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