#it happened one night
This is the first time I’ve ever been alone with a man.
It Happened One Night (1934) dir. Frank Capra
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Clark GableandClaudette ColbertinIt Happened One Night(1934)
It Happened One Night (1934)
The invention and near perfection of the screwball comedy.
Clark Gable worked for MGM. Claudette Colbert was under contract to Paramount. They were forced to do the film for upstart Columbia as punishment for being difficult to handle.
This scene changed the garment industry. Men traditionally wore undershirts, but Gable’s striptease ended that practice.
Best Actor. Best Actress. Best Director. Best Adaptation. Best Picture.
Warner Brothers got in on the fun by developing a new cartoon character, Bugs Bunny, based on Gable’s performance.
If some foolish person ever tries to remake Frank Capra’s film, one change I’d allow is Colbert’s character being less of a damsel in distress. What if Ellie called the bluff instead of fluttering away when the pants started to droop? The screwball formula is showing how romantic love gradually breaks down the walls between two people who don’t know they’re meant to be together. Something gets missed when only the woman is bricked off sexually (while both characters struggle with their emotional barriers.) Seeing Gable flustered because Colbert just stands there while he strips, unconcerned about the protocols of modesty, would elevate the complexity of the story.
Give the woman the ovaries to chip away at Gable’s cockiness. Make him run to the other side of the room.
It Happened One Night ends with the sound of a phallus trumpet blowing and a clip of a blanket falling to the floor. It’s a fun and sexy conclusion–and you probably won’t have noticed that the movie’s over and Colbert and Gable haven’t so much as kissed.
