Clark Gable himself described It Happened One Night as a turning point in his career, having been discontent with Metro’s casting of him as “heavies and bullies”.  From this point on he would be the most popular male star of the screen for the next five years, culminating in his ultimate star part, that of Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind, as well as being dubbed the ‘King of Hollywood’ by the media (with Myrna Loy declared the ‘Queen’).
Halliwell gave Gable this dedication in the Filmgoer’s Companion:

Halliwell gave George Cukor this dedication in the Filmgoer’s Companion:

‘For effortlessly maintaining a Hollywood legend, and for doing so with cheerful impudence.’

IHON was the first film to win all five top Academy Awards, for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Screenplay.  Later, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991) would repeat the achievement.
            The film became a benchmark for road comedies, and those in which a down-to-earth guy is stuck with a well-to-do woman, whose relationship begins with mutual dislike, thawing to grudging respect, and finally warm romance (I guess they’re all just The Taming of the Shrew.)

Year: 1934