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April 6, 2008
Oscar Challenge: It Happened One Night
We were talking the other night about what makes a "Best Picture". One of the strongest criteria for me is "Will people still enjoy this movie in 70 years?" Dude, It Happened One Night has got that NAILED.
It's got an unfair advantage for me because I grew up with this movie and I've seen it about a jillion times. But it's SO DAMNED GOOD. The story line is simple but classic, the dialogue is smart and witty, and jesusmaryandjoseph, Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable are SO DAMNED GOOD.
None of the movies we've watched in our Challenge have had a believable love story. There's been infantile infatuation (Wings), insane love-at-first-sight (Grand Hotel), codependence verging on abuse (ugh, Cimarron), but no believable love. Gable and Colbert's Peter and Ellie fall in love with each other quickly but gradually, and when Ellie's father asks Peter if he loves her, Peter barks as he storms out, "But don't hold that against me, I'm a little screwy myself! " She makes him nuts, he makes her nuts, but they're a perfect match.
To have them not wind up together would be a crime, but never fear, it's Frank Capra, not Shakespeare.
Comments
You are so right. This is the first of the "best pictures" that I could watch over and over. The cast was amazing, Frank Capra's a genius. This is the archetypal romantic comedy and I'm not sure that it's been done better since.
Posted by: Nathan at April 6, 2008 12:55 PM
Clearly, I need to watch more movies.
Posted by: grace at April 7, 2008 11:11 AM