It Happened One Night (1934)
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A pampered socialite and a roguish reporter must navigate a cross-country journey together after she flees her wealthy father's control.
The story
Wall Street heiress Ellie Andrews elopes with a pilot, but her father, believing the man is a fortune hunter, sequesters her on his yacht. After escaping, Ellie flees to a Greyhound bus bound for New York City to reunite with her new husband. On the bus, she meets Peter Warne, an unemployed reporter. When a thief steals her money and she misses a connection, Peter decides to stay with her to ensure she reaches her destination. The two must navigate the challenges of the road together, navigating the complications of their differing social statuses while trying to reach New York.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After fleeing her father's yacht, Ellie Andrews boards a bus to New York to find her new husband, King Westley. She meets Peter Warne, a reporter who helps her after she is robbed. When she misses a bus connection, Peter stays with her. They share a room in a motel, using a blanket as a divider, and pretend to be a married couple to evade her father's detectives. During their journey, they face various obstacles, including a thief and a highwayman. They eventually fall in love while traveling by bus and on foot. Peter eventually leaves her briefly to sell his story, and Ellie calls her father, believing she has been abandoned. They eventually reunite and Ellie confesses her love for Peter to her father. At a formal wedding ceremony intended for her and Westley, her father reveals Peter's story. Ellie chooses to marry Peter instead. The film ends with them together, and the 'walls of Jericho' (the blanket divider) falling as they celebrate their union.
- First release year
- 1934
- Runtime (minutes)
- 105
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Frank Capra
- Writers
- Robert Riskin · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Clark Gable · Peter Warne; Claudette Colbert · Ellie Andrews
- Genres
- screwball comedy; romance
- Themes
- class conflict; romance
- Tone and mood
- humorous; romantic
- Premise and plot tags
- road movie; romance; comedy
- Source material / true-story basis
- Night Bus by Samuel Hopkins Adams
- Content notes
- pre-Code
- Reception
- Initially met with positive reviews from critics, though it was only moderately successful in its initial run. It became a major box office smash later, becoming one of Columbia's biggest hits.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 98% · scale: 100% · review count: 108; Metacritic · score: 87 · scale: 100 · review count: 16
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Picture · 1934 · Win; Academy Award · Best Director · 1934 · Win; Academy Award · Best Actor · 1934 · Win; Academy Award · Best Actress · 1934 · Win
- Production trivia
- It was the first film to win the 'Big Five' Academy Awards.; The film's title was derived from the short story 'Night Bus'.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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