Made shortly before the MPAA began enforcing the 1930 production code, It Happened One Night is a film fueled by spitfire dialogue and the sexual tension between its two leads. While known by many solely for the scene where Claudette Colbert famously hitches a ride by pulling up her skirt, other displays of sexuality between Colbert and Clark Gable are treated with slightly more restraint – Gable’s Peter showing Colbert’s Ellie how a man undresses, the pair nearly literally taking a roll in the hay, and the symbolic “walls of Jericho” tumbling down during the final shot. Frank Capra has a reputation for schmaltz and sentimentality, and this film basically wrote the book on romantic screwball comedies – including those necessary misunderstandings which fuel the plot – but he was also a master filmmaker, and gently guides the pace along to a highly entertaining and satisfying ending. Its impact may feel slightly quaint compared to the relaxed standards of today, but the dialogue remains sharp and the performances unmatched. A pleasure from start to finish.