It Happened One Night

It's a Wonderful DVD
More than six decades after its original release, "It Happened One Night" still sparkles like a newly minted coin. It's romantic, witty, sophisticated ... and certain key scenes (especially Clark Gable's gangster impression and Claudette Colbert's hitch-hiking lesson) remain laugh-out-loud funny. A near perfect blend of script, direction, and performance, it deservedly swept the top five 1934 Academy Awards. One statue that it wasn't even nominated for, and should have won, was for Joseph Walker's Cinematography; his masterful camerawork makes this movie glisten and shine.

The DVD transfer is amazingly beautiful. There are a few shots that appear to be slightly grainy and one or two jumps in the soundtrack, but those are minor quibbles. I've watched this film several times over the past twenty years -- in a revival theatre, on satellite, and on VHS -- and it's never looked as good as it does here. The DVD extras are icing on the cake: trailers for this...

Simply The Best
I don't claim be a movie expert, but this is the best film I have ever seen. I already owned a VHS copy, but on buying a DVD player I paid good money to have this disc shipped to me in England - and boy was it worth it! The picture quality is as good as you will find anywhere and the sound is superb too. The DVD is also jam-packed with extra features. The film's commentary is provided by Frank Capra Jr. He has a wonderfully relaxed style and doesn't just sound as if he's reading from a prepared script. Along with Ron Howard's commentary for Apollo 13, this is the best DVD commentary I have heard to date. A special feature unique amongst DVDs must be the radio version of 'It Happened One Night', first broadcast in 1939, again starring Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable. Whoever had the idea of including this on the DVD deserves a salary rise. The disc also includes trailers, cast lists, some beautifully illustrated posters and also a Frank Capra Jr introduction. This really...

A Timeless Comedy
More than any movie from the 1930s, this Frank Capra film has not dated at all. In spite of 60 plus years of "romantic comedies" which have followed "It Happened One Night," it remains fresh and laugh-out-loud funny. Clark Gable is at his most charming as the scheming newspaper reporter who hopes to get the inside scoop on the "brat," played beautifully by Claudette Colbert, who is on the run from her millionaire father. This Frank Capra films still makes us laugh because he so humorously shows us that while men and women are different, for some reason they can't live without one another even though they can, as here, drive each other crazy. The hitchhiking scene and the scene where Gable and Colbert pretend they are married are timeless classics. Columbia Classics has done a wonderful job of presenting the best print we can probably expect 60 years on. The disc also contains a commentary from Capra's son, Frank Capra, Jr. and a "remembrance" of the film. I cannot...

Click to Editorial Reviews