Journal # 2
It Happened One Night
It Happened One Night
1. Relate what was discussed in class or in the text to the screening.Dated back to the very early 1900s was the development of film. Throughout the years this form of
entertainment progressed every chance that it was given. Around the 1929/1930 film makers were
finally able to develop films with sound, and say goodbye to silent films. Early sound was
characterized by inert camera encased in sound proof glass. Of course with the new development,
came issues. There were limited or no mobility, the sound quality was muffled, microphone
placement, the mixing of sound realism, and many of issues came to trouble the film makers.
However this was something so exciting for citizens. This brought along a major change in industry.
Now that film was progressing the sounds became expensive and the need for equipment was at a
high. In 1029 Paramount, Warner’s, and Fox all received nice come ups from what they were
originally making. Along with sound came the Hollywood scandals, as well as censorship and self-
regulation in Hollywood. Popular Sennett star Fatty Arbuckle was accused of murdering Virginia
Rappe, three days after he received a $1million contract with paramount pictures. Although he was
found not guilty on all charges, his career was over. The Hays Office banned him from all films for
the time. There were many cases similar to this. Eventually the Motion Picture Producers and
Distributors of America (MPPDA) were created. They were in charge of following the many different
state and local censorship boards rule or set of standards
Along came new days for women in film. They were now allowed to have sexual desire, talking
“vulgar”, smoking drinking, and living the party night life, there were even times when they would be
nude. Some of the popular names were Jean Harlow, Theda Bara, Clara Bow, and Mae West. As if
that wasn’t the image women wanted portrayed, film started to bring more sophisticated women to
the screens. You started to see women dressed in tailored suits, with professional jobs. This change
was during the post-code era around 1934. These beautiful, intelligent, masculine women wanted to
show how there were more than life than a party to women.
Then came along “Screwball Comedy.” Bringing the war of the sexes, portraying women as equal as
or better than men. This style of comedy was now challenging the traditional roles or conventions of
women. Displaying women who did not take no for an answer, women who were in charge of their
lives, and did not live any room for a man could not control her. Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert
were the stars of It Happened One Night, a film directed by Frank Capra in February 1934. In this
film Claudette was the female who did not take no for an answer, as she ran away from her father to
prove to herself and everyone that she could survive on her own. Only it was that easy for her, and
luckily she had Clark there to guide her through it no matter how much she tried to fight him off.
Eventually falling in love with him, this film displayed a little bit of everything. From screwball
comedy, vulgar language, nudity, and the possibility to sexual activity taking place (although it was
never shown). Film developed a lot from The Gold Rush days.
2. Find a related article and summarize it.
The article that I read about It Happened One Night was a great one. Here is how I can
summarize it. It Happened One Night was not only the best, but the first “Screwball
Comedy”. The film is about a runaway heiress who has goals to running to New York City.
She meets a reporter who makes her fall in love with him after a whole bunch of disagreeing
and pretending. Despite the film's success, this film could have easily been a disaster, and
that's what many people expected it to be.In the early 1930s, Columbia Pictures was not
really favored, infact they were known as th "Poverty Row" studio. People felt like they made
cheap B-movies. No female Actresses wanted to take part in the film and the male actors
were spoiled. The only reason they were able to get Claudette Colbert was because she
already had a deal with the company, and they offered her more money for the weeks to film
the movie than she received per movie on a regular basis. However she refused to be apart
any sex scenes, and it almost took them using an extra’s leg (in the scene when they were
hitch hiking and trying to pick up a ride). Nobody expected this movie to be good, especially
Claudette, since she had previously filmed with Frank Capra and it turned out to be horrible.
Surprisingly the film caught everyone by surprise, as word of mouth created a buzz about
the movie. It did not take long for the film to do great on the box office charts. So great that it
won a numerous amount of awards.
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/12648/It-Happened-One-Night/articles.html
3. Apply the article to the film reviewed in class
I found this article to be perfect when it comes to summarizing the film. It briefly explained
the main scenes in the movie, and the important aspects of the film. For example how the
film was the best Screwball Comedy of the time, and how sex appeal was the thing back
then. What i found to be very interesting is the facts it stated about Columbia Pictures, and
how Claudette disagreed with the scenes women were expected to play. Columbia Pictures
are now one of the best, but back then they were known for being a Poverty row. The film
however was extremely funny to me even though it was filmed in a different age. Claudette
did not want to take apart of any sexual scenes which gives an understanding as to why
they had to put the “walls of jericho” up when they were in the hotels. I would have never
expected she did not want to lift her skirt up, that only shows how great of an actress
Claudette was. Also realized that advertising and promoting went far back, how Clark was
basically modeling men shirts and trench coats making them fashion trends. this article was
perfect.
4. Write a critical analysis of the film.
I believe that this film was excellent for its time period. This was the beginning of sound, and
the sound was great. the production of the film was very good for its time, meaning back
then they didn't have the advances in technology as we do now, so you obviously can't
expect it to be out of this world great. They did an amazing job keeping the audience of
college students in the year of 2013 entertained so i can only imagine how much their
original audience loved it.The storyline was awesome as well. A young girl running away
from home, only to realize she couldn’t do it alone. Then comes along a boy who later steals
her heart. This is a movie every one could find to be amazing and hilarious at the same
time.
CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM
1) (* ) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class.
2) ( *) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper.
3) ( *) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text.
4) ( *) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper.
5) ( *) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read.
6) ( *) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography.
7) ( *) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality.
8) ( *) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.
Name: Nabilah Smith______ Date: _2/26/2013______
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