It Happened One Night

            In "It Happened One Night" the female lead, Elie, was trying to get away from her father.  She wanted to be independent and marry the man she wanted to.  When The lead male, Peter Warne, came along she did not want to be bossed around by him either.  We talked in class about how in screwball comedy there is a "war of the sexes."  This was very clear with Elie and Peter.  They argued about who was right and what was the right thing to do in a certain citation.  This competition was very clear when they grew tired of walking and attempted to hitchhike.  Peter had an entire system on how to stop a car and it was based on your facial expression and your hand gesture.  After Elie sarcastically put her faith in him, she showed him how to really do it.  She pulled up her skirt and the first car that passed screeched to a halt.
            The first "Bugs Bunny" cartoon was aired in 1940, six years after "It Happened One Night" came out.  Despite the fact Bugs Bunny was created six years after It Happened One Night, nobody had forgotten Clark Gable's performance in the hitchhiking scene.  It would have been very evident in 1940, as it is still today, that Bugs Bunny was imitating Clark.  Chuck Jone, the creator of Bugs Bunny, explained that the demeanor of the rabbit was based off of Clark Gable.  In the scene Clark Gable casually leans against a fence post and talks quickly while eating a carrot and doesn't stop to politely swallow.  Those who had seen Clark Gable in It Happened One Night, and the Bugs Bunny character, know that there is a clear relation between the two arrogant men. 
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/406400.html
            "It Happened One Night" is a perfect example of screwball comedy.  Peter and Elie struggle for power.  Peter tends to use physicality and Elie uses her wits and sarcasm.  The two argue and banter back and forth for most of the movie.  I enjoyed watching the movie and thought that Gable and Colbert's character portrayal was very funny.  Clark Gable was one of the cockiest characters I have seen in a movie.  I think that men and women can both love this movie because men want to be the confident man that Gable is, and women want to be the confident independent women that  Claudette Colbert is.  It is no surprise that the movie did so well in 1934 and still today.  Scenes of hitchhiking and wedding crashing due to love are now used today in film.  Nowadays women tend to show a little more skin to stop a car though.  In the award winning film "The Graduate" Dustan Hoffman crashes his loves wedding and they run of together and live happily also.  Frank Capra contributed a classic screwball comedy that can last for years and years.  Having swept the Oscars in 1934, that is proof that the is a great movie and everyone in it had an amazing performance.  
 

The Gold Rush

The Gold Rush (1925) Charlie Chaplin

            During the discussion we went over how Charlie Chaplin uses a lot of physical comedy.  During the very first scene of the movie as he is trying to get to Alaska and where the gold rush is he is walking on the side of a mountain.  He is slipping and sliding on the very edge of death but yet his character remains blissfully unaware.  This led to a very entertaining scene in the very beginning of the movie.

            Charlie Chaplin was inspired to make the movie “The Gold Rush” by two sources.  One source more obvious than the other.  The first subject that inspired him was the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896.  He was shocked by the photo of hundreds of men lined up the Chilkoot Pass.  Shortly after seeing the picture he read a book entitled “the Donner Party Disaster of 1846.”  He used both situations in specific scenes in his movie.  The book spoke of men having to eat their moccasins out of hunger and eating their fallen friends.  While trying to find a lead role Chaplin rehired Lollita MacMurray who had had used in a prior film.  She was 16 and Chaplin had an affair with her and she got pregnant.  He was forced to marry her but they did eventually have another child.  Shooting the film was very elaborate.  Some was shot on the Chilkoot pass and some was also shot on miniatures for more special effects.  The models were so well made that it is hard to distinguish the difference between nature and manmade.  I thought that the special effect in the film were amazing.  I thought the scene where the house was being blown over the cliff was really cool.

http://www.charliechaplin.com/en/biography/articles/5-The-Gold-Rush

            I was surprised at how easy it was to watch “The Gold Rush.  I have seen parts of some of the first silent films and I didn’t like them very much.  I thought that the movie never really bored me and went along at a good pace.  I really like when the main female character pointed at Chaplin and he pointed to himself and then looked around in disbelief.  I have seen this used in many movies or videos in general and I was surprised that it had been come up with so many years ago.  I thought much of the humor can be easily understood today.  I never really felt like the film was too outdated for someone to watch today.  The special effects were really wonderful and I am glad that I watched the movie.