexes.  This theme can be seen early on in the movie from her initial escape off of her fathers yacht, to the bus ride when Gable questions her money habits and tries to restrict them to the very classic hitch hiking seen where she bears her leg to haul a car in one shot.

2) Find a related article and summarize the content.
In my chosen article published in February of 1934, the release time of the film, Mordaunt Hall writes a brief summary of the featured film It Happened One night.  This article gives a summary of the plot and even gives a few foreshadowing statements and alludes readers to want to see it.  Hall says that the film's, "pseudo suspense is kept on the wing until a few seconds before the picture ends" which is an intriguing statement and with her very positive adjectives used to discribe the film is what drew visitors to the theater and in the long run kept this film in our history.

My Article


3) Apply the article to the film screened in class.
My chosen article undenyably supports our in class discussion on the film It Happened One Night.  Hall uses vivid words to express the films pure magic describing it as, "a screen feast" and "a merry romance". She is also quoted telling readers, "it awaits visitors in Radio City". Her opinion of the film, "is a good piece of fiction, which, with all its feverish stunts, is blessed with bright dialogue and a good quota of relatively restrained scenes." As we know, this film will go on to win an Oscar for best picture which I think speaks for itself.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of the screening, class discussions, text material and the article.

Obviously this movie was an excellent piece of work for its time and still to this day is parodied, quoted, and relived.  With the dynamics of the two main characters Colbert and Gable, the film couldn't have worked out better on screen to directors and critiques.  With Ashley and Scarlett, Ashley and Melanie, and Rhett and Scarlett's romances the movie appeals to many different audiences. The films pulls on the hearts strings periodically as members of the family pass away but makes up for the hardships with endless laughs and constant banter between the two main roles.