It Happened One Night is the first romantic comedy to win Best Picture, and it became the model for screwball flicks like When Harry Met Sally and the Runaway Bride.
The plot: when a rich heiress marries her boyfriend without her father’s permission, he isolates her on a boat in Miami. Ellen Andrews swims to shore and hocks her jewelry to buy dry clothes. Alexander Andrews hires detectives to find Ellie, and her sensational escape makes the front page of every East Coast newspaper.
When she buys a bus ticket and sits beside a newspaper reporter who just got fired, Peter Warne realizes who she is and strikes a bargain: if she sticks with him, he’ll get her to New York and he’ll have the scoop of the year.
She detests Peter, but, of course, anyone who spends time with Clark Gable falls in love pretty quickly, and Claudette Colbert (colBEAR) is no exception. One reason: he calls her a spoiled brat, and shames her when she insists on special treatment.
However, he’s a good man, and he cares for her. When they fjord a stream, he carries her over his left shoulder.
“You know this is the first time in years I've ridden piggy-back.”
“This isn't piggy-back.”
“Course it is. I remember distinctly my father taking me for a piggy-back ride.”
“And he carried you like this, I suppose? Your father didn't know beans about piggy-backing. I never knew a rich man yet who could piggy-back ride.”
“You're prejudiced.”
“You show me a good piggy-backer and I'll show you a real human. Now you take Abraham Lincoln for instance. A natural born piggy-backer.”
When they rent a kitchenette cabin for the night and he cooks breakfast, It Happened One Night becomes one of the most charming movies ever.
Ellie dunks a donut in her coffee.
Peter Warne: “Say, where'd you learn to dunk? In finishing school? “
“Aw, now don't you start telling me I shouldn't dunk.”
“Of course you shouldn't. You don't know how to do it. Dunking's an art. Don't let it soak so long. A dip and plop, in your mouth. You let it hang there too long, it'll get soft and fall off. It's all a matter of timing. Aw, I oughta write a book about it.”
“Thanks, professor.”
“Just goes to show you, $20 millions, and you don't know how to dunk.”
“Oh, I'd change places with a plumber's daughter any day.”
Minutes later, two detectives looking for the heiress barge into their cabin. Peter and Ellie don’t miss a beat: You think this plumber’s daughter is a millionaire? He starts screaming at her as if they’ve been fighting years, and it becomes apparent why this audacious, clever script becomes the first mega Oscar winner: Best Production, Best Writing, Best Actor Clark Gable, Best Actress Claudette Colbert, and Best Director Frank Capra.
When they lose their bus ride, they must hitchhike to New York, which leads to one of the most famous scenes in film history: Clark Gable shows Claudette Colbert the most effective way to stick out one’s thumb. But by now, she realizes he’s a congenital braggart.
He shows her the hitchhiker’s hail: “It's a long sweeping movement like this. Gotta follow through, though.”
“That's amazing.”
“But it's no good if you haven't got a long face to go with it. Keep your eye on the thumb, baby.”
Cars pass.
“I still got my eye on the thumb. You mind if I try?”
“You? Don't make me laugh.”
“I'll stop a car and I won't use my thumb.”
She hikes her skirt, shows one skinny leg up to her thigh, and the first car stops.
This is classic Capra, matched only by It's A Wonderful Life and maybe Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
Trivia
Myrna Loy turned down the role of Ellie Andrews. Robert Montgomery turned down the male lead, saying the script was the worst thing he had ever read.
When Clark Gable showed up for work, he reportedly said, "Let's get this over with."
Claudette Colbert was the sixth to be offered the role; she accepted because Capra doubled her salary and promised she’d be done in four weeks. She disliked it so much she didn't attend the Oscars; she was leaving on a trip and was rushed to the ceremony.
Looney Tunes animator Friz Freleng's unpublished memoirs contain three scenes upon which the film character Bugs Bunny was based: womanizer Oscar Shapely's personality, an imaginary character named Bugs Dooley that Peter Warne mentioned to frighten Oscar, and the manner in which Peter ate carrots and talked quickly.
Ten films were nominated in 1934, including classics Cleopatra, The Thin Man and An Imitation of Life. Clark Gable competed with only two others, William Powell and Charles Laughton. Colbert was up against a write-in: Bette Davis.
Source: www.imdb.com
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