It Happened One Fight
Joan Davis and Dash Howard are 1930s America’s favorite on-screen couple, starring together in a string of romantic screwball comedies. But when the cameras are off, the scripted romance disappears, and the fights begin. Dash thinks Joan is an icy perfectionist, putting career over relationships. And Joan thinks Dash is a playboy and carouser, who disrupts the set with constant pranks. When one of his practical jokes goes wrong and the two find that they’ve been accidentally—and legally—married during a film wedding, the studio packs the two and their latest project off to Reno to wait out the six-week residency requirement for a quick Nevada divorce. But the getaway, far from the spotlight of public attention and the Hollywood gossip machine, lets Joan and Dash drop their studio-created personas. For the first time in years, they finally get to know one another and wonder if their on-camera chemistry might be real.
From the title to the absurdity of the inciting incident to the reluctant falling-in-love, Lenker’s debut pays delightful homage to the 1930s screwball comedy. But It Happened One Fight also adds in a good splash of Hollywood history as the characters confront sexism in the film industry, the restrictions of the studio system, and the power of gossip columnists in both creating and destroying stars. Joan and Dash are strong characters, easily recognizable and believable as products of the studio system. I couldn’t help but picture Dash with the suaveness and charisma of William Powell, and Joan with the haughty poise of Bette Davis. The romance builds believably as they learn to trust one another with their real selves but has just enough mishaps to keep the narrative rolling. Fun from beginning to end!
