Peter Warne tells Ellen Andrews that he’s only interested in keeping up with her because she’s a headline. The tale of her disobeying her father and bus hopping across the country for love is, as he puts it, “a simple story, for simple people.” But the same is just as true of Peter and Ellen’s story as it is told in “It Happened One Night.”
Warne and Andrews are characters in Frank Capra’s 1934 classic screwball comedy about an indignant journalist (Clark Gable as Warne), a spoiled heiress (Claudette Colbert as Andrews) and their misadventures.
Capra is known for making movies that resonate in the hearts and minds of the American everyman (i.e. It’s a Wonderful Life) and this one is no exception. The film managed to do what very few can – earn cultural and critical acclaim. It became the first film to ever “sweep” the Academy Awards – taking home the five key trophies – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Actress. (And remained the only film to do so for nearly 40 years – in 1975 “One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest” became the second film to accomplish a complete sweep) Add the popular culture image of Colbert hiking up her skirt to catch a ride, the footnote that after Clark Gable undressed on screen and appeared without an undershirt beneath his dress shirt undershirt sales plummeted and the rumor that several of the film characters inspired Warner Bros. cartoons including Bugs Bunny [Shapely and “Sorry, doc,” plus Warne nibbling on raw carrots], Yosemite Sam [Mr. Andrews] and Peppy LaPue [King Wesley] and then you get a better idea of the film’s social and cultural impact.
But what makes it so good…? It’s a love story with social relevance. Why can’t it be both!? That fact that it is both is what makes it so lovable. Still much, much more factors into what make this movie a pleasure for critics and commoners alike.
On the surface this film is a screwball, romantic comedy. And then there are undertones denoting the times and troubles. But not cheaply, though. The indications of the depression help move the story along — one is even a major plot point. A thief steals Andrew’s luggage, indefinitely tying her to Warne. The boy’s mother on the bus faints and ends with all the money Warne and Andrews had. And the Philadelphia innkeeper’s wife scolding her spouse for taking in Warne and Andrews on credit – they really couldn’t afford to get stood up. And then the train box cars full of freeloading riders (it may have been gratuitous but it wasn’t pitiful – they laugh and smile and wave at Warne and the audience is inclined to do the same back.)
The social expectations of a man and woman traveling together at the time also allow hijinks to ensue. A man and woman traveling together were expected to be married and so despite their distaste for each other Warne and Andrews have to pretend to be married. But the situation is to the delight of the viewers. It creates bright dialogue particularly in the first overnight camp they stay in. There was only enough money for one room, so without spare cash to put Andrews in a separate room, Warne registers himself and Andrews in the room as Mr. and Mrs. because an unmarried man and woman staying in the same room would have been outrageous. This set of circumstances gives us the infamous scene of Gable disrobing to reveal no undershirt. Additionally, we have the playful exchanges of Andrews learning Waren’s name. [“I don’t like it,” she says. “Well you can give it back in the morning,” he replies.] And the hysterical encounter between Warne, Andrews and Andrews’ father’s detectives on the search for Ellen. The improvised characters and ensuing argument that they deem “The Great Deception” shows Warne and Andrews coming to respect and maybe even like each other a little bit.
The film also has character tics of a “road” or “travel” movie. As the 1934 New York Times review of the film explained, the characters, “enjoy the discomforts of long-distance bus rides…experience the pain of hitch-hiking and the joys of tourists camps.” Themes depicting a good ol’ cross-country car tour were prevalent in motion pictures in the 30s and 40s as the U.S. highway system expanded.
This film is an original. It is easy to see interpretations and imitations of this type of love story in modern cinema. Colbert manages to be spoiled yet likable because she isn’t your average damsel in distress. Firstly, she’s not waiting for Prince Charming to come get her off her father’s boat. She’s already found King Wesley and she can’t wait to get back to him. She’s also got sass. She’s not afraid to smart-mouth her own father. “Your idea of subtle is using a lead pipe,” she says. He father retorts that she’s being a “stubborn idiot,” and she fires back with “I come from a long line of stubborn idiots,” with a “takes one to know one” tone. And in a total act of defiance she jumps ship to get to Wesley. And Gable is the perfect leading Everyman. Handsome, smart, clever, charming (especially when one’s not looking) and he can match Ellie’s verbal wit blow for blow. You find yourself falling for the characters at they fall for each other.
It’s easy to pinpoint why audiences adored the film: the charismatic cast, the well-paced story, its social conscience and the happy ending. Plus there are hints as to why the film survives on as a beloved masterpiece worth dissecting: archetypal characters and their development throughout the course of the film. But ultimately this film endures as “a simple story, for simple people.”
No Filter - Meredith Hood 