I am not alone here when I say that this picture has to be about as good as it gets. Claudette complained every day, Clark was there as a punishment for breaking his contract, and everyone thought the film would be a disaster. The joke was on them when it won the big five Oscars, the first time out of three that this would happen in cinema history.
Claudette plays Ellie, who is mad because she has just married a man that her daddy disapproves of. Daddy forces her to get an annulment and throws her on the yacht away from her man. The result is Claudette jumping off the boat!
The beauty of a 30's wedding gown. Long, sleek, bias cut goodness.
Ellie decides to flee back to New York to be with her seeming confused almost husband. She has little money and one cute outfit when she hops on the bus.
In another corner of the bus station, Clark (Peter) is giving his boss quite a roast. His buddies are keeping tabs and when the boss fires him and hangs up, Peter acts like he is tearing him a new one. He gets off the phone and jumps on the bus, not knowing what to do about his new found unemployment.
Peter finds a spot in the back with Ellie, and our road trip begins. Like all fab oldies, the two don't like each other from the start. Ellie is already in a bad mood over the days' events, and Peter thinks she is bitchy. She ends up falling asleep on Peter's shoulder and he realizes she's not all that bad.
At the first stop Ellie looses her bags and is forced to face the fact that her pocket change is the only thing that is going to get her to New York. Naturally, she does what any woman would do when stressed and she tries to buy some chocolate.
Being a rich heiress and all, Ellie thinks that at the next stop the bus will wait for her as she heads off. When she returns the bus is gone, but Peter has stuck around. He has discovered who she is and that a marriage scandal like hers would get his job back. Que in the blackmail.
They head out together. Along the way they must hitchhike depicting the infamous scene of Clark trying hard to get a car and not succeeding, and Ellie showing some leg and getting a ride.
When Fritz Freleng saw this film over at Warner Brothers he was inspired to create Bugs Bunny.
I mean, check out Clark eating that carrot! And the ears! Dead ringer for sure.
A night's rest is in order and Peter pays the bill for a
room. A room, as in singular. Rich girl rich Ellie will have to share (*gasp*). Not pleased, Ellie watches Clark throw a sheet up and get undressed. This scene also made headlines, as Clark was not wearing an undershirt. Sales for undershirts dropped dramatically as men wanted to be a single layer guy like Clark.
Ellie finds out Peter knows who she is and is forced to go along with him or he'll squeal to the public of her whereabouts. Ellie gets Peter's jammies and they platonically sleep the night away.
As the journey continues, Ellie tells Peter she has fallen in love with him. As she goes to sleep, Peter heads off to make plans. Ellie wakes up and thinks that Peter has left her after she spilled the beans on her feelings. Now she is furious and calls Daddy. He is so happy she is found he gives her the okay to re-marry her hubby. Peter comes back to find her gone. Daddy knows something is up when Ellie is less than enthused to marry man #1. She tells him the whole story. Little does she know, Peter has come to her father and refused reward money.
Ellie must find out in time whether or not Peter truly loves her, of if she will enter a marriage that she thought she wanted.
