[The Great Owl]

I just finished watching the Criterion Blu-ray of It Happened One Night, and I loved it.

It Happened One Night makes such ingenious use of lighting. There's something insanely sexy about the way that Claudette Colbert is barely seen from the light of the window in an early bedroom scene. The cinematography of the movie, in fact, has a magical intimacy to it, as if to convey the notion that, although Colbert and Clark Gable are bickering at a particular moment, they fit best into the world when together.

Since I was a 1980s kid, I am a big fan of the The Sure Thing (1985), which was strongly influenced by this Capra film. As I watched It Happened One Night, I chuckled at the parallels between the characters played by Claudette Colbert and Daphne Zuniga, as well as the parallels between the characters played by Clark Gable and John Cusack. I'm sure that many romantic movies featuring couples drawn together by circumstance who bicker during a trip while falling in love are influenced by the Capra film, but The Sure Thing is the one that sticks out the most in my mind.

It Happened One Night has quite a few interesting acknowledgements of the Great Depression during which the story takes place. Both of the characters certainly learn a thing or two during their time out in the real world of America.

I hope that Criterion continues to release well-loved titles like this one alongside the more obscure films.


After watching both The Palm Beach Story and It Happened One Night this weekend, I've decided that Claudette Colbert looks nice in men's pajamas.