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Movies / Upcoming / It Happened One Night
It Happened One Night

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It Happened One Night (1934)

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Reviews Counted:31

Fresh:30

Rotten:1

Average Rating:8.7/10

Consensus: Capturing its stars and director at their finest, It Happened One Night remains unsurpassed by the countless romantic comedies it has inspired.

Runtime: 3 hrs 35 mins

Genre: Comedies

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: Director Frank Capra and his two stars, Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, stole hearts and a quintet of Oscars with this sparkling, legendary romantic comedy. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT is based on the... Director Frank Capra and his two stars, Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, stole hearts and a quintet of Oscars with this sparkling, legendary romantic comedy. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT is based on the story "Night Bus" by Samuel Hopkins Adams, and it follows a news reporter and a runaway heiress who fall in love while traveling cross country on a bus. But as with any classic, the film is more than the sum of its parts, and special attention should be paid to the fizzy chemistry between the two leads and the witty script from Robert Riskin. This screwball comedy was the first to take home all five major Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor--Clark Gable, Best Actress--Claudette Colbert, and Best Adapted Screenplay. [More]

Starring: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly, Alan Hale

Starring: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly, Alan Hale, Roscoe Karns, Ward Bond, Henry Wadsworth, Claire McDowell

Director: Frank Capra

Director: Frank Capra
Screenwriter: Robert Riskin
Composer: Louis Silvers

[See More Credits]

Reviews for It Happened One Night

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
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Instead of attempting a journalistic study of bus-travel, regularly punctuated by comic touches, Director Frank Capra and Robert Riskin who adapted Samuel Hopkins Adams' story, fused the two.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
02/04/09
TIME Magazine

An old school classic.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
02/20/08
David Parkinson
David Parkinson
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

With Gable and Colbert on top form this is a charming and memorable comedy.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
02/19/08
Channel 4 Film

One of those stories that without a particularly strong plot manages to come through in a big way, due to the acting, dialog, situations and direction.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
02/19/08
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The story of a runaway heiress falling in with a devilish, wise-cracking reporter on a cross-country roadtrip now seems like a cliché only because so many other films have copied its structure.

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
12/30/06
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

This charming romantic comedy, while grounded in the context of the Depression, offered light fare that's uncharacteristic of Capra. It might have been the first true sleeper since no one involved anticipated such critical and commercial success.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
12/25/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

This is Capra at his best, very funny and very light, with a minimum of populist posturing.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
12/12/06
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader

Only minorly dated, this film would play well for modern audiences despite being more than 70 years old.

Full Review Source: Oscar Guy | comment Comment
10/10/06
Wesley Lovell
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy

Capra's sense of humour is a little like that of Preston Sturges, though less caustic; and the film shows its stars at their best, Colbert as one of Hollywood's fresher comediennes, Gable as dumb-but-loveable hunk.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

Who can resist a movie where the girl's father provides his daughter with a getaway car from her own wedding?

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Brad Laidman
Brad Laidman
Film Threat

It Happened One Night is a true classic in every sense of the word, one that withstands the test of time and indeed defies it completely.

Full Review Source: Three Movie Buffs | comment Comment
09/30/05
Scott Nash
Scott Nash
Three Movie Buffs

The romantic comedy that all others draw from, few imitate effectively, and none have been able to replicate.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
09/26/04
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

No review available.

comment Comment
06/25/04
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

A very funny and breezy comedy.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
03/16/04
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

No review available.

comment Comment
12/23/03
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

No review available.

comment 2 Comments
08/22/03
John Esther
John Esther
Pasadena Weekly

Not only will the Walls of Jericho fall, but so will the walls of your heart.

Full Review Source: Matt's Movie Reviews | comment Comment
07/24/03
Matt Easterbrook
Matt Easterbrook
Matt's Movie Reviews

One of the most enduring romantic comedies of Hollywood’s golden age… The opposites-attract comedy still works, though Gable’s dismissive treatment of pampered Colbert, which played well with Depression-era audiences, seems dated today.

Full Review Source: Decent Films Guide | comment Comment
05/30/03
Steven D. Greydanus
Steven D. Greydanus
Decent Films Guide

It Happened One Night is a good piece of fiction, which, with all its feverish stunts, is blessed with bright dialogue and a good quota of relatively restrained scenes.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Mordaunt Hall
Mordaunt Hall
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This classic comedy is the first movie ever to sweep the five major Oscar categories.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
03/10/03
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
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