Love on the Run (1936)

A runaway bride and an undercover reporter get caught up in political intrigue as they lead a merry chase across Europe and uncover a spy plot.

Director:

W.S. Van Dyke

Writers:

John Lee Mahin (screen play), Manuel Seff (screen play)

Stars:

Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Joan Crawford	...	Sally Parker
Clark Gable	...	Michael Anthony
Franchot Tone	...	Barnabus Pells
Reginald Owen	...	Baron Otto
Mona Barrie	...	Baroness Hilda
Ivan Lebedeff	...	Igor
Charles Judels	...	Lieutenant of Police
William Demarest	...	Lees Berger - City Editor
Donald Meek	...	Caretaker

Storyline

In the company of reporter Michael Anthony, American heiress Sally Parker flees her planned wedding to Prince Igor; Sally is unaware of Mike's detestable occupation. The two steal an airplane that is part of a spy plot and discover secret plans. They are pursued by the spies as well as by Mike's pal Barnabas, who wants a piece of the hot news story.

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Plot Keywords:

love triangle | male male relationship | homosexual subtext | spies and secret agents | screwball comedy | 

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Taglines:

Joan Crawford - On the run! Clark Gable - Running after her! Franchot Tone - Running after both of them!

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 November 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

Liebe mit 100 PS

Filming Locations:

Van Nuys Airport, 16461 Sherman Way, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$578,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$1,140,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,860,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film's earliest documented telecast took place in Tucson Wednesday 12 June 1957 on KVOA (Channel 4); it first aired in Los Angeles 28 June 1957 on KTTV (Channel 11), in Chicago 11 July 1957 on WBBM (Channel 2), in New Haven CT 23 September 1957 on WNHC (Channel 8), in Altoona PA 7 October 1957 on WFBG (Channel 10), in Baltimore 15 October 1957 on WJZ (Channel 13), in Philadelphia 18 October 1957 on WFIL (Channel 6), in Lebanon PA 21 October 1957 on WLBR (Channel 15), in Miami 6 November 1957 on WCKT (Channel 7), in Norfolk VA 19 November 1957 on WTAR (Channel 3), in San Antonio 25 November 1957 on WOAI (Channel 4), and in Honolulu 28 November 1957 on KHVH (Channel 13); it finally founds its way to New York City 2 August 1959 on WCBS (Channel 2) and to San Francisco 24 April 1960 on KGO (Channel 7).

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Goofs

When Sally and Michael are at the "London Metropolitan Airport", there are mountains visible in the background. These scenes were actually filmed at the airport in Van Nuys (VNY), known at the time as Metropolitan Airport, which is about 20 miles north of what now is Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

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Quotes

Sally Parker: Trains run to Paris, you know? Choo, choo, choo.
Michael 'Mike' Anthony: I don't know why I keep explaining things to you, but railroad stations have a habit of being watched.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits are shown over images of trains and autos.

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Connections

References Cardinal Richelieu (1935)

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Soundtracks

Wedding March
(uncredited)
Written by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1842)
Background music for runaway bride

User Reviews

Spies And Weddings

Love On The Run is yet another example of Louis B. Mayer trying to cash in on the success that eluded him when he 'punished' Clark Gable by sending him to Columbia Pictures for a minor comedy that turned out to be It Happened One Night. For the rest of the decade Hollywood saturated the American public with madcap heiress stories.

When you've got one of the leading players under contract to you however it's a bit easier. Gable is given a rival reporter to contend with in Love On The Run in the person of Joan Crawford's real life husband, Franchot Tone. These two room together, but are ready to do everything short of cutting each other's throats to scoop the other.

Two stories that they are both assigned to cover, heiress Joan Crawford's wedding to a prince, Ivan Lebedeff, and a trans-European flight by Baron Reginald Owen get mixed up together as Crawford gets cold feet and Owen turns out to be an international spy.

Gable and Crawford have done it all before, especially Gable. But I kind of feel sorry for Franchot Tone. If he wasn't in a dinner jacket in his MGM parts he was in a film like this, essentially playing the Ralph Bellamy role. It's a very one sided rivalry Gable and Tone have. It's like the Yankees and Red Sox of the last century with the Yankees constantly coming out on top. No wonder Tone left MGM to try for better acting roles. At MGM he showed what he could do in films like Mutiny on the Bounty and Three Comrades, but even these were in support of bigger stars.

There's some nice performances in the cast from Mona Barrie as Owen's wife, Donald Meek as a most eccentric caretaker and William Demarest as Gable's editor. But no new ground was broken here.