Lt Col M Ranjit Singh (Retd)
Covid pandemic has been running wild since the last week of March 2020. Lock-down has been in force since then. Initially, we thought lock-down would be for a short duration. Soon we realised it is for a long haul. As a result, life has come to almost a standstill, confining all of us to our homes. Staying home sounds great, but passing time becomes extremely difficult. There is a sameness of each day–stuck at home every day and socially disconnected.
A key to staying sane is to partake in a movie marathon. During the last one plus year, I watched as many films as I could–romantic, western, war, historical, thriller, psychological and erotic. Today, I am sharing two screwball comedy movies with you that I enjoyed the most. Both are old movies; one would fit the category under “ancient”, and the second one would be okay with just “old”.
The first movie is “It Happened One Night” (1934). It won all five major Academy Awards, the first to accomplish this rare feat only to be emulated by “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “The Silence of the Lambs”. The movie inspired as many as 40 movies.
“It Happened One Night” was directed by Frank Capra. The main casts of the film were Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert.While Colbert was paid US$ 50,000 Clark Gable, a relatively unknown actor, was paid a paltry fee of US$ 8,000.
Based on Samuel Adam’s short story, “Night Bus”, the film is about Ellen “Ellie” Andrews, a spoilt heiress who married a fortune hunter and pilot against her rich father’s wishes.
Ellie sneaks away from the ship in Florida and hops onto a bus to New York City to reconnect with her spouse. On board the bus, she meets Peter Warne, a recently laid-off newspaper reporter. Subsequently, Peter and Elle falls in love.
The high point of the movie is Clark Gable’s undressing for bed in one scene, taking off his shirt revealing his bare-chest. According to urban legend, sales of men’s undershirts dropped significantly as a result.
Colbert lifting up her skirt to lure a passing vehicle to give her a ride was another scene stealer. Initially, she was reluctant to do the scene, saying it was unladylike. Then when the Director brought a chorus girl as her body double, Colbert screamed at Frank Copra, “Get her out of here, I’ll do it. That’s not my leg!”.
In 1935, Colbert decided to take a cross-country train vacation instead of attending the Oscar ceremony. She thought she would not win anything. On the big night, an alert newsman informed her at the railway station that she has won something like the Nobel Prize in film industry. Colbert arrived wearing a two-piece travelling suit and spent six minutes receiving the award.
The second movie is the “Roman Holiday” (1953). Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn are the leading cast. By then, Gregory Peck was an established actor.
But it was the first major starring role for Audrey Hepburn. Till then she had been performing in the West End musical theatre productions as a chorus girl and appeared in minor roles in films.
In “Roman Holiday”, Hepburn plays the role of a European princess, Ann. She eluded the clutches of royalty and had a wild night out with an American journalist while in Rome. Elizabeth Taylor was the choice of the producers. Still, director Wyler insisted on casting Hepburn as he was incredibly impressed by her screen test. Wyler observed, “She had everything I was looking for: charm, innocence, and talent. She also was fun-loving. She was absolutely enchanting, and we said, That’s the girl!”.
Initially, only Gregory Peck’s name appeared above the title, with “Introducing Audrey Hepburn” beneath in smaller fonts. But Peck requested that Wyler give her equal billing and place her name along with his in equally large fonts. He said, “You’ve got to change that because she’ll be a big star, and I’ll look like a big jerk”.
True to his words, Hepburn won Oscar for this film. She also created history becoming the first actress to win an Oscar, a Golden Globe Award, and a BAFTA Award for a single performance.
The best prints available for these two films are on fmovies.com. Happy viewing.
(The author is president, Manipur Equestrian Association & vice-president, Manipur Horse Riding & Polo Association. He can be reached at <moirangth
[email protected]>).