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This is a landmark film in that it officially codified what is known as "the screwball comedy" genre. The film tells the story of Ellie Andrews who has married aviator King Westley as an act of rebellion against her wealthy father. When her father orders her to get a divorce, she runs away from home. Meanwhile, washed-up reporter Peter Warne stumbles across her path. He agrees to help her escape in exchange for her story. Although they initially despise each other, neither Peter nor Ellie could have anticipated that they'd eventually fall for each other.

A few bits of interesting trivia about this film:

• This film was the first motion picture ever to win all of the five major Academy Awards: best actor, best actress, best director, best screenplay, and best picture.
• Fritz Freling’s unpublished memoirs state that this film was one of his favorites and was the inspiration for his later character “Bugs Bunny.” Freling based Bugs on three things: Oscar Shapely’s personality, the manner in which Peter Warne eats a carrot and talks quickly at the same time, and an imaginary character mentioned once in the film named “Bugs Dooley.”
• Clark Gable, who was on contract with MGM, was loaned to Columbia for the movie as punishment for his cantankerous attitude and his refusal to accept several MGM scripts.
• The scene in which Clark Gable removes his shirt was tremendously controversial at the time because he was not wearing an undershirt. This scene is credited as the number one cause for not only the decrease in undershirt sales the following two years, but the implementation of product placement in movies to come.
• This film's "racy" morals were one of the final linchpins that caused Hollywood to adopt the infamous Production Code, a strict code of self-censorship that remained in place until the late 1960s.

This film was voted as the #2 best film of all the films I showed my high schoolers, second only to Rebel Without a Cause. I've loved this movie ever since I first saw it in my own high school film course.

Incidentally, one cool memory with this film is that I once threw a Gemini birthday party---for all the singles ward members who shared a Gemini birthday with me. I rented a projector and a screen and we all went to Southfork Park in Provo Canyon to watch this movie under the stars. I invited Chris along (we weren't dating at the time). After the movie ended and everyone left, he and I stayed at the park and did some star-gazing while we just talked. I have to admit, that night definitely rekindled my interest in him, in spite of myself. I love you, honey! :)

Blog entries that mention this film:

• April 30, 2007 - Like Asking Me to Choose My Favorite Child