PARNELL (1937)

This sixth pairing of Clark Gable and Myrna Loy finds them portraying real life 19th century Irish politician Charles Stewart Parnell and his wife Katharine O'Shea.  Before watching the film, I'd never even heard of Charles Parnell and afterwards I still didn't know much and cared even less, but I did look him up on Wikipedia and from just the few minutes I spent on there, it seems like this film was wildly inaccurate.  Example: In the film they only had a brief courtship and a very short marriage before his early death, but in reality they had three children together while she was still married to another man!!!

Historical inaccuracies aside, PARNELL is still a snoozer.  I love Gable and Loy, but watching them here was a chore.  Neither have anything to work with and as a result the entire film is just lifeless scene after lifeless scene...Gable gives a lame speech, Loy and Gable talking, more talking, politic rivals dislike Gable, Billie Burke talks and it make me daydream about THE WIZARD OF OZ, Donald Meek shows up and I start daydreaming about YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU, more talking, Gable and Loy eat potatoes, Gable and Loy love each other, Gable goes on trial, more talking, The End.

As far as the filmmaking qualities go PARNELL looked good and the acting was passable, but the story was just terrible!  Zero ups or downs, boring characters, dull romance.  Ugh, PARNELL is simply a nothing movie.  Skip it.

IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)

A spoiled heiress (Claudette Colbert) is angry at her dad (Walter Connolly) because he doesn't approve of her new gold-digging husband.  She runs away and heads out on the road to be with the man she loves. On the bus from Miami to NYC she catches the eye of a down-and-out newspaper man (Clark Gable) who doesn't know who she is, but finds her amusing. He flirts with her and she refuses, but once he sees how out of place she is he takes it upon himself to watch out for her...whether she wants his help or not.

IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT is a fantastic movie (although my choice for the Best Picture of 1934 is still Howard Hawks' TWENTIETH CENTURY).  Quick pace, enjoyable story, some truly funny moments (Alan Hale's singing, the hitchhiking scene, etc.), great direction by Frank Capra, photography by the legendary Joseph Walker and an awesome supporting cast including Walter Connolly, Ward Bond, Roscoe Karns, Charles C. Wilson, Arthur Hoyt and Alan Hale.  The whole thing is even more impressive when you learn it was made in just four weeks!  And let's not forget that IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT was Friz Freleng's inspiration for Bugs Bunny!! Mel Brooks also said in his autobiography that he lifted the basic story idea for SPACEBALLS.

Required viewing for all fans of classic Hollywood.