Here’s one of the oldest screwball romantic comedies ever made (and certainly the oldest that I have seen), yet it seems just as fresh over 70 years later as it did in the day. It Happened One Night is noted by trivia buffs as the first movie to win all five major Academy Awards–Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay–and would be the only to do so until One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in 1975. Now after finally seeing the film, I can understand why. This is an effortless movie that rides completely on its entertaining storyline, brisky pace, and sensational chemistry between the two leads.

The movie tells of Ellie, a woman married to a wealthy King who, tired of her father’s control, runs away and meets with Peter, an eccentric reporter, on a bus going toward New York. All Peter wants is a great story to write, and Ellie needs his help, since it clearly has been a long time since she’s been on her own. Together they make an oddly matched couple at first, but over the course of a few days, their journey together leads to a romance that neither of them could have suspected. It’s the classic scenario of two people who clearly don’t belong together in the beginning, but who are literally forced to fall in love with each other due to their differences.

Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Frank Capra. I’m not tremendously familiar with any of these three, but I knew that it would literally be a match made in Heaven. My knowledge of Gable doesn’t extend too far beyond Gone with the Wind, and when I think Capra, I think, like most people do, It’s a Wonderful Life. Colbert’s name I’ve heard, but I couldn’t tell you one other movie she’s been in. This journey I’m taking through early films has been nothing less that wholly satisfying, given that I’m finally checking out older movies I never would’ve seen in the first place. A movie like It Happened One Night isn’t a movie that typically first choice on the Netflix queue, but I’m making movies like this the first choice. Not all films from the 30’s have been entirely worthwhile, but this one’s a gem.

The movie lives and dies by the chemistry of the two leads, and these two are just wonderful together. Colbert seems to be a little too mousy at first, with Gable looking too much like a handsome ladies’ man, but the two complement each other soon enough. Once the two hit the road and are hitch-hiking, the chemistry is practically tangible on the screen. You want these two characters to work out their differences and be together. We know it’s coming, but we’re just waiting in anticipation to see them finally ackowledge their feelings for each other. Gable is just so much fun to watch. His personality is energetic and unpredictable. Colbert is a beauty, completely in her element in such a 30’s screwball comedy like this one. I would love to see her in more.

It Happened One Night is a sweet little movie that put a smile on my face. It’s not the most memorable classic film I’ve watched yet, as my interest in early cinema lies more with the horror films than anything, but I definitely enjoyed myself while watching this one. Frank Capra almost seems like a brand name than an actual person, since just hearing his name makes me think of warm, old-fashioned entertainment like It’s a Wonderful Life, the staple Christmas classic. This film isn’t really in that league, but it’s a pleasant diversion that’s worth a look for fans of the stars or director.