Something Always Happens

"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.

I call this a relic not because it is old. Oh no: Old movies are my thing. Nor because it has been essentially unknown in the United States until now, though that is interesting.

It's because the mores have changed distinctly in 73 years. This relates to the little boy we first see in the film. He is a street orphan and is touchingly written, acted -- and directed, though what else would one expect from the great Michael Powell? Ian Hunter, quite charming as a loafer from a higher class, finds him on the street. He is down on his luck too; so he takes the boy under his wing. The first thing that would not pass muster with censors and/or would upset some viewers today is that he rents a room and has this child share it with him. Oh my! What a scandal that would create! And in addition, he makes pajamas for the child from the softhearted landlady's rug.

Then, when things look up, he seems to have hired the child to work for the car company where he's wangled a job. (The film is primarily about his romance with the daughter of an auto magnate and his change in fortune.) The boy wears a uniform, no less! Child labor laws would make such employment for a little boy unacceptable.

The acting is excellent throughout. The young woman, the boy, the landlady -- all are good. And Hunter shows himself a much more interesting actor than his roles in Kay Francis vehicles a few years hence would have suggested.

Ian Hunter is broke, and that's how he likes it. He befriends young John Singer, they charm landlady Muriel George, and Hunter has a meet cute with Nancy O'Neil. Hunter has a big idea to make petrol stations busier. Miss O'Neil suggests he take it to Peter Gawthorne. Gawthorne throws him out of his office, so Hunter takes it to the failing competition. He also takes Miss Neil into the office as his private secretary. He doesn't know she's Gawthorne's daughter.

Michael Powell's movie for Warner's Teddington branch bumps along at a good pace, with people speaking fast, things happening, and so forth. Yet the art deco look and lack of urgency about the characters' problems makes it feel a lot like the lesser stuff that RKO would be turning out in a year. I am struck by the idea that this is more a burlesque of the urban romcom than an example of the form itself, Matters fall into place far too quickly, then it's on to the next plot point. As facilely and pleasantly as it's directed, it feels insincere, as if everyone said "let's make this movie, and maybe the next one will be more interesting." And then everyone put in a full day's work, and did their best, and then just forgot about it when they came in to work the day after. But I feel that way about a lot of the lesser RKO romcoms too.

This is a truly delightful early Michael Powell film, crisply directed and edited, with excellent cinematography, and it is extraordinary that an early British film of such quality is so little known. There is a striking performance by child actor John Singer, aged 11, as a runaway orphan who is taken up by Ian Hunter, a gent down on his luck and penniless because of his compulsive gambling. The two move in together (no, paedophilia did not yet exist!) and together charm and wheedle their way to a landlady's heart (played with alternate fierceness and charm by Muriel George), so that they get the room for free until their ship comes in, plus huge breakfasts because she loves children. Ian Hunter is excellent as the lead, and one forgives him instantly for his foibles because he is no nice. Meanwhile he meets Nancy O'Neill, who is excellent with her tongue-in-cheek masquerade as a poor girl, whereas she is really the daughter of a business magnate. She urges Hunter to apply to her father for a job, not revealing who she is, but Hunter ends up becoming the competition. If only business success were that easy! But oh well, this is the movies. Peter Gawthorne is amusing as the intimidating papa, exasperated one moment and melting the next. Needless to say, this is one of those films where everything goes well and hardships are overcome, though there is a bizarre shift in plot emphasis from the boy to the girl, and it does seem as if two stories were stuck together rather unconvincingly. But never mind, it is all a delight and so well done that we just enjoy every minute of it.

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.