It Happened One Night (1934) (b/w, Criterion Collection)

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Opposites attract with magnetic force in this romantic road-trip delight from Frank Capra, about a spoiled runaway socialite and a roguish man-of-the-people reporter who is determined to get the scoop on her scandalous disappearance. The first film to accomplish the very rare feat of sweeping all five major Oscar categories (best picture, best actor, best actress, best director, and best screenplay), It Happened One Night is among the most gracefully constructed and edited films of the early sound era, packed with clever situations and gags that have entered the Hollywood comedy pantheon. Featuring two actors at the top of their game, sparking with a chemistry that has never been bettered, this is the birth of the screwball comedy.