They Met in a Taxi

The success of Frank Capra's It Happened One Night in 1934 starring Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable spawned a host of movies about madcap daughters of millionaires fleeing a planned marriage, meeting a rugged two-fisted working-class male and you can guess the rest. None of them enjoyed the success of the original, which won all major Academy Awards.

This one doesn't come close. You might be tempted to ask "How could Fay Wray and Chester Morris compare with Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable?" Not too badly, actually. They're both attractive and well-suited for their roles. The big problem is that It Happened One Night was made before the dreaded Production Code was enforced rigorously and this film was made after. Thus, They Met in a Taxi fails to even hint at any sexual undercurrent inherent in presumed fleeing heiress Wray hiding out in cab driver Morris's apartment. They're more like two squabbling children, at the beginning at least. There is one original twist to the plot that unfortunately most of the other user reviews have given away.

There are things to like here, mostly the performances of the two stars and sidekicks Lionel Stander as a larcenous fellow cabbie and Raymond Walburn as an effusive gossip columnist. The plot shifts to a search for missing jewels but there's no real tension. You just know from the blandness of it all that we're headed for a happy ending with few complications.

Still, if you're a fan of late-1930s "screwball comedies" or a Fay Wray fan like me you'll get some enjoyment. It just could have been a lot more.