It Happened One Night

Blog :4 It Happened One Night

It Happened One Night was a story about two people, Ellie and Peter who desperately needed each other. Peter was a journalist whose career had plummeted after being fired, and needed a story to make money and restart his career. Ellie was looking to escape the control of her rich father. The two needed each other to get what they wanted. Ellie was Peter’s story and Peter was Ellie’s way to get back to New York to reunite with her husband. What they didn’t realize is what they thought they needed would lead them to what they really wanted. Ellie had always had someone telling her what to do and making decisions for her, Peter had always tried to find his worth and happiness in his career. While they were on the run, Ellie discovered many things about herself. She realized that not only could she make it on her own (without the help of money) but she liked being able to make decisions for herself! Peter learned how to care for someone else and to care about something other than his career. Through their adventure together, hiding from Ellie’s father and trying to get from Miami to New York, they discover each other and fall in love.
I thought that this movie was fun and very enjoyable! It Happened One Night cleverly weaves its’ theme of social and economic class differences into its story line. From the start of the movie it was easy to pick up that Ellie Andrews was a rich, spoiled daughter who wanted freedom from her father and Peter was the rugged, tough news reporter living paycheck to paycheck. The movie starts with both Ellie and her father on a yacht off the coast of Miami. They are fighting because Ellie’s father disagreed with her daughter’s choice of husband, King Westley. The first scene in the movie made it apparent that they were a high class family and that her father had kidnapped her from wherever she was and took her hostage onto his yacht. It showed their relationship was about control, obedience and money. Peter’s first scene comes a bit later in the bus station. He is in a phone booth and is yelling into the phone at his boss. He has just lost his job. From the beginning it is obvious that Peter and Ellie have led very different lives both socially and financially! Another difference between the two is the fact that Peter is very street wise and able to handle almost any situation that comes his way. On the other hand, it’s very obvious that Ellie has led a very sheltered life! Throughout the movie you can tell that Ellie was raised with no real exposure to the real world. She had trouble making decisions and it didn’t seem like she could fend for herself. A funny example was when she got her bag stolen at the bus stop. Later, she told Peter, “I can take of myself thank you” and so he asked her where her bus ticket was and she thought she had her bus ticket, but had really left it on the bus for Peter to find. These examples led me to think that although she was smart and clever she was used to having her farther take care of her. Another entertaining part in the movie was when she learned to hitchhike. When Peter was walking he first brought up the term “hitchhike” to her and she had never heard of it. There were numerous examples like this that demonstrated to me that Ellie lived in a very different world than Peters. Ellie, a part of the upper class, enjoyed many of its perks, but when she had to travel like most people did back in the 1930s she looked very confused and lost. I blame most of this on her upbringing and on parenting. Ellie was used to being catered too and when she had to do things on her own she couldn’t. There were also times in this movie that Peter called her out about her inexperience of living like a normal human being. An example that stood out to me was when she was trying to buy chocolates on the bus, but Peter wouldn’t let her. She didn’t have much money to begin with, but still had trouble spending it wisely. Ellie was used to living the lifestyle where she probably didn’t worry about being on a budget and she probably bought things based on wants vs. needs. Peter went off on her at the bus station about how money can’t buy you everything and about how money just creates problems for rich people. This put it into perspective for Ellie about her living habits. Another part that led me to think that she took her lifestyle for granted was when she was forced to not ride on the bus. Peter wanted to hide Ellie’s identity so he forced her to walk with him to go somewhere else. She was complaining the entire time that her feet hurt while they were walking. Another part was when she whined about having to sleep outside on the hay. She was more worried about her clothes getting wrinkled then about sleeping. That same scene reminds me of when she was complaining about being hungry and Peter leaves for a couple minutes and she freaks out and is scared. As much as she tried to be tough and act like she could make it on her own, it showed her insecurity and that the reality was that she was used to being surrounded by people who took care of her.
In the end, I thought this movie had a great plot for its era. Looking back, it was produced in the early 1930s, which was during the depression. Movies back then were meant for people to “get away” - escape - and enjoy life in a fantasy world , yet also make it real enough that the audience could relate! This move did a great job of taking people away from their world and making them laugh and cry while also reminding them that what’s really important doesn’t cost anything!