It Happened One Night

It Happened One Night

18/2/1934 1h 45m 7.8/10

Overview

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.

Director

Frank Capra

Top Billed Cast

Alan Hale

Alan Hale

Danker

Walter Connolly

Walter Connolly

Alexander Andrews

Clark Gable

Clark Gable

Peter Warne

Claudette Colbert

Claudette Colbert

Ellie Andrews

Jameson Thomas

Jameson Thomas

King Westley

Roscoe Karns

Roscoe Karns

Oscar Shapeley

Reviews

CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

3/25/2023

7/10

Claudette Colbert is great as the independently-minded heiress "Ellie" who jumps from her father's yacht and finds herself, nigh-on penniless, on a bus to New York. Also angling for that last seat on the bus is the roguish "Warne" (Clark Gable) - a journalist with a nose for a good story. Determined to track her down, her father uses his media empire and soon her photo is all over the press. This doesn't go unnoticed by the shrewd "Warne", who soon reckons her story is worth a load of cash to his editor. What neither reckon on though, is that their initial hostility/indifference to each other gradually morphs into something - well, yes, you can guess that bit. Indeed, the story itself has a degree of predictability to it - but that doesn't matter here. This is a quickly paced, well written comedy drama that utilises the intimacy of the bus (or the motels) to provide an excellent vehicle for two actors who just exude a joyous chemistry - never a romantic, or sentimental one - as they try to stay one step ahead of the blokes sent by her father to return her to safety and to her affianced "King Wesley" (Jameson Thomas) who is the latest cause of the familial discord (her father loathes this opportunist fellow). Tables are turned and turned again as each try to outmanoeuvre the other - with Walter Connolly turning in quite an engaging performance as the dad who also knows there is more than one way to skin a cat. This might be my favourite Gable outing - he had a lovely smile and glint in his eye for comedy parts when he was enjoying himself and Colbert is also at the top of her game for a thoroughly enjoyable and spirited look at human nature and bloody-mindedness.

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