Love In Faulkner's It Happened One Night

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As mentioned before, It Happened One Night was the pinnacle of screwball comedies. The story is about a spoilt heiress, Ellen Andrews (Claudette Colbert), who runs away from home after rebelling against her father (Waler Connolly) and marries an infamous celebrity King Westley. She tries to get reunited with him throughout the film but meets a witty and recently fired reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable) and falls in love with him. In the end Ellie ends up eloping again from her own wedding but this time, for Peter. Since the American comedies of 1930’s represented the themes of marriage and courtship, it is quite obvious that the finale will take place in relation to those terms.

By looking at the Beat 6 and 7 of this particular film, it is evident that the dark moment is when there is a massive misunderstanding between the two main characters. Ellie is left by Peter at the guesthouse and she assumes that he despises her and rejected her even though she “practically threw herself at him” the night before. When her father discovers Ellie in her chambers, he notices how the joyful, posh and …show more content…

When she tells him how she met him on the road, he says “ now don’t tell me you have fallen in love with a bus driver’’. This showcases the economical differences present during the Great Depression. The public wanted to see the upper class rich people get taught a lesson in humanity, which is quite similar to the plot of this film. When Peter has a heated conversation with Ellie’s father, he says “‘what she (Ellie) needs is a guy who will take a sock to her whether it is coming to her or not”. The constant reference to rich people being spoilt, stupid, not having principles and reckless because of money is quite repetitive in this film, again highlighting on the social disturbances present during that