Everything about LOVE ON THE RUN is derivative. It seems like a reincarnation of Gable's role in "It Happened One Night" with him as a newspaper reporter passing himself off as a friend to runaway heiress JOAN CRAWFORD.
It's a bumpy ride most of the way, but there is one exceptionally funny scene in the palace at Fontainbleu involving a batty caretaker (DONALD MEEK) who thinks Gable and Crawford are ghosts and wants to give Gable a tip on his minuet style. He joins forces with Crawford for a charming bit of physical comedy--and then sadly disappears from much of the plot.
CLARK GABLE and JOAN CRAWFORD both exhibit comic ability, with Gable especially amusing in that minuet sequence. FRANCHOT TONE is Gable's rival reporter, always falling for Gable's con man tricks. But their material is thin--and rehashed from dozens of other films the two made either apart or together. Crawford is a harder, edgier version of the runaway gal Claudette Colbert played in "It Happened One Night".
Crawford looks at the peak of her photogenic charm and her chemistry with both stars is excellent.
But overall, it's just another screwball comedy about a runaway heiress and her vexation over being deceived by newspaper reporters.
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