Peter and Ellie start off sniping at each other, but we know that in true Hollywood fashion they're destined to fall madly in love and spend the rest of their lives arguing with one another. Before that happens, though, they must survive the long bus ride without killing each other, and it's in this rocky relationship that Gable gets to display his comic genius (and Colbert hers). In hilarious sequences, Peter teaches Ellie how to dunk donuts; the two stage an impromptu argument to convince detectives searching for Ellie that they're actually a married couple; Peter persuades a suspicious bus passenger that he's a mobster who's kidnapped Ellie; and when they're finally forced to abandon the bus, Peter explains surefire methods of hitchhiking, only to be upstaged by Ellie's own method.

As must happen, Ellie is finally forced to make a decision: Go through with the big church wedding in New York with her husband, famed aviator King Westley (Jameson Thomas) -- "the pill of the century," according to Peter -- or have the marriage annulled and run back to Peter. Guess which guy she chooses?

The ultimate dizzy, romantic, screwball comedy, It Happened One Night is not to be missed.

Outstanding Production 1934
AFI 100: #35
unforgettable movie moment:
Gable removes his shirt to reveal his shockingly bare chest, which prompted American men to throw out their undershirts overnight.

previous Best Picture:
1932/33: Cavalcade
next Best Picture:
1935: Mutiny on the Bounty

previous AFI 100 film:
34: To Kill a Mockingbird
next AFI 100 film:
36: Midnight Cowboy