Oscars Retrospective: It Happened One Night (7th Academy Awards Review)
The Man on the Flying Trapeze~Burl Ives When looking at 1930s Hollywood, there are several names that pop up a lot when talking about the most influential films of that era. One of the biggest name directors from that time is Frank Capra, an Italian immigrant who was in love with American culture and dedicated his life to bring what he saw as the idealized American life to the country. He’s one of the best directors of the 30s and his most influential and beloved film from that time was easily It Happened One Night ( It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) came out in the 1940s, so it doesn’t count). Considered the archetypical romantic-comedy, It Happened One Night is one of those movies that you may not have heard of, let alone watched, but once I start detailing the plot, it’s going to ring a few bells because everyone emulated this story. While there were romantic-comedies before this, such as The Love Parade (1929) and City Lights (1931), this is where most of the clichés for the ge