Succede sempre qualcosa

What an absolutely delightful find! According to Robert Osborne of TCM, these "quota quickies" were made by Warner Brothers at their Teddington Studios in England in order to comply with a British law requiring that a certain percentage of films shown there be domestic products. It's the story of an upper-class, but broke, ne'er-do-well (Ian Hunter) who hooks up with a street urchin (John Singer). The chemistry between the two is marvelous, and they are supported by a fine cast, including Nancy O'Neil as the love interest, Peter Gawthorne as her father and Muriel George as the landlady. The film is fast-paced and replete with snappy dialog. It's charming, funny and touching.

Wonderful writing is what makes this comedy something special. This is just great storytelling. The film is charming and it offers a slate of characters that are very likable.

Ian Hunter plays the part of Peter Middleton, an optimist who is suffering in the challenging economy, but always believes he will find a way to survive to the next day. He runs into a poor runaway named Billy (John Singer), and takes the kid under his wing. Now more motivated to find economic stability for the two of them, he sets off to ply his talents as a deal-maker. A misunderstanding results in an opportunity for Peter. And he meets Cynthia Hatch (Nancy O'Neil) with whom there is instant chemistry.

Watch for Muriel George who plays the part of Mrs. Badger; she is delightful as the landlady with a tender heart.

I would love for someone to remake this film and flesh it out a little, with modern references.

This was just shown on Turner Classic Movies, the first time its been shown on television in the US. It was made by Teddington Studios, the British studio then under the control of Warner Brothers. It was a "quota quickie", a film made under the British Cinematograph Films Act of 1927- created to counter the dominance of American films in Britain.

The film is a simple (if properly restrained British) love story. It begins as an unemployed car salesman, Peter Middleton, who has lost the last of his money in cards, takes a street orphan under his wing and pretending the orphan is his son, persuades a softhearted landlady to rent him a room, although he has no money.

The next day, while trying to con the chauffeur of a fancy motorcar, he meets the rich young Cynthia Hatch. However, intrigued by his audacity, she hides her identity from him when he mistakes her for a working girl and to impress her, he pretends that the car is his. And so, in the best scene in the movie, she convinces him to take her to a fancy restaurant that he, of course, he can't pay for. There she puts him up to going to the powerful Mr. Hatch (her father, still unknown to him) to pitch a scheme for petrol (gas) stations. He promises that he will make good and then hire her as his secretary.

However, her scheme backfires when her father rejects him and he goes to work for the competition. He holds her to her promise, and she finds herself working for her father's chief competitor.

Its all wrapped up neatly in a little more than an hour as the young entrepreneur gets the best of his future father-in-law and wins the girl. As the girl, Nancy O'Neil is quite good and Ian Hunter is good, if a little stiff, as the lead. After this film, he went to Hollywood, where he may be best known for playing King Richard in "The Adventures of Robin Hood".

It was directed by Michael Powell, who went on to make "Black Narcissus" and "The Red Shoes", among other classics.

Without going into plot summaries I will stick to three main points: 1) I agree with all the nice things said by the other reviewers. If this is a "quota quickie" then bring on more! 2) You will not find another film where you get a peek under the bonnet of a 1934 Bentley, and with sound. 3) The best reason to watch this is Miss Nancy O'Neil. A total delight, wish she had made more films. At first I pondered about why the Brothers Warner did not bring her to Hollywood for a better career. But hey, the U.S.of A. had already "borrowed" Lilian Bond, Wendy Barrie, Margot Grahame, Benita Hume, Binnie Barnes, Diana Wynyard, Edna Best, Madeleine Carroll, Valerie Hobson, Elizabeth Allan, and others. Tough competition and perhaps Miss Nancy did not need the drama.

"Something Always Happens" is a British quota film. Let me explain what this means. The British government adopted a law long ago (1930s if I remember correctly) and it said that a certain percentage of films playing in their cinemas MUST be domestically made. So, to get around this, several big American studios (in this case, Warner Brothers) opened up British studios and made films to meet this quota. And, fortunately, they lined up the great British director Michael Powell to made the film...though at the time he was just a young and struggling guy in the movie industry.

Peter Middleton (Ian Hunter) is broke when the story begins...broke and without a job. Despite this, he soon finds himself with a little boy...a boy who is homeless and hungry. With no funds at all, he manages to find a softhearted landlord who lets the pair stay....but what is he going to do for money and food? Well, he's not that worried, as his life motto is 'Something always happens'...and he assumes with some hard work, they will be just fine. Of course, this IS during the worst period of the Great Depression! Fortunately for him, he finds the right person to help him out of this mess when he meets Cynthia.

This is a cute rags to riches tale and I really have nothing negative to say about it. Clever, fun and a film I highly recommend.