Opening Statement

For awhile now, my husband and I have been working our way through the American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest American Movies. The films on that list are basically what you’d expect. But we have also discovered some gems through the list. It Happened One Night is among those gems — by Felicia Elliott, September 18, 2017

Birth of the Modern Romantic Comedy

This film set in motion a nearly decade long run of screwball comedies which, in turn, went on to influence romantic comedies to this day. Watching It Happened One Night, more than eighty years after its release, it’s remarkable how many of the themes and tropes introduced in the film were repeated over and over again in subsequent movies — by Alex Moore, September 19, 2017

How to be Sexy Under Censorship

It Happened One Night is a romantic comedy in which its male and female leads spend a great deal of time alone together. Unmarried. Spending the night in the same room. The problem was how to make it sexy without making it obscene or excessively passionate which were expressly forbidden according to the code — by Felicia Elliott, September 20, 2017

Scenessential: A Hitchhiker's Guide

The scene is structured as a joke, opening with a set-up that establishes a situation and culminating in an abrupt punchline that undercuts that situation. That punchline, of course, is the moment Ellie lifts her skirt to show her calf and a car immediately halts to pick up the pair, undermining Peter’s cocksure, masculine confidence that he is in control of their trek—and their romance — by Patrick Brown, September 21, 2017

Related Review: No Man of Her Own

No Man of Her Own is a small, character-based drama, with a similar character dynamic as our highlighted film this week. Pairing it with It Happened One Night probably isn’t fair, though it does have some important similarities — by Aaron Pinkston, September 22, 2017