736 It Happened One Night

[swo17]

It Happened One Night



Opposites attract with magnetic force in this romantic road-trip delight from Frank Capra, about a spoiled runaway socialite (Claudette Colbert) and a roguish man-of-the-people reporter (Clark Gable) who is determined to get the scoop on her scandalous disappearance. The first film to accomplish the very rare feat of sweeping all five major Oscar categories (best picture, best actor, best actress, best director, and best screenplay), It Happened One Night is among the most gracefully constructed and edited films of the early sound era, packed with clever situations and gags that have entered the Hollywood comedy pantheon. Featuring two actors at the top of their game, sparking with a chemistry that has never been bettered, this is the birth of the screwball comedy.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New conversation between critics Molly Haskell and Phillip Lopate
• Frank Capra's American Dream, a 1997 feature-length documentary
• Director Frank Capra's first film, the 1922 silent short The Ballad of Fisher's Boarding House
• American Film Institute tribute to Capra from 1982
• Trailer
• PLUS: An essay by critic Farran Smith Nehme
• More!

Criterionforum.org user rating averages

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[knives]

Well, those extras made this even more an essential buy than I could have expected. Did not expect that short coming around any time soon.

[matrixschmatrix]

Can't argue with an extra film, but this feels like a natural for a scholarly commentary. Oh well, the critical conversation seems like it might fill that hole.

[Feego]

Not scholarly, but wasn't there a Frank Capra Jr. commentary on the old Columbia/Sony discs? I'd be surprised if that was not ported over.

[domino harvey]

Frank Capra's American Dream was in both the Sony Capra box and the Sony disc of the Matinee Idol. The disc is missing the Frank Capra Jr commentary from the Sony disc (never listened to it, like all hagiographic extras from family members I avoided it, so no idea on the quality) This is a really weak package, though

[FrauBlucher]

Surprised no new stuff except for the Haskell/Lopate conversation but More! is listed, so hopefully

[domino harvey]

Maybe they're saving some of the other Capra silents for extras on future Capra releases?

[manicsounds]

Frank Capra's American Dream was in both the Sony Capra box and the Sony disc of the Matinee Idol. The disc is missing the Frank Capra Jr commentary from the Sony disc (never listened to it, like all hagiographic extras from family members I avoided it, so no idea on the quality) This is a really weak package, though

The commentary was pretty weak. I wish they paired him up with a moderator or a scholar like they did on "American Madness" or "You Can't Take It With You". Many blank spots. It seems none of the Sony DVD extras are ported, but maybe the "more!" could include those?

[hearthesilence]

I'm not a big Capra fan, but this is probably one of three that I've actually enjoyed on repeat viewing, the others being The Bitter Tea of General Yen (my favorite by a wide margin) and It's a Wonderful Life, which I've only seen a few times going back to grade school so it hasn't become overfamiliar from overexposure.

[spocker]

Any reason this isn't up for preorder on Amazon yet, a month after the announcement?

[Ashirg]

It doesn't have a cover artwork and lately titles without covers are impossible to find at Amazon.

[rspaight]

Yes, I think the above link is it, even though it says "DVD".

[spocker]

Thanks, it seems to be the correct one.

[Minkin]

The More has been revealed:

-Interview with Frank Capra Jr. from 1999

At least they kept the trailer this time..

[wllm995]

Beaver

[manicsounds]

blu-ray.com

[Drucker]

Capra may be film school 101, but this was my first exposure to him, and it was truly a delight. Everything about this film was wonderful. From the first scene of the film it's special. The shot inside the phone booth where Gable tells off his editor is a wonderful shot, and certainly against the norms of shooting at the time. The conversation extra between Haskell and Lopate goes into further detail about how many great shots there are in this film. It's so against the norm of flat, well-lit studio shooting, especially the many scenes shot outside, at night, in near total darkness. Perhaps I'm naive, but that wasn't an aspect of greatness I was expecting to find in Capra, and certainly did.

Comedy film discussions often boil down to "did I laugh or not?" I've seen people criticize the Tati films for not really having a laugh out loud moment. I too rarely laugh at those films, but find delight in other ways. This film, however, was full of laughs. Most notably, of course, in the scene where the police stumble upon Gable and Colbert's room and they have the faux shouting match. One of the best acted and truly hilarious scenes I've seen.

If Criterions are truly supposed to be "film school" in a box, this is a grade A example. Wonderful transfer matched with a comprehensive documentary about Capra's life. On top of that, his first film (in great quality!), and then a great scholarly conversation. The only shortcoming of which is that Lopate's contribution was a bit embarrassing. Haskell had many great insights, especially the one about the difference in sexuality between Lubitsch and Capra, where the former, a European, is okay with lust and affairs, whereas the (more) American, Capra, has his film end with marriage. It seemed Haskell was often set-up by Lopate to make a great point, but though the latter had a few interesting points, he often embarrassed himself with lines like "Why doesn't Gable...have sex with her?!" Still a great extra, but mostly due to Haskell's participation.

I still have to watch the AFI tribute, but this was a truly delightful release and I am very glad I blind-bought Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, as well!

[hearthesilence]

Its place in history can be exaggerated - Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast's 1930 feature Laughter was the real originator of the screwball comedy and a better film, but it's been long out-of-print and impossible to find in good quality - but regardless, this as well as It's a Wonderful Life and my favorite The Bitter Tea of General Yen are Capra's claim to greatness in my book.

[The Doogster]

Comedy film discussions often boil down to "did I laugh or not?" I've seen people criticize the Tati films for not really having a laugh out loud moment. I too rarely laugh at those films, but find delight in other ways. This film, however, was full of laughs. Most notably, of course, in the scene where the police stumble upon Gable and Colbert's room and they have the faux shouting match. One of the best acted and truly hilarious scenes I've seen.

Much as I love Capra's comedies, they are no patch on Lubitsch's contributions to the genre. It Happened One Night is somewhat dated (but nonetheless enjoyable), however, To Be Or Not To Be remains razor-sharp to this day. It's also full of big laugh-out-loud moments.

[Michael Kerpan]

Much as I love Capra's comedies, they are no patch on Lubitsch's contributions to the genre. It Happened One Night is somewhat dated (but nonetheless enjoyable), however, To Be Or Not To Be remains razor-sharp to this day. It's also full of big laugh-out-loud moments.

On the other hand, while I enjoy bits and pieces of TBONTB (and find other bits problematic), I love almost every moment of IHON -- and don't see it as inferior to Shop Around the Corner (Lubitsch's best film of this sort).