It Happened Tuesday Night

Greensboro on a Tuesday night has never been a hotbed of activity. But this week, one Samantha Simpson graced the town with her presence once again and the city lit up.

Well, technically, it was probably already lit up, but I certainly enjoyed her visit, lights or no lights. We ate at the Thai Pan downtown (I wholeheartedly recommend the pineapple sticky rice), where a group of young twenty-somethings walked in on death-defying heels. We walked the streets among the rowdy college students whose purpose in life seems to be to block the sidewalk. We arrived at the reason for our excursion: the Carolina Theatre, where they were showing It Happened One Night.

We bought popcorn and beer and settled in our seats under an ornate ceiling just as the lights dimmed and the movie began. Both Sam and I have seen the movie many times, but there was a sort of supreme satisfaction in watching it among a group of people and enjoying the anticipation of laughter when Clark Gable is about to yell, "Quit bawlin'! Quit bawlin'!" Part of me did wish that I had seen the movie that way for the first time. But another part felt vindicated, as one of my favorites received the attention of the big screen again.

It seemed quite fitting, in this time in our nation's financial history, to be watching It Happened One Night on a $5 ticket. The movie is set during the Depression and garners a good deal of its laughs from lampooning the rich. Still, the movie makes equal fun of Peter Warne (Clark Gable) and his questionable worldly knowledge of things like dunking a donut and hitchhiking.

The movie has it both ways as Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) manages to be both the spoiled heiress and the poor little rich girl. Peter is a self-righteous man-of-the-people while at the same time being quite concerned with his own finances. Ellie's father is both the controlling over-zealous father and the level-headed architect of the couple's happiness. (How many fathers do you know who provide a getaway car for their daughter on her wedding day?)

Sam and I appreciated every moment, from Ellie diving off the yacht to the final strains of Joshua's horn. I only wish more of my favorite movies would make it back to the theatre.

If you haven't seen the movie, you now have no excuse. Get thee to Netflix!