It Happened One Night

Critics Consensus

Capturing its stars and director at their finest, It Happened One Night remains unsurpassed by the countless romantic comedies it has inspired.

98%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 57

93%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 33,563
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Movie Info

Frank Capra's seminal screwball comedy, which won all five major Academy Awards for 1934, is still as breezy and beguiling today. Claudette Colbert plays Ellie Andrews, a spoiled heiress who has married fortune-hunting aviator King Westley (Jameson Thomas), despite her father (Walter Connolly)'s objections. To keep Ellie from marrying this lothario, her father has been holding her prisoner aboard his yacht. But Ellie bolts from the yacht, swims ashore in her clothes, and eventually slips onto a Greyhound bus bound for New York. Aboard the bus is newspaper reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable), who has recently been fired for drinking on the job. Peter gets the last seat on the bus -- but when he gets up to argue with the bus driver, Ellie takes his seat. Since it is the last seat on the bus, they have to share it. When Ellie has her purse stolen and she refuses to report it, Peter begins to suspect something. The next morning, they both miss the bus after a leisurely breakfast, and Peter reveals that he knows her identity. She makes a deal with him: if he helps her get to New York, he can write a scoop about her for his paper. Peter thinks she is a spoiled brat, however, and refuses a monetary bribe: "I'm not interested in your money or your problem. You, King Westley, your father -- you're all a lot of hooey to me!" But as they travel northward and engage in a series of misadventures, the gruff newspaperman and the spoiled rich girl, thrown together by circumstances, fall in love with each other. This movie set the pace for the "screwball" comedy, the witty and romantic clash of temperaments between a man and a woman mismatched in both personality and social position, a type of movie often associated with Katherine Hepburn in such classics as Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Philadelphia Story (1940), and, with Spencer Tracy, Adam's Rib (1949), Pat and Mike (1952), and Desk Set (1957), among others. The only other movies to win all five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, and Screenplay) were One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991). ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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Cast

Claudette Colbert
as Ellie Andrews
Clark Gable
as Pete Warne
Walter Connolly
as Alexander Andrews
Jason Thomas
as King Westley
Roscoe Karns
as Shapeley
Jameson Thomas
as King Westley
Ward Bond
as Bus Driver
Henry Wadsworth
as Drunk Boy
Alan Hale
as Danker
Claire McDowell
as Mother
Arthur Hoyt
as Zeke
Blanche Frederici
as Zeke's Wife
Wallis Clark
as Lovington
Charles D. Brown
as Reporter
Hal Price
as Reporter
Eddy Chandler
as Bus Driver
Douglas Carter Beane
Ky Robinson
as Detective
J. Frank Holliday
as Detective
James Burke
as Detective
Joseph Crehan
as Detective
Matty Roubert
as Newsboy
Sherry Hall
as Reporter
Mickey Daniels
as Vender
Charles C. Wilson
as Joe Gordon
George Breakston
as Boy
Earl Pingree
as Policeman
Harry Hume
as Policeman
Oliver Eckhardt
as Dykes
Bess Flowers
as Secretary
Fred Walton
as Butler
Ethel Sykes
as Maid of Honor
Edmund Burns
as Best Man
Rev. Neal Dodd
as Minister
Milton Kibbee
as Reporter
Eva Dennison
as Society Woman
Eddie Kane
as Radio Announcer
Harry Holman
as Manager Auto Camp
Tom Ricketts
as Prissy Old Man
Maidel Turner
as Manager's Wife
Irving Bacon
as Station Attendant
Frank Yaconelli
as Tony
Harry C. Bradley
as Henderson
Harry Todd
as Flag Man
Bert Starkey
as Bus Passenger
Rita Ross
as Bus Passenger
Ernie S. Adams
as Bus Passenger
Billy Engle
as Bus Passenger
Dave Wengren
as Bus Passenger
Kit Guard
as Bus Passenger
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Critic Reviews for It Happened One Night

All Critics (57) | Top Critics (13)

  • It's all about the snappy dialogue and simmering tension between these hugely charismatic stars.

    Sep 5, 2018 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

    Christy Lemire

    ChristyLemire.com
    Top Critic

  • A charming, human, believable story, with charming, human, believable characters.

    Feb 26, 2018 | Full Review…

    THR Staff

    Hollywood Reporter
    Top Critic

  • It's probably more historically important than it is a masterpiece (the last 20 minutes take the missed conections and misunderstandings an inch too far), but it's still very easy to fall in love with.

    Feb 22, 2015 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

    David Jenkins

    Time Out
    Top Critic

  • The direction is excellent. Frank Capra never lets his picture lag for a moment. It is never very exciting, but it moves along snappily and it is full of amusing situations.

    Feb 17, 2015 | Full Review…

    Kate Cameron

    New York Daily News
    Top Critic

  • Perhaps not the greatest of the screwball comedies, but Frank Capra's It Happened One Night is one of the racier.

    Dec 10, 2014 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

    Wendy Ide

    Times (UK)
    Top Critic

  • As buoyant and elegant as bubbles in a glass of champagne, Frank Capra's sublime 1934 comedy... survives triumphantly because of its wit, charm, romantic idealism and its shrewd sketch of married life.

    Feb 3, 2014 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review…

    Peter Bradshaw

    Guardian
    Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (57)

Audience Reviews for It Happened One Night

  • Mar 31, 2016
    Clark Gable dials up the 1934 beefcake with his shirt off in one seen, and Colbert famously stops a car while hitchhiking by revealing her leg, but the movie is quite innocuous, and is better known for essentially being the blueprint for romantic comedies to this day. Colbert is a spoiled, rich heiress who runs away from her family (actually starting this by jumping off a yacht and swimming away from them). Gable is a newspaper reporter who's been fired. They find each other on a crowded train, and are forced to sit together. They hate one another at first, but after spending time on a couple of busses, a car, in the haystack together, and in a hotel room divided by a clothesline with a blanket hanging over it ... well, you get the idea. At one point he carries her across a stream caveman style, over his shoulder, and gives her a swat on the behind as they debate what constitutes a piggyback ride. They confuse each other's motivations and split at the end, Colbert off to wed another (and in a very pretty dress), but we all know where it's heading, and this one is complete with a 'runaway bride' scene. I don't know if the movie was worthy of sweeping the Academy Awards (and Colbert herself didn't think much of it), but it's still sharp with its dialog, and quite entertaining. Aside from the main story line, it has a nice 'Capra' touch in having everyone on a bus (including the driver) singing verses of 'The Man on the Flying Trapeze' to pass the time. I also smiled over this interchange after Gable's character had tossed some newspapers off the bus to make space for his seat: Bus driver: "Oh, fresh guy, huh? What you need is a good sock in the nose." Clark Gable: "Listen pardner, you might like my nose, but I do. I always wear it out in the open, where if anyone wants to take a sock at it, they can do it." "Oh, yeah?" "Now that's a brilliant answer. Why didn't I think of it? Our conversation could have been over long ago." "Oh, yeah?" "You keep that up, we're not going to get anywhere." "Oh, yeah?" "Ya got me. Yeah!" (to chuckling from the other passengers)
    Antonius B Super Reviewer
  • Aug 07, 2014
    Yes, the plot is hugely influential, but its the details, like the minor digressions, odd little comedic bits, and the electric chemistry of Gable and Colbert, that make the whole film hold up so well.
    Alec B Super Reviewer
  • Nov 04, 2013
    Gable, who I don't tend to like, is wonderfully charming with Colbert as two characters thrown together for a road trip for the ages. Capra brings us a sentimental masterpiece once again.
    John B Super Reviewer
  • Jul 02, 2013
    Colbert and Gable hated making it and it ended up being one of Hitler's favorite films, but Capra's perfectly scripted romantic comedy has a stamp of glorious old-Hollywood quality.
    Kevin C Super Reviewer
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