It Happened One Night Transformation Quotes

This is where Ellie is when we first meet her, at least in Peter's estimation. By delivering this verdict, Peter gives a name to the entitled and superior condition that Little Miss Andrews must overcome.

We can't be sure she really knows what she's saying here, but we can be sure she means what she says. Ellie's giving voice to her dissatisfaction with her lot and letting us know that she's more prepared for the humbling she'll undergo than she might have seemed at first.

Again, this moment—when Ellie offers money to the hungry boy on the bus—lets us know that Ellie's transformation from poor little rich girl to full-fledged human being and independent woman is well underway.

Although she seems stuck-up to him at first, it's significant that Ellie has been "the sort of a girl" he describes all along: The first thing we see her do, practically, is jump off a ship and into the ocean—in other words, into the surf. This is no accident; it's a clue that lets us know that even if Peter doesn't recognize it at first, Ellie's always been his dream girl.

Indeed she has. Andrews names the transformation that we've been tracking in this section: Ellie's metamorphosis. The poor little rich girl is all grown up, and she's found her "humanness" and her "humility," to use the words that appear in the screenplay. Together with these qualities, Ellie's also discovered her appetite for life and love, and Andrews, improbably perceptive near the end of the film, picks up on the signals she's emitting, all of which suggest that she's a changed gal.