Release Year: 1934

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Director: Frank Capra

Writers: Robert Riskin, Samuel Hopkins Adams (book)

Stars: Claudette Colbert, Clark Gable

"Now that's my whole plot in a nutshell. A simple story for simple people."

So says reporter Peter Warne during the first night he spends with Ellie Andrews, an heiress who's on the run from her controlling dad. But don't get the wrong idea: Elle's a fast-talker but a respectable gal, and this isn't that kind of sleepover.

What kind of sleepover is it, you wonder? Read on for the full story, but here's the long and short of it:

The first night that Peter spends with Ellie—sex-free, this being 1934 and all—is practice for a lifetime of happiness. But before the hero and heroine can live happily ever after, It Happened One Night makes the dynamic duo overcome obstacle after hilarious obstacle until they're actually ready for each other.

Will love really conquer all? That's the question that will keep you on the edge of your seat all the way through the movie. At the same time, though, It Happened One Night keeps you laughing—and loving the lovebirds all the more for the misadventures they go through. There's a bad dad to turn good, rides to hitch, a search party to evade, policemen to trick, a marriage to annul, a thief to outwit, a perv to scare off, and so much more.

Sounds fun, right? We thought so—and the Academy certainly agreed back in the day when It Happened One Night was released. In 1935, the film totally won all five major Oscars. That means it took home the prizes for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It was the first—and for a long time, the only—film in Academy Awards history to do so. That alone makes It Happened One Night a movie milestone.

But there's more, of course: The film continues to fascinate everyone from film buffs to philosophers. It even gets a shout-out in Sex and the City 2. And if that's not a testament to a flick's historical importance, we really don't know what is.

The movie's not all high jinks and wedding cake, though. It was made at the height of the Great Depression, after all, and it tackles some heavy themes, including injustice, privilege, and poverty. Sure, it's a rom-com—the very first one, in fact—but it's a rom-com that's not afraid to get serious at times. 

The ride is bumpy, but the reward's more than worth the wait.

It Happened One Night is the ultimate rom-com—which is saying something, because it's also basically the first. That's right: This baby is one of the first Hollywood classics to combine romance and comedy into that specific genre we all know and love. (We know you love it, too. Don't be ashamed.)

It Happened One Night broke new ground by letting its leading man and woman be both funny and dreamy, rather than assigning all the laughs to supporting actors, as previous films had. (See this video for more on this claim to fame.) If you love rom-coms today, then Frank Capra's original will give you a new appreciation for the genre and show you where it came from.

The film earned an unprecedented Oscar haul in 1935. Both lead actors, together with the film's director, producer, and screenwriter, all got nods from the almighty Academy, and they all won. Never before had a film swept the Oscars in that way, and it's only happened twice more in the history of the awards—which tells you something about just how special It Happened One Night is. (Because we know you're curious, the other two are One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Silence of the Lambs.)

But if that's not reason enough for you to study the film, maybe this will be: It's a total blast. It Happened One Night is a vehicle for its two unforgettable stars, whose antics are surprisingly undated. Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable remain as hilarious now as they were in the 1930s, and their story speaks as powerfully to the age of Occupy Wall Street as it did to audiences during the Great Depression.

They're Romeo and Juliet for the twentieth century; they're Shakespeare served light—but not too light, since their story brings them, and us, face-to-face with some pretty dark realities. And it's by facing these realities with such openness, honesty, and love that Capra's lovebirds teach a lesson for the ages.