It Happened One Night by Frank Capra

Ellie Andrews, a spoiled socialite from New York, jumps off her wealthy father’s yacht to meet her husband, King Westly, that she only married to make her father angry, back in New York. On the bus, she meets Peter, a charismatic newspaper writer in search of a story to get his job back. After many hours sitting next to each other, Peter finds a newspaper with her face on the cover about her being missing. In exchange for keeping her identity a secret, Peter is going to keep her safe to write a story about the runaway daughter of the famous Wall Street banker. Peter and Ellie pretend to be married to dismiss any talk about an unmarried couple spending the night together in a room. Once in the room, Peter hangs up a rope and drapes a big blanket as a barrier for privacy. Calling it the Walls of Jericho, Peter and Ellie undress on opposite sides and fall asleep. The next day, a bus passenger recognizes Ellie on the front page of another newspaper and pulls aside Peter to split the reward money between them. Peter scares him off by pretending to be a part of organized crime to kidnap Ellie Andrews. When the frightened bus passenger says that he doesn’t want to be a part of a crime, Peter scares him off with a fake gun and departs the bus with Ellie to avoid any suspicion. After spending the night sleeping on hay, Peter and Ellie hitchhike with a singsong man that turns out to be a thief that steals their belongings. Peter runs after the car and steals the vehicle back, leaving the thief somewhere. The drive the car to a nearby motel and spend the night. At this point, they have become so close and both have fallen in love with each other, but only Ellie realizes it. When she confesses her love for him, Peter doesn’t believe her, and she falls asleep crying on the other side of the Walls of Jericho. Peter then wakes up early and takes the car to New York to write their love story for a newspaper. However, when Ellie wakes up Peter isn’t there. She thinks he left her and calls her father to turn herself in. Coincidentally, as the Andrews are driving back to New York, Peter passes them on his way back to the motel and turns around. On the day of King Westly and Ellie’s wedding, Peter asks Mr. Andrews for $39.60, the exact amount of money he spent on Ellie on their journey to New York. Mr. Andrews is surprised that Peter doesn’t want the reward money and asks Peter if he loves his daughter. During the ceremony, Mr. Andrews tells his daughter and Ellie runs out of her wedding to find Peter. Some time passes and Peter asks the motel owner for a toy trumpet. The Walls of Jericho finally fall down when Peter and Ellie are happily together.

Clark Gable as Peter

Peter is a charismatic, spontaneous newspaper writer who wants his job back in New York. In exchange for keeping her identity a secret, Peter is writing a newspaper story about her travels running away from her father and meeting King Westly. Despite what he thinks, Peter falls in love with Ellie on their bus journey to New York. When he leaves for New York without Ellie, he realizes that he loves her and writes their love story to sell to a newspaper company. When he sees that Ellie is marrying King Westly, he starts drinking. He is finally happy when they reveal their feelings and get married.

Claudette Colbert as Ellie

Ellie is an entitled daughter of the richest man in New York. Spoiled since birth, Ellie doesn’t know about the real world because she has been protected in a bubble. When she jumps off her father’s yacht in order to go back to New York to see King Westley, the man she married just to annoy her father, all police forces in the United States are ordered to find Ellie Andrews and her face is on the front cover of every newspaper. Her journey is going according to plan until she meets Peter on the bus and falls in love with him. Thinking that Peter doesn’t love her, she calls her father and has a wedding with King Westly, who only is marrying her for her money. In the end, Ellie and Peter confess their feelings for one another.