It Happened One Night

It happened one night

1.     Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening

In class we talked about the age of early silent comedies dominated by actors and comedians such as Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and fatty Arbuckle. When the shift from silent to talkies happened it was hard on some of these men to shift their work to fit these new advances in technology. Chaplin was one specifically who took years to add dialogue to his films even though he started using musical scores in his films soon after sound recording came into the picture.

It happened one night is a comedy, which is made on the backs of its two lead actors and their comedic wit fired back and forth at each other. Films like this had become the standard bearer for comedy and few people were still working in silent films by 1934, even though Chaplin’s Modern Times was still technically a silent picture made two years after this film.

2.     Find a related article and summarize the content

In the article It Happened One Night overcame tough odds to become a classic the writer talks about how It Happened One Night is not just the quintessential romantic comedy but the first film to win multiple awards for best picture, director, actor, actress, adapted screenplay. A feat, which took another 41 years to achieve. The article also talks about how the success of the film not only helped elevate the careers of the actors and director but also Columbia Pictures as well. Columbia was basically a B picture studio and received an elevated status after It Happened One Night because of the acclaim and Oscar glory.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-en-oscar-archives-it-happened-one-night-20131114-story.html

3.     Apply the article to the film screened in class

In the article they talk about how the success of this comedy film helped to establish Columbia as a major film company but also helped lay the ground for the romantic comedy genre, which in the following years became one of the most important and popular types of films. The charismatic lead actors as well as the witty dialogue were key in capturing the public’s attention.  

4.     Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of the screening, class discussions, text material and the article.

The screening of It Happened One night left me feeling thoroughly entertained and enamored with the picture. It was funny and heartfelt and  overall a well made film by Frank Capra. The only thing that stuck out in my mind in any negative way afterwards was the ending with the walls of Jericho fall, that scene left me feeling so unsatisfied because you do not get to see the two lovers together at the end of the film. They do not have a lover’s embrace, a tender kiss before their implied sex scene. It felt so unsatisfying to just be told that they were happily in love when you don’t get to see them act it out in the end. I know a reason for this was the motion picture production code called the Hays code enacted in 1930, which was responsible for toning down sexually and morally explicit content in Hollywood.  These codes were very rigid and forced filmmakers to learn how to work around these codes with editing techniques leaving many things involving sex and violence implied but not seen on screen.

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 

1) ( x ) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class. 

2) (x  ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper. 

3) (x  ) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text. 

4) (x  ) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper. 

5) ( x ) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read. 

6) (  x) 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) ( x ) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 

8) (  x) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper. 



Name: _______________Matthew Larue__________  Date: ________10/1/14_________