It Happened One Night (1934) Review

Posted on the 19 September 2014 by Caz @LetsGoToTheMov7

Ellie is a spoiled heiress who decides to run away from her family but is helped by Peter a man who is actually a reporter looking for a story.

There’s something about old romantic comedies that just have such a cute and nice element to them. They are charming and have so much going on about them. I really would encourage people to watch these older ones rather than watching the newer films. Especially when Clark Gable is the leading man, like seriously why are men not like that anymore?

I have had this film on DVD for quite a while now but eventually got round to watching it this week, it certainly is another one of those films where I wonder why it has taken me so long to eventually watch it! I had seen one small scene before watching the whole film and that was the seductive way in which Ellie gets a car to pull over. After quite a lecture from Peter about how a gentleman gets a car to stop. Which is very amusing and let’s face it in 1934 it must have been rather shocking! Still brilliant though as I am sure that would still have an effect today. Which shows that somethings will never really change.

As they travel and spend more time together you can see that they are slowly falling in love with each other. Also showing though that love and hate has a very fine line at times. She really irritates him and somehow that helps him fall in love with her. Just shows things aren’t always as they seem. Nobody does that type of role better than Clark Gable, he really could deliver a line. My favorite scene had to be when it seemed as though he was paying her a huge compliment and then went on to say how she annoyed him so much.

I also thought the fact that Ellie’s father was not forcing her to get married was really good and in the end actually stopped her, by mentioning that Peter did not take the reward just the money he actually spent on her. Honestly, why didn’t I watch this film years ago when I first bought the DVD?!?! I really did love it and I am sure I will find myself watching it many more times in the future.

There’s something about watching older films which I really enjoy at the moment, must be because I haven’t really been impressed with many of the latest cinema releases this year. If only romance still existed and if all men were as smooth, charming and handsome as Clark Gable! I think the world would be a much happier place.