It Happened One Night

It Happened One Night is a 1934 romantic comedy in which an elite socialite (Claudette Colbert) tries to get out from under her father's thumb, and falls in with a rogue reporter (Clark Gable). As in most Frank Capra films, everything turns out all right in the end; the film fits very well with the upbeat view of the world that Capra repeatedly tried to portray. One oddity is the title: the movie takes place over several nights and none is particularly key to the plot.

Spoiled heiress Ellie Andrews (Colbert) marries fortune-hunter 'King' Westley (Jameson Thomas) against the wishes of her extremely wealthy father (Walter Connolly). He has the marriage annulled and retrieves his daughter before it can be consummated, but then she runs away.

She boards a bus, where she meets Peter Warne (Gable), an out-of-work newspaper reporter. He recognizes her and gives her a choice: if she will give him an exclusive on her story, he will help her reunite with King, otherwise he will tell her father where she is and collect the reward. She agrees.

Various adventures follow. One of the most famous happens when they have to hitchhike. Peter claims to be an expert on the subject, but nothing works and eventually, out of frustration, he ends up thumbing his nose at passing cars. The sheltered Ellie then shows him how it's done. She stops the next car dead in its tracks by lifting up her skirt and showing off a shapely leg.

One night, when they are nearing the end of their journey, Peter leaves to make some arrangements. The owners of the auto court in which they are staying see that his car is gone and assume he has left without paying. They roust Ellie out of bed and kick her out. Believing Peter has deserted her, Ellie calls her father, who is so relieved to get her back that he agrees to let her have her way. Ellie has fallen in love with Peter, but she thinks he betrayed her for the reward money, so she goes on with the wedding with King. Meanwhile, Peter believes he's the one who's been double-crossed.

Peter gets in touch with Ellie's father to settle up. Mr Andrews offers him the large reward promised, but Peter will have none of it. He just wants to be paid for the expenses incurred on the trip. Intrigued, the father badgers the reporter until he gets the truth: Peter loves Ellie (though he thinks he's out of his mind to do so). Peter leaves with the few dollars he asked for.

While walking his daughter down the aisle, Andrews tells her what he has found out. At the last moment, Ellie runs away to marry the right man.