IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT: Blu-ray (Columbia, 1934) Criterion Collection
BEST PICTURE - 1934
Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night (1934) has been
called many things. Upon shooting her final scene, Claudette Colbert picked up
the telephone to an old friend, mercilessly declaring in front of Capra, “I’ve just made the worst picture of my
life!” Neither Colbert, nor co-star Clark Gable thought much of the
project, each making it under duress. Colbert had, in fact, been strong-armed
by Columbia Studio chief, Harry Cohn, who famously told his temperamental diva
she would make It Happened One Night…or else. The ‘or else’ was left open to interpretation. But during the golden era
in Hollywood, when stars were indentured to lengthy studio contracts without
fail – or question, for that matter – it could have easily meant anything from
lousy parts to a forced absence from the screen; allowing for the fatal cooling
off of the public’s fascination with one’s career. Colbert was no fool. Neither
was Cohn. But her first picture with
Capra (1927’s For the Love of Mike)
had been such a disaster, Colbert feared she was in for more of the same this
time around. Hence, she came to It
Happened One Night with an innate and festering prejudice that only seemed
to exponentially grow. A tenuous détente was struck between Colbert and Cohn –
anything to get Colbert off to her promised vacation to Sun Valley. But Colbert
made Capra’s life a living hell for the duration of the shoot; insisting on
close-ups shot from only her best side. Frequently they bickered about the way
a scene should be played – Capra usually getting his way, though not without a
struggle.
On the whole,
Clark Gable proved more congenial, though even he had his moments. Gable was
not particularly keen on Colbert as his costar. He was used to the glamour gals
at Metro. The feeling, it seems, was mutual; Colbert, protesting the mild
stench from Gable’s dentures during their kissing scenes. He treated her with
fairly casual contempt. She dismissed his movie-land/he-man image outright.
Over the years, rumors have varied as to how Gable came to do It Happened One Night. One goes, Gable
had refused a picture at his alma mater – MGM – inciting studio raja, Louis B.
Mayer to a show of force. On a good day, Mayer would have not thought twice
about the loan out of his numero uno box office stud. After all, Gable was
king. But Gable had caught L.B. on an
off day – ripe for the disciplinarian to rear his ugly head and forcibly ‘rent’
him to Columbia Pictures; then considered little better than a poverty row
studio. To come from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer - the Cartier in the industry – to
Columbia (unquestionably, the equivalent of the five and dime) was a smack down
for Gable. He took his lumps, but made the best of a bad situation.
There is another
rumor to satisfy; namely, that Mayer was paying Gable a respectable salary of
$2,000.00 a week – then, a princely sum – whether he worked at MGM or not. To
maximize his profits, Mayer loaned Gable to Cohn for $25,000.00 per week,
thereby making back $500 on his investment. Whatever the case, when It Happened One Night became the first
motion picture to score Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and
Screenplay, both stars were left wondering what all the backstage feuding had
been about. Colbert at least had the decency to offer something of a public
apology to Capra, during her acceptance speech leaning into the podium, and
with gold statuette proudly raised, declaring “I owe all of it to Frank Capra!”
Capra’s reputation at Columbia, already steadily on the ascendance prior
to It Happened One Night,
experienced a colossal boost immediately thereafter. Indeed, for the rest of
the decade, Capra could do no wrong in Cohn’s eyes. He was afforded carte
blanche on his pick of projects, the subsequent movies growing more lavish;
culminating with a string of sublime super hits and one unfortunate miss: Lost Horizon (1937); today, rightfully
viewed as a masterpiece, but so costly it served as a millstone, dragging
Columbia’s bottom line back into the red.
It Happened One Night falls into the
category of the ‘road picture’ –
eloquently scripted by Capra’s long-time collaborator, Robert Riskin and based
on Samuel Hopkins Adams minor success, ‘Night
Bus’. The formula, in hindsight, seems deceptively simple. Take one
pampered runaway heiress, a ‘brass tax’ news hound - out for the scoop of his
career, a misguided dalliance in the middle of nowhere, and, the added
screwball of both individuals starting out as virulent enemies (but winding up
passionate lovers) and voila – you have, It
Happened One Night. The film’s enduring success is predicated on a series
of engaging mishaps, some occurring behind the scenes. Capra shot the picture
in sequence in only 28 days, feverishly playing ringmaster to his two
tempestuous stars, improvising scenes along the way, and encouraging
cinematographer, Joseph Walker not to invest too much time in creating the
usual cinema glamour. All of this last-minute brouhaha gave It Happened One Night buoyancy and a verisimilitude
uncharacteristic of the usual Hollywood product.
The bedroom
détente scene, played midway through the story (where Colbert’s stuffy Ellie
Andrews reluctantly acquiesces to Gable’s Peter Warne’s refusal to sleep
elsewhere; the two stringing a rope across the room with an over-sized comforter
slung over it to provide an imaginary wall), became iconic and romantic; not
the least for its suggestive exchange of dialogue. Ellie – who is heart sore and
desperately longing for a real man’s touch and Gable’s forthright resistance of
Ellie’s charms because, in fact, he has sincerely begun to fall for her,
created the sort of elusive cinema magic and romantic electricity it required.
The preceding scene, where the couple separately undresses for bed, was cause
for minor controversy, however, when Gable revealed a bare torso beneath his
outer shirt. Overnight, sales of men’s undershirts plummeted across the United
States! Such was Gable’s star-drawing power back then.
Because its
pieces fit so succinctly together, It
Happened One Night looks deceptively simple. Yet, others have long since
tried to recapture – or at least, emulate – the ‘formula’ of this road picture
and miserably, have failed. It is fairly safe to assume the casting of Gable
and Colbert helped boost interest in the movie itself. But Frank Capra was
cribbing from an exceptional screenplay too; Robert Riskin’s prose keeping the
action lithe and spirited; his dialogue, remaining true to the strengths of his
stars. There is, in fact, an opportunity for both Gable and Colbert to do what
they did best in It Happened One Night;
their off-screen mutual antagonism boding well for the troubled flirtations
ripening throughout the story. Gable’s introduction to Colbert’s spoiled
heiress on the night bus is impeccably crafted. Peter Warne informs Ellie
Andrews with double entendre, “That upon
which you sit is mine.” When she refuses to give up her seat, Gable
inquires whether “these seats sit two”.
Ward Bond’s caustic bus driver belligerently declares, “Well maybe they don’t and maybe they do!” Peter merely squeezes
his way into the seat occupied by Ellie, muttering, “Move over. This is a ‘maybe they do’.”
Nevertheless,
Gable’s cock of the walk is repeatedly tested in It Happened One Night. He isn’t this lady’s choice…not by a long
shot. Nor, is Ellie without her talents to upstage her he-man. She proves the
drawing power of her own sexuality after the two become stranded on the side of
the road. Gable’s complex theory of the perfect technique to thumb a free ride
falls flat in practice as he proves unable to procure a means of
transportation; a series of speeding automobiles passing him by. Observing his
chagrined debacle from the sidelines, Colbert’s Ellie declares, “I’ll get us a ride and I won’t use my
thumb!” whereupon she merely raises the hem of her skirt, revealing a
shapely nylon-stocking limb, and immediately secures a ride from the next
available passerby. Gables response registers bewilderment, sheepish dismay,
and finally, a genuine admiration for this gal with hidden talents. It’s a
delicious moment of proto-feminism; Ellie having grown a woman’s heart in place
of the vapid, angry void that caused her to flee her father, millionaire
Alexander Andrews’ (Walter Connelly) yacht in the first place after he gave her
a well-deserved slap on the cheek for being insolent.
It Happened One Night toys with the
idea of ‘a woman’s place’ in society:
Ellie – the haughty and exclusive princess to the manor born refuses to abide
by her father’s wishes; that she not be wed to stuffed shirt and middle-aged
bore, King Wesley (Jameson Thomas), who is, in fact, a penniless fortune
hunter. But Ellie professes to love him. Actually, she is rebelling against
what she perceives as patriarchal intrusion on her private life. She wants to
be her own woman; alas, without first, fully grasping the concept. Nor is Ellie
prepared for the various cads preying upon her relative innocence and
inexperience in the outside world. What Ellie really needs is not a he-man
protector, per say, but a guy’s guy to show her the ropes for getting along in
a dishonest world. After all, she is bright and a fairly quick study. She sees
through the insidious boar/travelling salesman, Oscar Shapeley (Roscoe Karns)
and, too late, clues in to the modus operandi of the seemingly congenial
driver, Danker (Alan Hale), who offers Ellie and Peter a lift, but actually
manages to lift their luggage and drive off without them. Although she plays
helpless, Ellie is really responsible for making up her own mind about things
in general and Peter in particular; coming to her senses in the eleventh hour –
while strolling down to the makeshift outdoor altar in her wedding dress, no
less – before making a sprinted B-line for the nearest exit to be reunited with
Peter. It is unlikely theirs will be a true 50/50 relationship; but at least
Peter is able to acknowledge the diamond his own heart has managed to pluck
from the rough. Ellie may be a gem. But Pete is going to have his hands full!
It Happened One Night begins with
Ellie’s daring escape from her father’s yacht. He attempts to lock her in a
cabin below decks when she professes her undying love and desire to marry King
Wesley. Father and daughter have words, her razor-sharp and biting diatribe
forcing dear ole dad into a bit of paternal discipline. He wallops her across
the cheek. It’s such a startle – for Ellie too – that she immediately pushes
her way past Alexander and several of the boat’s crew, diving off the top deck
and swimming ashore before Alexander can turn his boat around. In the meantime,
a very inebriated Peter Warne is sitting inside a terminal waiting for the
night bus; prodded by some fair-weather lushes to telephone his managing
editor, Joe Gordon (Charles C. Wilson) and offer up a piece of his gin-soaked
mind. The insults fly hard and heavy, Gordon hanging up the phone before Peter
is finished. To save face, Peter goes on for a few moments more as his cronies
listen in; afterwards declaring, “That’s
tellin’ him!” Before long Peter and Ellie have their cute meet on the bus.
Ellie falls asleep on Peter’s shoulder, awakening a short while later, still
full of her own independence. Peter, however, has recognized Ellie from the
local newspaper headline about a runaway heiress, and quietly telephones Gordon
to offer him the scoop of the century; an exclusive on what’s become of Ellie
Andrews. The night bus makes several stops, one at a roadside outdoor diner
where Ellie’s bag is pinched by a thief (Ernie Adams) without her even knowing
it. Peter makes chase but is unsuccessful. Penniless and, for the first time,
scared to boot, Ellie accepts Peter’s philanthropy. She is not terribly good at
managing his money, however; squandering what he gives her on trivial things rather than necessities. When Pete finds out he is furious.
From here on in,
It Happened One Night steadily
evolves into a series of fairly plausible and thoroughly charming
misadventures. The couple spends a night in a rented cabin, dividing the room
with a clothes line they label ‘the walls
of Jericho’. Soon, initial inhibitions and mutual disdain take a backseat
to true confessions about the great unhappiness in each of their lives. Whether
either chooses to acknowledge it or not, this moment will serve as the
foundation to their romantic relationship. Lumping it on foot, Ellie and Peter
spend their second evening together, snoozing near some hay stacks. In the
morning, Ellie is paralyzed with fear at having been abandoned by Peter.
Instead, he arrives with some hand-picked fruit and veggies for breakfast.
Exhausted, Ellie demands Peter procure them a ride. His hitchhiker’s technique
could use some work. So Ellie raises her skirt and lands them both their first
big break. It turns out to be anything but as the driver, Danker, pretends to
be their friend, but then drives off with their suitcases in tow. A short while later Peter exacts his revenge
on Danker, stealing his car.
On the last
length of their journey, Ellie confesses her love for Peter. He is determined
to marry her. But after depositing Ellie inside a cabin and hurrying off to
inform Gordon he intends not to write the story about their escapades, Peter
returns to the cabin to discover Ellie gone; having been found out by
Alexander, rescued back to his estate where the wedding to King Wesley is to
take place. Peter arrives at the Andrews’ estate on the afternoon of the
wedding; Alexander offering him money in gratitude for Ellie’s safe return. He
turns it down. But Ellie is insulted even at the insinuation Peter might have
only been interested in her because of her wealth and family name. Peter storms
off in a frustrated, masculine huff, leaving Alexander to escort his teary-eyed
daughter down the aisle. Alexander
quietly whispers his approval of Peter’s motives and also of the man himself.
He informs Ellie that Peter turned down flat his generous offer. It must be
love. Armed with this understanding, Ellie breaks free of her father’s arm and
scurries past the astonished guests with King Wesley in hot pursuit. Unable to
apprehend his bride, Wesley inquires what could possibly have made her change
her mind about their marriage. Alexander plays dumb, but secretly is satisfied
his daughter has made the right choice.
Capra cuts to the same cabin the couple shared earlier, the bemused
proprietor of the Auto Camp (Harry Holman) informing his wife (Maidel Turner)
Peter has requested a toy trumpet, some string and a heavy comforter; symbolic
of the ‘walls of Jericho’ that barred
the couple from consummating their relationship earlier. The trumpet sounds and
the lights in the cabin go out. It’s every man – and every woman, for that
matter – for themselves; the honeymoon begun; the show - fini.
It has often
been noted that some of the greatest movies ever made were the product of blind
chaos and great luck. This was, perhaps, never more astutely observed than in It Happened One Night; deceptively
lighter than air. Yet, the ‘paper thin’ plot and preposterous scenarios come
off without a hitch. More than that – the love affair blossoming between Ellie
and Peter is wholly believable. Ironically, It Happened One Night was the movie nobody – except Capra – wanted to make. Afterward, it became the movie
everyone, including Capra, was trying to beat. Capra’s association at Columbia
would prove immensely fruitful. Arguably, he did his best work here during the
1930’s, culminating with 1938’s Oscar-winning You Can’t Take It With You, and his superbly crafted social
commentary on American politics; Mr.
Smith Goes To Washington (1939); a clever indictment of graft in Washington,
as seen through the eyes of its ultimate 'every man' and daydreamer, James
Stewart. Given the naiveté and blind optimism of many of Capra’s leading men, It Happened One Night is unique as it has
the more cynical Gable to recommend it in Stewart’s stead. And Gable proves (as
though any proof were needed) why he earned the moniker of Hollywood’s ‘king’.
There is an intangible animal magnetism to Gable that cannot be manufactured.
He simply was a real man.
It Happened One Night is a movie that
could only have been possible in the 1930’s; a decade brimming with wide-eyed
optimism about most things; Hollywood, thumbing its collective noses at the
Great Depression and providing audiences with topflight, class ‘A’
entertainment. While many of the other studios, chiefly MGM, invested heavily
in the escapist and otherworldly glamour of fanciful and well-appointed living,
Columbia’s budget would not permit Capra such a luxury. It’s just as well.
Capra’s yen for telling relatively real stories about the flaws in male/female
relationships, struck a more genuine chord on a more restrained outlay of
capital. And the profits Columbia and Harry Cohn were to derive from Capra’s
‘corn in totem throughout the 1930’s proved the studio’s salvation; a means by
which Cohn built Columbia’s reputation in the industry for quality product,
hiring A-list directors and free-agent talent on a picture by picture basis.
In retrospect, It Happened One Night is Capra’s
earliest masterpiece in this tenure; blessed with his inimitable light touch
and penchant for achieving a level of on-screen intimacy fairly hard to top.
The relationship between Ellie and Peter just seems genuine; the morphing of
their acrimonious relationship into one of mutual respect and finally, love,
taking on a life of its own. Gable and Colbert may have thought they were
committing career suicide with It
Happened One Night, but time has proven the opposite to be true. While
Gable will likely always be associated with Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind (1939), Colbert’s
regrettably dwindling repute has been buoyed over the generations almost
exclusively by her appearance in this, Capra’s classiest romance. Arguably, Colbert ought to be remembered for
much more; her performance in David O. Selznick’s superbly crafted wartime
weepy, Since You Went Away (1944)
arguably, her greatest. Gable’s repertoire too is a myriad of treasures yet to
be unearthed in hi-def, or even competently given their due on standard DVD. In
the final analysis, It Happened One
Night represents the best from both actors, despite their misgivings.
Arguably, each star would go on to do ‘better’ work elsewhere. But together in It Happened One Night, they are
dynamic, engaging and deliriously in sync with one another, achieving a level
of quietly restless passion few stars of any vintage have been able to express
with such professionalism, confidence and graceful charm.
Criterion Home
Video rectifies many a sin committed on this vintage catalog title over the
years. First off, it should be noted that, like a good many Columbia titles
from the 1930’s, no original nitrate elements survive. Over the decades,
Columbia attempted to do right by what remained; their first DVD more
marginally competent, followed by a disastrous reissue as part of a Frank Capra
Collection in which contrast was so severely toggled down it yielded an
oppressively dark and poorly contrasted image. So, prepare to be exceptionally
pleased with what is on this Blu-ray. Not only has contrast been corrected to
reveal new and revitalized minute details, but we also get the film’s
indigenous grain looking gorgeously thick and natural. Truly, It Happened One Night has never looked
this good on home video. The visuals have a subtly nuanced, film-like appearance; fine
detail, popping as it should and showcasing Joseph Walker’s soft lit, and softly
focused cinematography to its best advantage. Better still, age-related dirt
and scratches have been eradicated, thanks to a thorough clean-up. We can
likely thank Sony Pictures VP Grover Crisp for that. There are still issues of
modeling and streaking; unavoidable, given this is an 80-year-old print that
has suffered greatly over the decades from improper storage. But honestly, It Happened One Night in hi-def will be
a distinct revelation for most. Get ready for a quality effort put forth with
very pleasing results!
Predictably,
Criterion has gone the route of another PCM mono audio track, plagued by
inherent weaknesses, lovingly preserved for posterity herein. Criterion pads
out the extras, including: Screwball Comedy?; a 40 minute
conversation between film scholars/critics, Molly Haskell and Phillip Lopate.
Much too short, though appreciated, is the11-minute interview with Frank Capra
Jr., first recorded for the old Columbia Classics DVD release in 1999. We also
get Capra’s very first movie, 1921’s silent, Fultah Fisher’s Boarding House,
with a new score composed and performed by Donald Sosin. The most comprehensive
extras are Frank Capra’s American Dream; Ken Bower’s hour-and-a-half long
documentary, hosted by Ron Howard, from 1997, and the complete AFI
tribute to Capra. The former features interviews with a litany of Capra
collaborators as well as actors and directors from Capra’s vintage. The latter
is a star-studded evening, hosted by James Stewart. A few portions of the
original broadcast are MIA herein. Aside: I think it astonishing the AFI has
never bothered to reissue any of their Lifetime
Achievement broadcasts to home video in any sort of meaningful or
comprehensive way. Last, but not least,
we get an original theatrical trailer and liner notes from critic, Farran Smith
Nehme. Bottom line: It Happened One
Night is an American classic. Criterion’s Blu-ray gives the film its due.
Enjoy and buy with confidence.
FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)
5+
VIDEO/AUDIO
4
EXTRAS
4
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