feelsalike.com

Movies that feel like It Happened One Night (1934)

If you loved It Happened One Night, the closest films we have are The Philadelphia Story (1940), Bringing Up Baby (1938) and His Girl Friday (1940). All three share It Happened One Night's witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 8 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Philo, TCM and fuboTV and others, checked against today's data.

A runaway heiress makes a deal with the rogue reporter trailing her but the mismatched pair end up stuck with each other when their bus leaves them behind.

🍅 98% Rotten Tomatoes8.1 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Frank Caprawittyplayfulromantictender

Not on subscription streaming right now. Rent or buy below.

When is It Happened One Night streaming? →

If It Happened One Night hit the spot, these will too

The Philadelphia Story poster
The Philadelphia Story
1940 · dir. George Cukor
🍅 100%7.8comedy · romance

Both circle reporter and black and white

When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.

Feels alike?
Bringing Up Baby poster
Bringing Up Baby
1938 · dir. Howard Hawks
🍅 97%7.8comedy · romance

The same preoccupation in both: screwball comedy

David Huxley is waiting to get a bone he needs for his museum collection. Through a series of strange circumstances, he meets Susan Vance, and the duo have a series of misadventures which include a leopard called Baby.

Feels alike?
His Girl Friday poster
His Girl Friday
1940 · dir. Howard Hawks
🍅 99%7.8comedy · romance

Both built around black and white

Walter Burns is an irresistibly conniving newspaper publisher desperate to woo back his paper’s star reporter, who also happens to be his estranged wife. She’s threatening to quit and settle down with a new beau, but, as Walter knows, she has a weakness: she can’t resist a juicy scoop.

Feels alike?
The Awful Truth poster
The Awful Truth
1937 · dir. Leo McCarey
🍅 94%7.6comedy · romance

Screwball comedy sits at the heart of each

Unfounded suspicions lead a married couple to begin divorce proceedings, whereupon they start undermining each other's attempts to find new romance.

Feels alike?
The Palm Beach Story poster
The Palm Beach Story
1942 · dir. Preston Sturges
🍅 94%7.5comedy · romance

Both keep circling back to marriage

A New York inventor, Tom Jeffers, needs cash to develop his big idea, so his adoring wife, Gerry, decides to raise it by divorcing him and marrying an eccentric Florida millionaire, J. D. Hackensacker III.

Feels alike?
Amélie poster
Amélie
2001 · dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet
🍅 90%8.3comedy · romance

Witty and playful in the same breath

The difference: A 2000s film, from a different era of filmmaking

At a tiny Parisian café, the adorable yet painfully shy Amélie accidentally discovers a gift for helping others. Soon Amelie is spending her days as a matchmaker, guardian angel, and all-around do-gooder. But when she bumps into a handsome stranger, will she find the courage to become the star of her very own love story?

Feels alike?
Grease poster
Grease
1978 · dir. Randal Kleiser
🍅 65%7.2romance · comedy

The same mix in both: romance, then tenderness

The difference: Critics were much harder on this one

Australian good girl Sandy and greaser Danny fell in love over the summer. But when they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance despite their eccentric friends?

Feels alike?
Pretty Woman poster
Pretty Woman
1990 · dir. Garry Marshall
🍅 65%7.1romance · comedy

Witty comedy in both cases

Vivian is a carefree, streetwise diamond in the rough when she meets sophisticated billionaire Edward in a chance encounter that turns into a week-long business arrangement. But Vivian's energetic spirit challenges Edward's no-nonsense approach to life, and soon they are teaching each other – and falling in love!

Feels alike?
Notting Hill poster
Notting Hill
1999 · dir. Roger Michell
🍅 84%7.2romance · comedy

Romance built on play, twice over

London bookstore owner William Thacker's quiet life turns upside down when a chance encounter with famous actress Anna Scott sparks an unlikely romance challenged by their vastly different worlds.

Feels alike?
To All the Boys I've Loved Before poster
To All the Boys I've Loved Before
2018 · dir. Susan Johnson
🍅 96%7comedy · romance

Comedy with a pulse of romance, in both cases

Lara Jean's love life goes from imaginary to out of control when her secret letters to every boy she's ever fallen for are mysteriously mailed out.

Feels alike?
Coming to America poster
Coming to America
1988 · dir. John Landis
🍅 71%7.1comedy · romance

Tender romance, and it commits to that

An African prince decides it’s time for him to find a princess... and his mission leads him and his most loyal friend to Queens, New York. In disguise as an impoverished immigrant, the pampered prince quickly finds himself a new job, new friends, new digs, new enemies and lots of trouble.

Feels alike?
Meet the Parents poster
Meet the Parents
2000 · dir. Jay Roach
🍅 85%7comedy · romance

Both trade on wit more than on being comedy

Greg Focker is ready to marry his girlfriend, Pam, but before he pops the question, he must win over her formidable father, humorless former CIA agent Jack Byrnes, at the wedding of Pam's sister. As Greg bends over backward to make a good impression, his visit to the Byrnes home turns into a hilarious series of disasters, and everything that can go wrong does, all under Jack's critical, hawklike gaze.

Feels alike?

In the mood for more witty?

all witty movies →

The best-reviewed films that share It Happened One Night's defining feeling.