It Happened One Night (1934)

You know those rom-coms that come out just about every year? you know, where the guy/girl ends up with the girl/guy that isn't their fiancé? Yeah? Well this movie is the grand daddy of all of them. Sweeping the oscars to become the first movie to nab the 'big five' (best picture, best director, best actor, best actress and best screenplay). Nowadays the plot is fairly predictable:

Man (Clark Gable) meets society princess (Claudette Colbert) on a bus to New York where she plans to meet her husband; Man is a newspaperman who's got a bone to pick with his boss. Colbert is Ellie Andrews and Gable is Peter Warne and they fight like cat and dog- See where this is going? One thing i didn't mention: Ellie fell off the radar and everyone is out looking for her. Peter has got the scoop.

Predictable? yes. tame? yes. funny and romantic? hell yes! It might be noticeably dated but it is hard not to love it more and more. Hell, we love THEM. Gables easy charisma and Colbert's near-pitch perfect line delivery add up to one of the first (and greatest) true rom-coms. There is no doubt that the basic formula has been improved upon (perhaps best seen in 'Roman Holiday [1953]), but this movie is still very likeable and good fun.

I could gush about Gables charm and physical looks and wonder how the Ellie character could have possibly resisted him for most of the movie, but that would be redundant and i'd come up fruitless in the end anyway. Colbert is kind of underrated, she has been in a few good movies, such as The Palm Beach Story (1942) and she almost (she had to drop out due to a back injury) had the iconic role of Margo Channing in All About Eve (1950), which of course went to Bette Davis who made it one of the greatest female roles in history. I guess Colbert as Margo is one of those 'what if?' moments. In any case she was good.

It was directed capably by Frank Capra (who was a master director of these kinds of movies) and written with great wit and intelligence (remember when comedies had that?) by Robert Riskin. This is a great movie that, while being a little long in some parts, is worth the watch just so you can laugh and be amazed by how influential this movie is on modern romantic comedies. I'm not going to waste my writing space (although i gladly would so i could talk more,) telling you exactly how it was influential, you'll have to see it for yourself- i'm not your slave.

"Well i proved once and for all that the limb is mightier than the thumb" Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert), It Happened One Night

My ideal comedy....

I still love movies, i try to see as many good ones as possible and if that means paying the money to go to the cinema i am all for it. But somehow i always find myself wondering how it could have been better, did Megan Fox really need to say "you give me such a wettie" in Jennifer's Body? That was really a cringe worthy line, the movie wasn't that flash either. Really i have to wonder sometimes how the movie stars of the classic studio era would have implied anything raunchy. I've seen movies with double entendre's that you really had to listen to understand and love and they were way funnier than Jennifer's Body. Enough about that movie.

I love how they implied things, i suppose there is something to be said for subtlety. I kind of just want to see a movie that has the double entendre's and dry wit of the classic era combined with the darkness of modern comedies like (here i go again) Jennifer's Body. That was really dark, it had some good idea's but it's attempts at being edgy were kind of cheap and awkward. However if i took the best things about the movie (the action and storyline) and combined it with the comedy of old, then i'd be closer to my ideal film.

I suppose it is just a pipe dream and i feel silly for even saying it aloud. But it's true. The recent death of one of the last great movie stars, Elizabeth Taylor, has sort of spurred this post. I decided not to do a whole post on her specifically because in truth i haven't seen many of her movies. But i do know that she was THE movie star. Her sheer presence in a film made it watchable, even The Flintstones. I suppose that anyone who watches an Elizabeth Taylor movie will see just that: Elizabeth Taylor. She could act (she was great in Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf), but i'm not sure that was why she was so successful. Personally i think it was her looks (i wish i had those eyes) and her attitude. That's my opinion. Here another of my opinions: i thought she'd live forever. Her movie's will though.

Back to what i was saying. The comedy of the classic era (at least the good ones) were witty, screwball and lighthearted. I loved them, i want the modern sex comedy to be mixed with the screwball and slapstick of the classics. It would be epic.

Then there are the stars. I'd want....
Johnny Depp
Cary Grant
Katharine Hepburn
Anne Hathaway
Jack Lemmon
Tina Fey
Natalie Wood
James Dean (i am just curious how he would have been in a comedy)
Robin Williams (circa Mork and Mindy)
Mae West
The Marx Brothers
Tony Curtis
Barbra Streisand (circa What's Up Doc?)
Liz Taylor (circa Father of the bride)
Spencer Tracy (circa Woman of the year)
Madeline Kahn
Gene Wilder
directed by Frank Capra
written by: Mel Brooks, Woody Allen and Billy Wilder

That is who would be in my perfect comedy. With a cast like that it would have to be a road movie or something, but still... it would be so cool. Even if it is unattainable.

This was a pretty pointless post....

"Is that a gun in your pocket or you just glad to see me?" Marlo Manners, (Mae West) Sextette (1978)

A Marxist fellow who was a bit of a Grouch....

Mr Groucho Marx may be one of the funniest men i have ever had the pleasure of watching on that tremendous website we call YouTube. He is well remembered for the Elephant joke in Animal Crackers.

You may remember that i gave a rather unfavorable review of the Marx Brothers classic Duck Soup recently, i want you to know that by know means does that mean that they weren't funny. It's just i didn't enjoy that particular film. Anyway Groucho is my favourite. He always seemed to have something to say and it was always clever and his snappy ad libs run rings around the comedy of Adam Sandler, everyone involved in The Hangover and Jerry Seinfeld (although i admit to being a fan).


Here are just a few Groucho quotes.... 

• I wish you'd keep my hands to yourself.
• Marriage is the chief cause of divorce.
• Women should be obscene and not heard.
• Ice Water? Get some Onions - that'll make your eyes water!
• Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana
• Here's to our wives and girlfriends...may they never meet!
• A man's only as old as the woman he feels.
• If you want to see a comic strip, you should see me in the shower
• Age is not a particularly interesting subject. Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough.
• Although it is generally known, I think it's about time to announce that I was born at a very early age

i like the one about the comic strip. So anyway the guy was great and i especially like the way he talked, it was.. well it had that comic quality. Bugs Bunny! his voice had the same quality of Clark Gables that reminds me of Bugs Bunny. Just listen to the clip above of the elephant joke.


i think that i wouldn't have as much respect for classic comics (there once was a time where i thought that Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny were the be all and end all of comedy). I have to say that upon re-watching Duck Soup i enjoyed it far more, i like the songs more as well, so yes i think i like the movie as a whole. This is why i watch things twice. Stand vy for a post on my re-watching of Duck Soup.


"Anyone who says they can see through women is missing a lot" Groucho Marx

Gypsy (1962)

I have to say that although it's no musical masterpiece it has been unfairly treated in the past.

After all Rosalind Russell (who plays Mama Rose) while not physically suiting the part (the real Mama Rose wasn't as tall or slim, which is probably why Ethel Merman played her on stage to rousing applause- because she had the look) anyway she brought some emotion and depth to it, plus she's made worse movies.
Then there is Natalie Wood, (who gets to sing for herself in this!) now she has been one of my favourite actresses since i saw her in The Great Race (being funny) and in West Side Story (miming but acting the hell out of it), so i was looking forward to seeing this. While she plays the title role her part isn't that showy, at the start she is a sort of quiet and timid girl, but as the movie progresses she comes out of her shell much more. Thats character development. She too has made worse movies (Bombers B-52 anyone?).
Karl Malden isn't mentioned much so i thought i'd just mention that while he didn't give a groundbreaking performance it was solid and had some life.
Ann Jillian who played June Hovick (Gypsy's sister) embodied her character pretty fully and i have no complaints.

Now the music is a mixed batch but mainly entertaining, especially "let me entertain you" and "if mama was married."
Dances are fine, especially Tulsa's dance with Louise (AKA Gypsy, played by Natalie Wood), which is a highlight.

To be honest it ran a little long and some parts of it should have been cut, but this is not the fault of the actors. I have to say that it's funny, dramatic, light and overall uneven, but if you're a fan of the actors it's worth a watch. Personally i enjoyed it, i got a bit bored in some parts because almost any scene without Russell or Wood is unbearable (thankfully there are very, very few). And i still watch it occasionally, it's not the best musical comedy by a long shot but for an afternoon watch you could do a lot worse.

"Have a Goldstone Mr Eggroll!" Mama Rose (Rosalind Russell), Gypsy.

Clue (1985)

Clue is a 1985 comedy/mystery/crime based on the classic board game Cluedo. As someone who is a fan of a couple of the actors in it i sincerely hoped it was good, and it was! I never really warmed to playing Cluedo when i was younger (my older siblings had lost most of the pieces) but this movie has certainly gotten me interested in playing the game.

it stars Tim Curry as Wadsworth, Eileen Brennan as Mrs Peacock, Madeline Kahn as Mrs White, Christopher Lloyd as Prof Plum, Michael Mckean as Mr Green, Martin Mull as Col Mustard, Lesley Ann Warren as Miss Scarlet and Colleen Camp as Yvette.

Basically its about one night where 6 people have been invited to dinner at a mysterious mansion where they are greeted by Wadsworth and Yvette. They all have been given a codename and are asked not to reveal any personal information. This is more than a little weird. A mysterious Mr Boddy is also part of the scheme, but he gets killed early on and then there is chaos.

i was pleasantly surprised that i was interested in the plot and who did it as much as i was in how funny it was. A welcome bonus that a comedy could not only make you laugh but make your mind tick as try to figure out 'who dunnit'. The deadpan delivery of lines coupled with the bizarre situation and the slapstick was the most entertaining part of the film. Tim Curry is, as always, a delight to watch, Christopher Llyod is just cool in everything and Madeline Kahn plays a good Mrs White. Colleen Camp as Yvette was a surprise though, i'd never heard of the actress but since i liked the character so much ('flames on the side of my face' see the film and you'll get the reference) i feel inclined to see what else she has been in.

A downside of the movie was that it had a slow start, but other than that i found it solid. I recommend it to any lover of dark comedy, the actors, mystery with some fun thrown in or who loves movies that portrays the 50s in a satirical light. All in all i have to say that i enjoyed the endings (yes, plural) the most, Wadsworth reenacting the crimes was a delight, especially when he slaps Mrs Peacock in the face.

"they all did it, but if you want to know who shot Mr Boddy, i did. In The hall, with the revolver. OK, chief take em away! I'm gonna go home and sleep with my wife" Mr Green (Michael Mckean), Clue