“It Happened One Night” (1934)*

Wealthy socialite Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) is fed up with her father’s controlling ways and jumps ship –literally. While fleeing back to New York and the famous aviator husband her father disapproves of (He annulled their marriage!), she meets Peter Warne (Clark Gable) a recently-fired newspaper reporter who needs a scoop. Her story is that scoop, but he soon finds that he and this “brat” begin to share more than rides and meals together. When I think of the 1930’s, I don’t think of rom-coms. Colbert/Gable play wonderfully off each other creating the template that others have tried to follow.

Awf Hand gives four out of four stars and adds: This is one of those standouts in the context of history. It represented pure escapism for moviegoers in the Great Depression, and virtually no acknowledgement of ‘hard-times’ was made in the film. In film history, this particular romantic comedy path has been well worn. It’s worthwhile to see an “original”.

*Yahoo’s 100 movies to see before you die.