Amazon.com Essentials:
Director Frank Capra (Mr. Smith Goes to
Washington) took home every Oscar in the book (well, okay, all
the major ones) for this seminal 1934 comedy starring Clark Gable as a
hard-bitten reporter who stays close to a runaway heiress (Claudette
Colbert) rather than lose a good story. Funny and sexy, the film is
full of memorable scenes often referred to in other films, such as the
"walls of Jericho" (a mere bedcover hung on a line down the middle of
a room so opposite-sex roommates can get undressed), and Colbert's
famous flash of thigh to stop a speeding car in its tracks. Capra's
brisk, urbane brand of wit was a perfect complement to his populist
faith in the common man (in this case, Gable's character), and that
inspired combination makes this film both a spirited entertainment and
an uplifting experience. --Tom Keogh
