The "Piggy Back"
When Peter and Ellie decide to abandon the bus, Peter rolls up his pant legs, slings Ellie over his shoulder, and walks across a shallow river. The couple argues about what constitutes a "piggy back." The image is an iconic one—the snarky Peter protectively and unsentimentally carrying the naive heiress Ellie through the elements to safety—and signifies the growing intimacy between them. The sun sparkles on the water as they banter playfully, and make their way towards New York on foot, with barely any money and nothing but their wits to guide them.
Sleeping in the Straw
As part of their journey by foot, Ellie and Peter spend a night sleeping out under the stars. Peter makes a bed for each of them out of straw, and they are bathed in gentle moonlight. Ellie, a woman who has surely never slept in anything less than the finest sheets, lies back and looks at her hearty companion, admiring the way that he takes care of her. While they have been bickering, this is yet another moment in which the couple grows closer and a romantic spark begins to kindle between them.
The "Walls of Jericho"
To give them some privacy at the cabin, Peter hangs a curtain between their two beds, which he calls the "walls of Jericho," a jokey reference to the Bible. After they have retreated to either side of the curtain, we see Peter and Ellie furtively getting dressed. Even though they are in the same room, they still know that the other is there, as they vulnerably and intimately change into their pajamas. The image of each of them, on either side of the curtain, wondering what the other one looks like getting undressed, is a sexy and intimate image. We the viewer are privy to each of their expressions and emotions as they get changed, and the image of the two lovers on either side of a barrier is an especially romantic one.
Putting the "Hitch" in Hitchhiking
Perhaps the most iconic image in the film is one that actress Claudette Colbert was allegedly reluctant to participate in. It is the moment in which she tries her hand at hitchhiking and lifts up her skirt to reveal her leg to the passing cars in hopes that one will stop and offer them a ride. Colbert apparently thought the moment was un-ladylike, but when Frank Capra threatened to have a body double do it, Colbert insisted on doing it herself. The image, of a snobby heiress sticking out her leg to be ogled by driving men, is iconic because it depicts the central socioeconomic tension of the film, and exemplifies the fact that It Happened One Night is, above all, a road trip movie.
