Screening Report 2: It Happened One Night

1. Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.
The emotions caused by interpersonal tensions are the foundation for the screwball comedy, and It Happened One Night fits comfortably within this genre. Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert play characters from two different worlds; Peter Warne is a struggling alcoholic reporter, while Ellie Andrews is the spoiled princess of Wall Street. Neither can stand each other and inevitably fight in every scene, but it appears that in screwball comedies, opposites attract. The class differences allowed each to learn something from the other: Peter to be more emotional and Claudette to be more practical (Foster, p. 126). Not only this, but the intense situations that the duo struggled through together acted as a bond that led to a budding romance.

2. Find a related articles and summarize the content.
One subject that kept appearing in my research about this film was the Motion Picture Production Code, often known as the "Hays Code." As explained by Tim Stanley in his article "Speaking in Code", these guidelines set by the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America were originally created as a form of industry self-censorship to prevent the government from stepping in and infringing on artistic integrity, but it "would end with Hollywood censoring itself" (p. 21). The following excerpt provides examples of the kinds of portrayals that the Hays Code sought to extinguish and why:

"It clamped down on depictions of 'pointed profanity', 'any inference of sex perversion', 'suggestive nudity', 'childbirth', 'brutality', 'sedition' and 'ridicule of the clergy' -- and it urged promotion of wholesome, American values that would improve the morals of the audience." (p. 21)

The code, while restrictive, was rarely enforced for the first few years of its inception. It wasn't until shortly after It Happened One Night was released in 1934 that films were forced to adhere to those specific standards. Thus, this movie was still able to straddle the fine line that was created to uphold morality among film audiences with rather bold-for-its-time expressions of sexuality. Movies that came after 1934 could not really show nudity or sex, so they began to utilize innovative ways to show the sensuality of a scene. The article discusses Alfred Hitchcock's 1946 film Notorious and the sneaky way he directed Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman to kiss:

"... the rule was that no kiss could last more than three seconds. So Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman kissed for two seconds, broke away, kissed, broke away, kissed again and so on for what felt like an eternity of sexual tension." (p. 23)

Rules cause the determined to find loopholes, and the intimacy of that scene, despite being within standards, provides a source of protest to the censorship that caused it.

3. Apply the article to the film screened in class.
Would It Happened One Night have passed the Hays Code criteria had it been released later in the year? Let's examine some of the more risqué scenes the film provided.


This was one of the first scenes to ease the audience out of their comfort zone, featuring Peter Warne explaining the male undressing routine to an uncomfortable Ellie Andrews. A man about to take off his pants in front of a woman to whom he is not married would have been taboo in 1934, despite the fact that his actions were meant to scare Ellie across the room.

Here, the roles are reversed from before, as Ellie successfully uses her gams to stop traffic. The delicate sensibilities of the MPPDA would likely have found this action too suggestive for audiences, and a sign of moral decline.

The "Wall of Jericho" was a recurring symbol in the movie that was actually meant to uphold morality rather than tear it down for the better part of the film. This blanket helped protect the unwed characters' decencies from each other, but also served as a blaring metaphor in the final scene when Peter plays the horn to tear down the "wall"; yes, audience, this marriage is about to be consummated.

 

Three strikes, in my opinion, means the film would have needed major re-writes and editing to be deemed acceptable by the MPPDA.

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.
To a modern audience, this film causes no eyebrows to be raised. But to Depression-era audiences, It Happened One Night had the potential to cause discomfort with some of its scenes. Despite its attempts to push boundaries, I think this film would have had the same popularity and entertainment value had it followed the Hays Code. As a romantic comedy, the film held its own with the chemistry between leads Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, as proven by the film's Academy Award win for both Best Actor and Best Actress (Foster, p. 127). The pair's back-and-forth bickering, eyerolling antics, and sprinklings of conversations about donuts and piggyback rides connected the characters to each other and to the audience more effectively than suggestive scenes ever could.

Bibliography 

• Capra, Frank (Producer & Director). 22 February 1934. It Happened One Night [Motion Picture]. United States: Columbia Pictures.
• Foster, William R. (2009). Early Film History. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.
• Stanley, Tim. (2014). Speaking in Code. History Today, 64(10), 19-25.  

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: Alison Coppola
Date: 9/24/15

Screening Report 1: The Gold Rush

1. Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.
The most striking element for a modern viewer to notice while watching a silent film like The Gold Rush is the fact that filmmaking has transformed significantly as photography has progressed. From the acting, to the costumes, to more technical aspects like camera movements, better apparati, film, and techniques have allowed modern filmmakers to capture the nuances that could have been easily lost when making silent films.


The Little Tramp is one of the most recognizable characters in film history

In 1925 when The Gold Rush was released, motion photography had only been successful and commercially viable for roughly half a century with the invention of Eadweard Muybridge's simplistic Zoopraxiscope, (Foster, 2009, p. 4). Photography had improved, but it was not without its limitations. By mere observation, one can tell the quality of the film was grainy and the number of frames per second was low by modern standards, meaning choppier movements. Film could not be processed to produce color and required a lot of light to work, which forced a high contrast, black and white look. There was also no ability to record sound at the same time as filming, thus music was played during these films to fill the silence. Filmmakers needed to utilize different methods to cope with these technical setbacks and still keep movies entertaining to audiences, because nuance could easily be lost. The Gold Rush used many different methods to stay engaging, and I will elaborate more on these in my analysis.

2. Find a related articles and summarize the content.
I discovered a piece by James E. Caron called "Silent Slapstick Film as Ritualized Clowning: The Example of Charlie Chaplin". It examines the techniques used by Chaplin and others in silent films to create funny, entertaining scenes. This style of comedy was especially popular due to the lost nuance I mentioned previously; slapstick is physical, exaggerated, and hard to miss on screen. Whether through falls or pies in the face, Caron (p. 8) explains "... the comic maneuver constitutes degradation from a state of full humanity, and the results are easy laughs." Silent movie actors are, in essence, miming their way through a film and become literal clowns.

3. Apply the article to the film screened in class.
Chaplin employed many slapstick gags in The Gold Rush to keep the audience laughing. During the snowstorm, The Little Tramp was constantly engaged in chase scenes as his cabinmate hallucinated him as a chicken. He nearly fell off a cliff as the cabin hung precariously, causing the Tramp to teeter around the floor. He was often the victim of pranks, like being continuously tripped by Georgia's beau in the dance hall, and the poor man was forced to eat his own boot at Thanksgiving (much to the delight of viewers). Most of the laughs that came from this movie were from very physical acts, sometimes where the Tramp got hurt. Of course, schadenfreude makes for immense popularity.

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.
I thought the other techniques used in the film to convey mood and plot were creative. Because of the high contrast and black and white displayed in the film, facial features like eyebrows, eyelids, and lips were darkened to make expressions more easily discernible (Georgia isn't the only one wearing eyeliner...). Since there was no dialogue or sound effects to establish mood, music was used to convey this. Faster and slower scenes were scored with instrumentals that could easily pace the action. It is interesting to realize that this silent movie could be enjoyed by people of different ages, cultures, and language backgrounds. Despite its silent quality, the ability to transcend these barriers makes The Gold Rush and other silent films a medium to bring unrelated groups together to laugh and have fun.

Bibliography

• Caron, James E. (2006). "Silent Slapstick Film as Ritualized Clowning: The Example of Charlie Chaplin".
• Chaplin, Charles (Producer & Director). 26 June 1925. The Gold Rush [Motion Picture]. United States: United Artists.
• Foster, William R. (2009). Early Film History. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.

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: Alison Coppola
Date: 9/17/15