Search - It Happened One Night on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Adult Situations Movie Release: 1934 DVD Release: 12/28/1999 Format: DVD - Black and White,P&SE Edition: Dual Layered,Restored/Remastered,Special Collection Audio Tracks: English, Spanish Subtitles: English, Korean, Spanish, Thai SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 45 mins Studio: Columbia TriStar Members Wishing: 45 Genres: Comedy, Road Movie, Romantic Comedy, Screwball Comedy See Also: It Happened One Night

Frank Capra's seminal screwball comedy, which won all five major Academy Awards for 1934, is still as breezy and beguiling today. Claudette Colbert plays Ellie Andrews, a spoiled heiress who has married fortune-hunting aviator King Westley (Jameson Thomas), despite her father (Walter Connolly)'s objections. To keep Ellie from marrying this lothario, her father has been holding her prisoner aboard his yacht. But Ellie bolts from the yacht, swims ashore in her clothes, and eventually slips onto a Greyhound bus bound for New York. Aboard the bus is newspaper reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable), who has recently been fired for drinking on the job. Peter gets the last seat on the bus -- but when he gets up to argue with the bus driver, Ellie takes his seat. Since it is the last seat on the bus, they have to share it. When Ellie has her purse stolen and she refuses to report it, Peter begins to suspect something. The next morning, they both miss the bus after a leisurely breakfast, and Peter reveals that he knows her identity. She makes a deal with him: if he helps her get to New York, he can write a scoop about her for his paper. Peter thinks she is a spoiled brat, however, and refuses a monetary bribe: "I'm not interested in your money or your problem. You, King Westley, your father -- you're all a lot of hooey to me!" But as they travel northward and engage in a series of misadventures, the gruff newspaperman and the spoiled rich girl, thrown together by circumstances, fall in love with each other. This movie set the pace for the "screwball" comedy, the witty and romantic clash of temperaments between a man and a woman mismatched in both personality and social position, a type of movie often associated with Katherine Hepburn in such classics as Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Philadelphia Story (1940), and, with Spencer Tracy, Adam's Rib (1949), Pat and Mike (1952), and Desk Set (1957), among others. The only other movies to win all five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, and Screenplay) were One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Clark Gable - Peter Warne
Claudette Colbert - Ellie Andrews
Walter Connolly - Alexander Andrews
Roscoe Karns - Oscar Shapeley
Jameson Thomas - King Westley
Claire McDowell - Mother

The very definition of "screwball classic," this film is complemented by this excellent disc. The film is presented in its original full-screen (standard) format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The sound is in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. The print quality is exceptional, with a nice balance of blacks and whites. Audio choices are English and Spanish with subtitles in these two languages as well as Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, and Thai. There is also a commentary track offered by Frank Capra Jr. that focuses on the very creation of the film; though there are some pauses, it is definitely worth a listen. Other "Special Features" include a brief interview with Capra Jr. in which he discusses his personal relationship to the film. A "Vintage Advertising" section features 12 lobby cards and posters for the film. Also included is the hour-long Lux Radio broadcast of It Happened One Night, which originally aired on March 20, 1939, and includes the two main stars of the film, Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. Theatrical trailers for the features Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Lost Horizon are also included. There are "Talent File" listings for Capra, Gable, and Colbert. A great disc for a great film. ~ A.R. Ferguson, All Movie Guide