The Hitch-Hikers

 The first (and until now, only) time I saw It Happened One Night (1934), I wasn't that impressed. Which is funny, because screwball is one of my favorite comedy genres, and this is considered to be the first and maybe the best screwball comedy. It is directed by Frank Capra, one of my favorites, and stars Claudette Colbert, who I love, and Clark Gable, who might be the problem.

I hardly need to go through the plot: Spoiled rich girl Colbert has married a fortune-hunting aviator and phony. She is kidnapped by her father and hustled onto a yacht in Florida before the honeymoon. She escapes and gets on a bus to New York and her husband. On the same bus is Gable, who has quit his newspaper job. They quarrel but she eventually falls asleep on his shoulder. That would probably be that, but he sees a newspaper and figures out that she is the missing heiress. His proposition to her is: He will help her get to New York if she will give him the exclusive. Otherwise, he will turn her in.

The scenes on the bus are rather jolly, with a lecherous salesman and some group sing-alongs. The pair have almost no money, and wind up sharing a room in a motor court with a blanket on a clothesline separating their beds. We do get to see Gable strip out of his shirt, the scene that cratered undershirt sales all over America.

We also get to see two styles of hitchhiking: his involves the thumb, hers a different limb. This is a competition because they have continued quarrelling. She is a bit of a clueless rich girl, and he is a know-it-all, who has to instruct her how to hitchhike, dunk donuts, and so on. 

And there's the rub. He is kind of a jerk - even when he realizes that he loves her, and wants to make it right, he does it thoughtlessly, and almost loses her. She isn't quite so unlikable, but with her privilege and frivolous marriage, she's not exactly lovable. But I guess I give a Colbert more latitude than Gable. Also, blowhard men who bully women aren't in fashion like they used to be. 

Still, it has that snappy Capra patter, plus a nice on-the-road feel, with the regular people - again, that Capra touch. I think I liked it more this time, although it still isn't a favorite. Ms. Spenser, on the other hand, liked it even less.