Academy Awards 1934 -
Best Actress: Claudette Colbert
Academy Awards 1934 -
Best Adapted Screenplay: Robert Riskin
Academy Awards 1934 -
Best Director: Frank Capra
Academy Awards 1934 -
Best Picture
Entertainment Reviews:
Entertainment Weekly - 08/09/1996
"...Early screwball....Won [Colbert] an Oscar." -- Rating: A
Sight and Sound - 06/01/2001
"...Capra's much-loved screwball romance remains a prime example of his deft versatility..."
Premiere - 12/01/2003
"Frank Capra's seminal screwball classic is a charming riff on a now-familiar scenario....The movie is also a landmark road picture..."
Total Film - 03/01/2004
"[A] still-glorious rom-com..."
Product Description:
Director Frank Capra and his two stars, Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, stole hearts and a quintet of Oscars with this sparkling, legendary romantic comedy. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT is based on the story "Night Bus" by Samuel Hopkins Adams, and it follows a news reporter and a runaway heiress who fall in love while traveling cross country on a bus. But as with any classic, the film is more than the sum of its parts, and special attention should be paid to the fizzy chemistry between the two leads and the witty script from Robert Riskin. This screwball comedy was the first to take home all five major Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor--Clark Gable, Best Actress--Claudette Colbert, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Description by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment:
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 honored with all five major Oscars(r): Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Screenplay.
Plot Synopsis:
Winner of five Academy Awards, Frank Capra's celebrated romantic comedy stars movie legends Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. When Ellie Andrews, a millionaire's daughter, marries a man her father dislikes, the resulting family squabble sends the beautiful heiress into hiding. She travels across country by bus, a fugitive from high society. En route, she meets the man of her dreams: a sexy but brusque news correspondent who has just lost his job -- which unknown to Ellie, he hopes to recover by selling her story to his former boss. Together, Peter and Ellie have a series of hapless adventures and comic misunderstandings, leading them to the realization that they were made for each other.
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1993.
Frank Capra read the story in "Cosmopolitan" magazine and bought the rights for $5,000. Clark Gable didn't initially want the role and Colbert was the fifth choice for the female lead. Budget: $325,000.
Remakes: "You Can't Run Away from It" (Columbia 1934) "Eve Knew Her Apples" (Columbia 1945)
Film Collectors & Archivists: Alpha Video is actively looking for rare and
unusual pre-1943 motion pictures, in good condition, from Monogram, PRC,
Tiffany, Chesterfield, and other independent studios for release on DVD. We
are also interested in TV shows from the early 1950s. Share your passion
for films with a large audience.
Let us know what you have.
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