5/5 Delightful romantic comedy
  by One-Line Film Reviews (Easton, MD)
The Bottom Line:

The first of three films to win the Big 5 Oscars (in addition to One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest and Silence of the Lambs), It Happened One Night is a quick and charming romantic comedy with an assured Clark Gable and a sweet Claudette Colbert in the leads; it may be a black and white movie made 75 years ago but it'll make you smile today.

3.5/4

4/5 One night a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of watching this lovable little film...
  by Andrew Ellington (Mulholland Drive)
A delightful little comedy, it's easy to see why `It Happened One Night' is still loved, even today. I can't say that I for one agree with its landing on AFI's `Top 100 Films of All Time', but I can agree with the fact that this sweetly charming (if not standard and clichéd) tale of love found in all the wrong places is easy to swallow, easy to enjoy and very easy to recommend.

The film tells the story of defiant Ellie, daughter of a very wealthy man who has forbade her recent marriage. In an act of sheer rebellion, Ellie runs away, traveling to New York to be with her new husband but her father is hot on her tale, trying to force her into an annulment. On her journey she meets down-on-his-luck newspaper reporter Peter who sees a prime opportunity for a story, and some money. He offers to accompany Ellie to New York if she gives him exclusive rights to her story, and since she is incapable of really handling the situation alone, she agrees.

Neither of them expected to fall in love, but of course we expect them to.

What is really nice about this film is the undeniable chemistry between Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. I am a huge fan of both these faces (especially Colbert, who is stunningly superb in everything I've seen her in) and this film truly showcases their undeniable charm and screen presence. They play stereotypes (Gable the too-wise-for-his-own-good `macho-man' and Colbert the stubborn yet helpless `damsel'), but they play them to perfection. This makes their transition from opposites to equals rather effortless and completely believable.

Director Frank Capra really was a masterful director in his day, snapping out masterpiece after masterpiece; and while this is not one of my favorite `Capra Classics' (reserved for his teaming with James Stewart) it certainly is an entertaining and memorable ride.

For me, the faults lie in the initial setup for the film, which is not as sharp as the second half. Once Ellie hooks up with Peter, and Gable and Colbert establish their relationship, the film picks up quite a bit and actually soars, but it gets off to a slow start for me.

In other words; I wasn't immediately sucked in.

The film ends on a great note though, with Gable and Colbert realizing their character's full potential and creating the formula that would be used and abused in romantic comedies to follow. It feels fresh here, despite it's overexposure in recent cinema, because of the actors take on the film. Gable and Colbert (as well as Capra) picked up Oscar's for this film (the film won everything it was nominated for, which included Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor and Actress) and I am delighted since comedies very rarely get recognition from Oscar. Gable is beyond brilliant here and would most likely be my personal preference for the Oscar as well, but without seeing many films from this year I can't say that I'd go with this particular film in every category.

It's not perfect, but it is very likable and I recommend this one without hesitation.

5/5 One of my favorites!
  by K. Montgomery
Our library has this movie, but we enjoy it so much, I finally decided to buy it! Light, cute, and lots of fun - I never tire of watching it!

5/5 Fantastic Night
  by Michaael G. DiGiuro (Los Angeles ,Calif USA)
Great movie, good comedy. Clark Gable is excellent, and also Claudette Colbert. It is one of the best films of the thirtie's. Bravo Frank Capra. I would recommend this film to film lovers who are into comedy.

5/5 Outstanding Movie, Poor Picture
  by Bookman (California USA)
My five stars are for IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, not for this DVD. If I were rating the DVD quality alone without regard to the movie, I'd give it one star or maybe half a star. I separate the two concepts because I'm buying more than the intellectual property (i.e., "the movie") when I buy a DVD. I'd seen IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT on TV a dozen times before I saw the DVD for sale. It's why I wanted the DVD as soon as I saw it. But I like to know what kind of value I'm getting for my money. I presume you do too.

Forewarned is forearmed: When you pop this DVD into your player, you'll see that the picture quality is poor. It will be as bad as any DVD you have in your collection and probably worse. I'm telling you this so you won't be surprised or disappointed.

IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT is one of the greatest movies ever made; and yet the picture quality on this DVD is no better than what you might have seen on broadcast TV twenty years ago--no better than if you'd bought it from a bootlegger at a swap-meet. It deserves better treatment, and will no doubt get it eventually. Having said this, I recommend buying this DVD anyway and here's why. The current copyright date on the package is 2008, which means we shouldn't expect the one we really want, with the "all-new digitally remastered picture" and "all-new digital transfer," to be available anytime soon. Sometimes it's better to hold out and wait for the new-and-improved version. For IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, don't wait. Buy this one now, and buy the new-and-improved version when it becomes available.