Here I am again, in a quandary over a film's reputation and my own reaction to it. Hailed as one of the great screwball comedies and on many best lists, I just didn't think it was as strong a picture as I was expecting. When I think of 'screwball', I'm looking for snappy one liners and engaging chemistry between the principals, but the film didn't deliver for me on that score. Gable's character came off as rather harsh for my taste, especially in the scene at the cabin when they faked their marriage to convince the authorities that Ellie (Claudette Colbert) wasn't the person they were looking for. There was also that set up at the beginning of the relationship when Peter Warne (Gable) has the 'so there' tiff with the bus driver. I was really expecting a clever resolution to that exchange and it just went nowhere.
So OK, the picture swept the Oscars, but take a look at one of the competitors - "The Thin Man". Now there was a screwball comedy, with as engaging a couple as you can find in William Powell and Myrna Loy. What was probably needed here was someone like Cary Grant to pull off the male lead, as Gable's approach was just a bit too shrill. In fact, Grant was a newspaper reporter in "His Girl Friday", opposite Rosalind Russell, so there's another example. Another would be "Philadelphia Story", Grant again with a little help from Jimmy Stewart. The latter two came a half dozen years later, but you still get the idea.
As for director Capra, I think he outdid this picture with his 1938 Best Film Oscar winner - "You Can't Take It With You", and you can't get any more screwball than that one. And even though the theme is somewhat different, "It's A Wonderful Life" stands head and shoulders above this one in my estimation. So maybe I'm missing something, and I'll leave it at that.
There were a few things that caught my attention though, like 'Hot Dogs and Hamburgers - 10 cents' on one of the roadside bus stops - there's a bargain! And I had never seen an 'autogyro' before, I thought it would be a helicopter, but seeing it with two propellers going in different directions was really cool to see.
But then you had Gable smoking in bed a couple of times. Not a very good example to set when so many people lose their lives in house fires from that very cause. And who thought it was cool for him to beat up a guy to steal his car? Sorry for those downers. But the thing that nagged me the most - what did Ellie Andrews ever see in King Westley to begin with?
So OK, the picture swept the Oscars, but take a look at one of the competitors - "The Thin Man". Now there was a screwball comedy, with as engaging a couple as you can find in William Powell and Myrna Loy. What was probably needed here was someone like Cary Grant to pull off the male lead, as Gable's approach was just a bit too shrill. In fact, Grant was a newspaper reporter in "His Girl Friday", opposite Rosalind Russell, so there's another example. Another would be "Philadelphia Story", Grant again with a little help from Jimmy Stewart. The latter two came a half dozen years later, but you still get the idea.
As for director Capra, I think he outdid this picture with his 1938 Best Film Oscar winner - "You Can't Take It With You", and you can't get any more screwball than that one. And even though the theme is somewhat different, "It's A Wonderful Life" stands head and shoulders above this one in my estimation. So maybe I'm missing something, and I'll leave it at that.
There were a few things that caught my attention though, like 'Hot Dogs and Hamburgers - 10 cents' on one of the roadside bus stops - there's a bargain! And I had never seen an 'autogyro' before, I thought it would be a helicopter, but seeing it with two propellers going in different directions was really cool to see.
But then you had Gable smoking in bed a couple of times. Not a very good example to set when so many people lose their lives in house fires from that very cause. And who thought it was cool for him to beat up a guy to steal his car? Sorry for those downers. But the thing that nagged me the most - what did Ellie Andrews ever see in King Westley to begin with?