Seminar: It Happened One Night

30mins
Body

Join DigBoston film critic Jake Mulligan for a look at one of the most influential romantic comedies of all time.

Our latest screwball comedy seminar puts a spotlight on It Happened One Night, the film that started the whole subgenre! Participants will break down the film’s countless scenes of lighthearted fun, games, and flirting to better understand the importance of playfulness in romantic comedies and cinema in general.  

Frank Capra's beloved screwball comedy was the first film to sweep the Oscars, taking home the prize for Best Picture, Director, Actor (Clark Gable), Actress (Claudette Colbert), and Screenplay.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Jake Mulligan is the film section editor and critic at DigBoston, a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics, and has taught classes and seminars at the Coolidge before, including “Defining Screwball Comedy” in 2019 and “Roger Corman, Producer” in 2020. His film criticism has also been published in The Boston Globe, The Boston Phoenix, and Filmmaker Magazine

“Screwball comedy has been my recurring subject at the Coolidge, and you can’t talk about screwball without talking about It Happened One Night. Taking a lead from the road games played by Gable and Colbert, this seminar will let us think about the crucial role played by ‘fun and games’ in romantic comedies, throughout movie history, and even within the filmmaking process.”

Films

1hr 45mins

Opposites attract with magnetic force in this romantic road-trip delight from Frank Capra.