It Happened One Night
This evening I watched It Happened One Night, a Frank Capra
film featuring Clark Gable & Claudette Colbert. The plotline is
fairly simple: girl (involved with a fellow) falls in with a guy while
headed to New York to meet her fellow; they hate each other; they have
transportation trouble; zany adventures ensue; they fall in love. I was
thinking how cool it’d be to remake it in a modern vein, and was
amusing myself with how to update it when I realised something:
I’ve already seen it remade. Three times in fact. Forces
of Nature: guy (engaged) falls in with a gal while headed to his
wedding; they hate each other; they have transportation trouble; zany
adventures ensue; they fall in love. The Sure Thing: girl
(with a boyfriend) falls in with a guy while headed to visit the
boyfriend (and the guy’s sure thing
); they hate each other;
they have transportation trouble; zany adventures ensue; they fall in
love. Planes, Trains & Automobiles: guy falls in with
another guy while headed to his family; guys hate each other; they have
transportation trouble; zany adventures ensue; they become friends.
Heck, one could even argue that 48 Hours and Lethal
Weapon play with the same sort of ideas.
I don’t know that It Happened One Night originated such plots—perhaps Aristophanes played with ’em—but it was very cool to watch the inspiration for so much latter cinema. It’s not a terribly great film in itself (despite sweeping the Academy Awards for 1934), but it’s highly enjoyable fluff.
