In The 1934 It Happened One Night Essay
HUMA 1780: AMERICAN FILM
Essay #1: American Film Comedies
10/8/13
In the 1934 It happened one night by Frank Capra, the two main actors display hilarity and romance in the big screen for audiences. This film was a great escapist comedy for Depression-era audiences and brought upon some shocking and racy scenes that caused an uproar for some viewers.it also worked to release that in which society as a whole tries to hold in check. Moreover, this film contains two major contrasting characters who display the different classes, portrays conscious and unconscious gender roles, and some themes of reform (integration) throughout the era of Hollywood cinema.
Comedy films during the Great Depression were supposed to unite different social …show more content…
It shows how “American screen comedies demonstrate the flexibility of our democratic social structure in its ability to absorb new members and integrate them into a new social order whose unity and diversity exceed that of the old order”(166). This is shown through the scene of the bus where everybody, from poor to rich are in the same bus and they sing in unison. Another example of regeneration of society was the last scenes of the movie in which Ellie marries and falls in love with peter instead of her fiancé. “this final marriage is right not only because Colbert and gable really love each other but also because it heals the divisions in society, establishing a new order through the symbolic marriage of representatives of different social classes”(166-167). In addition, the social expectations of a man and woman traveling together at the time was unheard and outrageous. Ellen and peter both learn some things from each and how the other half lives. . Ellen wants to be free to make her own decisions, but her father is always choosing for her. She is also reformed by peter when he teaches her how to survive without food, money, or shelter. Additionally, peter is changed beascuese he fell in love with Ellen when she is so opposite of him and everything he despises. Remarkably, in this film it is not the poor who miss out on their freedom but the
Essay #1: American Film Comedies
10/8/13
In the 1934 It happened one night by Frank Capra, the two main actors display hilarity and romance in the big screen for audiences. This film was a great escapist comedy for Depression-era audiences and brought upon some shocking and racy scenes that caused an uproar for some viewers.it also worked to release that in which society as a whole tries to hold in check. Moreover, this film contains two major contrasting characters who display the different classes, portrays conscious and unconscious gender roles, and some themes of reform (integration) throughout the era of Hollywood cinema.
Comedy films during the Great Depression were supposed to unite different social …show more content…
It shows how “American screen comedies demonstrate the flexibility of our democratic social structure in its ability to absorb new members and integrate them into a new social order whose unity and diversity exceed that of the old order”(166). This is shown through the scene of the bus where everybody, from poor to rich are in the same bus and they sing in unison. Another example of regeneration of society was the last scenes of the movie in which Ellie marries and falls in love with peter instead of her fiancé. “this final marriage is right not only because Colbert and gable really love each other but also because it heals the divisions in society, establishing a new order through the symbolic marriage of representatives of different social classes”(166-167). In addition, the social expectations of a man and woman traveling together at the time was unheard and outrageous. Ellen and peter both learn some things from each and how the other half lives. . Ellen wants to be free to make her own decisions, but her father is always choosing for her. She is also reformed by peter when he teaches her how to survive without food, money, or shelter. Additionally, peter is changed beascuese he fell in love with Ellen when she is so opposite of him and everything he despises. Remarkably, in this film it is not the poor who miss out on their freedom but the