It Happened One Night is an American 1934 screwball comedy directed by Frank Capra, in which a pampered socialite (Claudette Colbert) tries to get out from under her father's thumb, and falls in love with a roguish reporter (Clark Gable). Filming began in a tense atmosphere as Gable and Colbert were dissatisfied with the quality of the script. However, they established a friendly working relationship and found that the script was no worse than those of many of their earlier films. Capra understood that they were unwilling participants and tried to lighten the mood by having Gable play practical jokes on Colbert, who responded with good humor.
Both Gable and Capra enjoyed making the movie. Colbert however continued to show her displeasure on the set. She also initially balked at pulling up her skirt to entice a passing driver to provide a ride, complaining that it was unladylike. However, upon seeing the chorus girl who was brought in as her body double, an outraged Colbert told the director, "Get her out of here. I'll do it. That's not my leg!" Through the filming, Capra claimed, Colbert made "many little tantrums, motivated by her antipathy toward me," however "she was wonderful in the part." After her acceptance speech at the Oscars ceremony, she went back on stage and thanked Capra for making the film.
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Let me get this straight: Nearly two years after bathing in milk for "The Sign Of The Cross" (with the milk level at a point where her nipples nearly showed), Claudette Colbert claimed that exposing a stockinged thigh was unladylike? Either she had changed a lot over those months, or Cecil B. DeMille cast a spell upon her that Frank Capra couldn't duplicate.
ReplyDeleteOf course, had "It Happened One Night" been made six months later, after the Production Code was being strictly enforced (thank you, Joe Breen!), all this probably would have been moot.