Cinematography by Joseph Walker. Directed by Frank Capra.
'It Happened One Night' isn't awash in meaningful camera angles. It's doesn't allude to metaphors with the use of shadows and light. Instead they make the simple look beautiful.
What you'll notice more than anything is how the characters are lit to have a glow about them. Both Gable and Claudette have angelic tinges to them, specifically when it's just them together on screen. I'd argue it was an early form of air-brushing.
I do have to say, Gable's character is a terrible reporter. I'm not sure I ever see him write down a note or ask a real question. He turns in a story at the end, but when did he write it? How did he keep track of what little info he pried out of her? (And yes I know the point is he cares more about her than the story.)
In the scene below, a couple of her father's detectives are questioning the couple. Gable and Colbert pretend to be husband and wife to shake the the tail.
They accomplish this but pretending to be in the middle of a domestic violence incident. He bellows orders and insults at her as she shrieks out a
calliopean cry. Faking domestic violence was a viable option back in 1934. And the detectives are like, "Whoa! This man has a lot of wife-beating to do! Better get out of his way!" Ahhhhh...different times I tells ya.
Gable repeatedly refers to the towel partition as the walls of Jericho. It's a motif which stands for the rules of polite society blocking his baser instincts.
And now it's time for my favorite montage in early film, the newspaper montage! Look! Paper's being printed! Headlines flying at you! What does this one say? "Hollywood Writer Seeks Easy Way to Convey Major Plot Developments" Accurate!
Again the lighting of these scenes. Imagine if the next Batman was shot lit and shot like this. It would be kinda cool I think, like as a change of pace. Actually if you go back and look at how the Christopher Reeve 'Superman' films were lit they unmistakably reflect Capra's style. (I know it was a common style in the 30's, but I'd argue Capra and Walker are most associated with these aesthetics)
I wanted to cap the scene below because it's where Gable tells Colbert's father if he was in charge of her he'd hit her every day. Her father then takes this as a sign the handsome young reporter would be a wonderful match for his daughter. Seriously, this is the conversation they have. It was a different time.
"It Happened One Night" has numerous scenes take place in tiny spaces,inside of a bus, or a motel room. The idea is both characters come from small worlds, not just Colbert. As much as he is showing her the "real world" she is opening Gable up to feelings he didn't know he had. Their arch's are symmetrical, which emphasizes how they as a couple are stronger together.
Take it or leave it. IHON is a romatic comedy and while the romance in there and leads are charismatic, I never laughed. More important for historical reasons since they've been remaking this film for the last 80 years.
