Robert Riskin won an Oscar for It Happened One Night's screenplay, which was adapted from a story by Samuel Hopkins Adams. That's nothing to sneeze at, and Riskin was quite an accomplished guy. But he never quite got out from under the shadow of his collaborator, director Frank Capra. Poor guy—even his biography is called In Capra's Shadow.

Riskin worked together with Capra on several hit films, and the two men even co-founded their own production company. But they fought over politics (Riskin was liberal; Capra was conservative) and over all the credit that Capra was getting for their collaborations. Because of these disputes, the two men eventually went their separate ways, ending their joint production venture.

That was in the 1940s, though—several years after the making of It Happened One Night. When this, Capra's career-defining directorial feat, was being filmed, the two guys enjoyed a healthy working relationship. In fact, Riskin co-wrote It Happened One Night with Capra, who went uncredited as writer—but certainly not as director.