Editing It Happened One Night (section)

==Reception==
[[Image:Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night film trailer.jpg|thumb|[[Film frame|Frame]] from the film's [[Trailer (promotion)|trailer]]]]
After filming was done, Colbert complained to a friend that she had "just finished the worst picture in the world."<ref name=Pace/><ref>[http://www.moviediva.com/MD_root/reviewpages/MDItHappenedOneNight.htm "Review: 'It Happened One Night'."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206150256/http://www.moviediva.com/MD_root/reviewpages/MDItHappenedOneNight.htm |date=February 6, 2007 }} ''moviediva.com'', April 2005. Retrieved: December 7, 2009.</ref> Columbia appeared to have low expectations for the film and did not mount much of an advertising campaign for it.<ref>Tueth, p. 20.</ref>

The film premiered at [[Radio City Music Hall]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Hall |first=Mordaunt |date=February 23, 1934 |title=Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable in a Merry Jaunt From Miami to New York |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/02/23/archives/claudette-colbert-and-clark-gable-in-a-merry-jaunt-from-miami-to.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716000112/https://www.nytimes.com/1934/02/23/archives/claudette-colbert-and-clark-gable-in-a-merry-jaunt-from-miami-to.html |archive-date=July 16, 2018 |access-date=June 22, 2015 |website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Initial reviews were generally positive. [[Mordaunt Hall]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' called it "a good piece of fiction, which, with all its feverish stunts, is blessed with bright dialogue and a good quota of relatively restrained scenes". Hall described Colbert's performance as "engaging and lively" and Gable as "excellent". ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' reported that it was "without a particularly strong plot" but "manages to come through in a big way, due to the acting, dialog, situations and directing".<ref>{{cite news |date=February 27, 1934 |title=It Happened One Night |journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |location=New York |page=17 }}</ref> ''[[Film Daily]]'' praised it as "a lively yarn, fast-moving, plenty humorous, racy enough to be tantalizing, and yet perfectly decorous".<ref>{{cite news |date=February 23, 1934 |title=It Happened One Night |journal=[[Film Daily]] |location=New York |page=6 }}</ref> The ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'' called it "lively and amusing".<ref name="Mizejewski, p. 11">Mizejewski, p. 11.</ref>

[[John Mosher (writer)|John Mosher]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' panned it as "pretty much nonsense and quite dreary", which was probably the review Capra had in mind when he recalled in his autobiography that "sophisticated" critics had dismissed the film.<ref>{{cite news |last=Mosher |first=John C. |author-link=John Mosher (writer) |date=March 3, 1934 |title=The New Yorker |title-link=The New Yorker |journal=New York |page=67 }}</ref><ref>Mizejewski, p. 12.</ref> Despite the positive reviews, the film was only moderately successful in its initial run. After it was released to secondary movie houses, ticket sales became brisk, especially in smaller towns where the film's characters and simple romance struck a chord with moviegoers who were not surrounded by luxury.<ref name="Mizejewski, p. 11" /> It turned out to be a major box office smash, easily Columbia's biggest hit until the late 1980s.<ref>McBride 1992, pp. 308–309.</ref> During its initial release, the film earned $1 million in [[box office|theater rentals]] from the United States and Canada.<ref name="mcbride">{{Cite book| last=McBride| first=Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DMkLpTFBEtUC&dq=%22It+Happened+One+Night%22+rentals+1934&pg=PA309 |title=Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |year=1992 |page=309| isbn=978-1-60473-839-1 }}</ref>

[[Rotten Tomatoes]] compiled 108 reviews of the film to form a 98% score and an [[Weighted arithmetic mean|average rating]] of 9.1/10. The consensus reads, "Capturing its stars and director at their finest, ''It Happened One Night'' remains unsurpassed by the countless romantic comedies it has inspired".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/it_happened_one_night|title=It Happened One Night (1934)|via=www.rottentomatoes.com|access-date=February 19, 2019|archive-date=June 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605025835/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/it_happened_one_night|url-status=live}}</ref> The film holds a score of 87 out of 100 on [[Metacritic]], based on 16 critics.<ref>{{Cite web |title=It Happened One Night Reviews |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/it-happened-one-night |access-date=August 13, 2023 |website=[[Metacritic]] |publisher=[[Fandom, Inc.]]}}</ref>

Colbert was nominated for an Academy Award, but decided not to attend the ceremony since she felt she would not win and planned to take a cross-country railroad trip. After she was named the winner, studio chief [[Harry Cohn]] sent someone to "drag her off" the train, which had not yet departed, to bring her to the ceremony. Colbert arrived wearing a two-piece traveling suit which she had had the [[Paramount Pictures]] costume designer, [[Travis Banton]], make for her trip.<ref>Sharon Fink. "Oscars: The Evolution of Fashion." ''St. Petersburg Times'', February 24, 2007.</ref>

===Academy Awards===
The film won all five of the [[Academy Award]]s for which it was nominated at the [[7th Academy Awards]] for 1934:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Award !! Result !! Winner
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Outstanding Production]] || {{won}} || [[Frank Capra]] and [[Harry Cohn]] (for [[Columbia Pictures]])
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] || {{won}} || [[Frank Capra]]
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]] || {{won}} || [[Clark Gable]]
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] || {{won}} || [[Claudette Colbert]]
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Adaptation]] || {{won}} || [[Robert Riskin]]
|-
|}

''It Happened One Night'' was the first film [[List of Big Five Academy Award winners and nominees|to win the "Big Five" Academy Awards]] (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Writing). {{As of|2025}}, only two films have matched this feat: ''[[One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)|One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest]]'' in 1975 and ''[[The Silence of the Lambs (film)|The Silence of the Lambs]]'' in 1991.<ref>[http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/DisplayMain.jsp?curTime=1252044858649 "Awards."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111092629/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/DisplayMain.jsp?curTime=1252044858649 |date=January 11, 2012 }} ''awardsdatabase.oscars.org''. Retrieved: September 4, 2009.</ref>

On December 15, 1996, Gable's Oscar was auctioned off for $607,500 to [[Steven Spielberg]], who donated the statuette to the Motion Picture Academy.<ref>McKittrick, Rosemary. [http://www.liveauctiontalk.com/free_article_detail.php?article_id=53 "Gable's Gold: Auction cashes in on Hollywood idol."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303183113/http://www.liveauctiontalk.com/free_article_detail.php?article_id=53 |date=March 3, 2016 }} ''liveauctiontalk.com''. Retrieved: December 7, 2009.</ref> In June of the following year, Colbert's Oscar was offered for auction by [[Christie's]] but attracted no bids.<ref>Story, Paula (8 June 1997). [https://apnews.com/article/ed8e94c38780e82ebb5580c270a96f3d "Marilyn Monroe's gown draws $57,000 at Christie's auction"]. ''APNews.com''. Retrieved 2 January 2023.</ref>

===Others===
The film was included in the following [[American Film Institute]] lists:
* 1998: [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies]] – #35<ref>{{cite web |title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies |url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/movies100.pdf |publisher=[[American Film Institute]] |access-date=July 17, 2016 |archive-date=April 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412113202/http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/movies100.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 2000: [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs]] – #8<ref>{{cite web |title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs |url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/laughs100.pdf |publisher=[[American Film Institute]] |access-date=July 17, 2016 |archive-date=June 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624052741/http://afi.com/Docs/100Years/laughs100.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 2002: [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions]] – #38<ref>{{cite web |title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions |url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/passions100.pdf |publisher=[[American Film Institute]] |access-date=July 17, 2016 |archive-date=June 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624052654/http://afi.com/Docs/100Years/passions100.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 2007: [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)]] – #46<ref>{{cite web |title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) |url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/100Movies.pdf |publisher=[[American Film Institute]] |access-date=July 17, 2016 |archive-date=June 6, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606072909/http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/100Movies.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 2008: [[AFI's 10 Top 10]]: Romantic Comedy – #3<ref>{{cite web |title=AFI's 10 Top 10: Top 10 Romantic Comedy |url=http://www.afi.com/10top10/category.aspx?cat=2 |publisher=[[American Film Institute]] |access-date=July 17, 2016 |archive-date=June 15, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160615004316/http://www.afi.com/10top10/category.aspx?cat=2 |url-status=live }}</ref>