First Meeting

According to Myrna Loy, she first met William Powell when she landed on his lap jumping into the cab. The story drives me crazy because it's misunderstood to mean when her character, Eleanor, also first meets Powell's character when Eleanor just about lands in his lap, which is the scene inside the taxi. It's not. It's the scene right before, that takes place outside, at night. Jim walks through a big crowd, and before he gets into the taxi, he stops to talk to the priest. Then he gets in the taxi, but before the priest can close the door behind Jim, Eleanor bolts from the crowd and jumps in, startling the priest. The door closes and the cab pulls away. Everything is shot from the exterior. THAT's when they met. The scene in the taxi interior took place at another time, on a soundstage, not on a backlot exterior. I think Loy was right about almost landing in his lap, because when she jumps in you can really see her shoot across the seat to the other side.

There is no way two actors would first meet only when they actually shooting an extensive two person scene with dialogue, inside a soundstage. They would be at the very least on set before the scene began, and do camera block.