It Happened One Night & Twentieth Century

Frank Capra’s IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT
(1934, 105 min)

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, this 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 and featuring two actors at the top of their game, sparking with a chemistry that has never been bettered.

Followed by:

Howard Hawks’ TWENTIETH CENTURY
(1934, 91 min)

Carole Lombard established her genius for screwball comedy with this madcap classic, which practically set the template for the genre. The story unfolds in large part aboard the titular train en route from Chicago to New York. Onboard are Lily Garland, a shopgirl turned movie star, and down-on-his-luck Broadway producer Oscar Jaffe, Lily’s former lover and impresario, who will stop at nothing to convince her to star in his new show. Reunited by fate aboard the speeding locomotive, the pair match wits in a dazzling display of comic firepower.