It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934)
Das trivias do IMDB:
Friz Freleng’s unpublished memoirs mention that this was one of his favorite films, and that it contains at least three things upon which the character “Bugs Bunny” was based:
- The character Oscar Shapely’s (Roscoe Karns) personality
- The manner in which Peter Warne (Clark Gable) was eating carrots and talking quickly at the same time
- An imaginary character mentioned once to frighten Oscar Shapely named “Bugs Dooley.”
Other mentions of “Looney Tunes” characters from the film include Alexander Andrews (Walter Connolly) and King Westley (Jameson Thomas) being the inspirations for Yosemite Sam and Pepé LePew, respectively.
Robert Montgomery turned down the male lead, saying the script was the worst thing he had ever read.
Constance Bennett and Myrna Loy, among others, turned the script down. Claudette Colbert only accepted because Capra promised he would double her salary and she would be done in four weeks. She disliked the film so much she didn’t even attend the Oscars; when she won for Best Actress she was found about to leave on a trip and was rushed to the ceremony, where she made her acceptance speech in a traveling suit.
When Clark Gable showed up for work on the first day, he reportedly said grimly, “Let’s get this over with.”
Claudette Colbert complained nearly every day during the making of the film. On the last day of shooting, she told a friend “I just finished making the worst picture I’ve ever made”.
While shooting the scene where he undresses, Clark Gable had trouble removing his undershirt while keeping his humorous flow going and took too long. As a result the undershirt was abandoned altogether. It then became cool to not wear an undershirt which resulted in a large drop in undershirt sales around the country. Legend has it that in response, some underwear manufacturers tried to sue Columbia.
When director Frank Capra asked Claudette Colbert to expose her leg for the hitchhiking scene, she at first refused. Later, after having seen the leg of her body double, she changed her mind insisting that “that is not my leg!”
Is often credited as the very first screwball comedy.
Clark Gable gave his Oscar for It Happened One Night to a child who admired it, telling him it was the winning of the statue that had mattered, not owning it. The child returned the Oscar to the Gable family after Clark’s death.
It is widely believed that MGM ensured their contracted star Clark Gable received the Best Actor Oscar to promote his career at the studio. Only three actors were nominated that year, and it was widely believed Charles Laughton would have easily won for his highly acclaimed performance as the tyrannical father in The Barretts of Wimpole Street had he received a nomination.
(Achei o filme bem fraquinho, principalmente se pensarmos nos fantásticos filmes posteriores do Frank Capra. Mas acho que dá de entender toda a excitação com ele em 1934. De todo modo, já naquela época, como a última trivia aí em cima confirma, Oscar já não tinha muito a ver com mérito artístico. E o filme tem, pelo menos, trivias bem legais. E a cena das caronas é ótima.)
