It Happened One Night is a 1934 Hollywood romantic comedy film directed and co-produced by Frank Capra in partnership with Harry Cohn, in which a pampered socialite (Claudette Colbert) seeks to get out from under her father’s thumb and falls in love with a roguish reporter (Clark Gable).
The screenplay by Robert Riskin is based on Samuel Hopkins Adams’ short tale ‘Night Bus,’ which provided the film’s title in August 1933. The film, which is considered a pre-Code’ production, is one of the final romantic comedies made before the MPPDA began strictly enforcing the 1930 Motion Picture Production Code in July 1934. It Happened One Night was only four months old when the law was enacted.
It has received accolades from critics and is largely regarded as one of the greatest pictures ever made. It Happened One Night is one of just three films to win all five major Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay (together with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and The Silence of the Lambs).
The Library of Congress chose it for preservation in the US National Film Registry in 1993, deeming it ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically important.’ Sony Pictures completed a comprehensive restoration of the film in 2013.
The filming began in a hostile atmosphere due to Gable and Colbert’s dissatisfaction with the script’s quality. Capra recognized their concerns and agreed to have them rewritten by screenwriter Robert Riskin. On the set, Colbert proceeded to express her unhappiness.
It Happened One Night was digitally restored in 2013. Sony Colorworks created a new wet-gate master for scanning at 4K. Dirt, tears, scratches, and other artifacts were digitally removed from the photographs at Prasad Corporation. The film’s original aesthetic was carefully preserved.
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