It Couldn't Have Happened (But It Did) (1936) User Reviews

Awful title hides a good little mystery

[dbborroughs · 6/10 · 3 February 2008]

Awful title hides an okay little mystery.I had this film for a while but the title was so awful that I avoided it like the plague. Biting the bullet I gave it a shot this morning before breakfast.

The plot has the two producers of a mystery play killed. Suspicion falls on the cast, crew and a gangster who wants his girl in the play. The secretary for the producers "convinces" the writer of the play to solve it himself.He wants no part in the matter however everyone, other than the police, think it would be a great idea so he's dragged along.

This is a wise cracking little thriller that's actually much better than its title. The always good Reginald Denny plays the sleuthing playwright with just the right mix of "I don't want to do this" and intellectual curiosity. Jack LaRue is a hoot as Smiley Clark, the gangster with a humorous alibi for the murders. He is more than willing to get what ever Denny needs to clear him by whatever means necessary. The rest of the cast, made up of plenty of faces you know is good at providing some nice red herrings.

To be honest I doubt very much you'll guess who done it or how, the solution is much too contrived to be possible anywhere but in a mystery film or novel. That said the film is a neat little popcorn film, perfect for a rainy Sunday afternoon or a late night when you can't sleep.

For as cheap as this is, it's still worth the watch! Inez Courtney's a pip!

[mmipyle · 6/10 · 3 May 2021]

"It Couldn't Have Happened (But It Did)" (1936) is a cutesy murder mystery produced by Invincible Pictures and distributed by both Chesterfield and First Division for the States Rights system. All this should be a red flag to be aware and probably stay away. However: it stars Reginald Denny, Evelyn Brent, Inez Courtney, and Jack La Rue! Frankly, it really stars Inez Courtney, and she's a pip! Wonderful pep, wonderful spirit altogether, and beautifully realized part that pulls the entire picture through the gauze of cheap - and I do mean cheap... There are quite literally only four scenes or so in the entire film, and it lasts 70 minutes. It's as though we were on stage and there are four sets on stage where a focus light focuses on one, then another, then another, then back to one, then on to the other, etc. Cheap, cheap, cheap for a film. Directed by Phil Rosen, it begins with some sluggishness, then speeds up like a film coming together after breaking, then zips along at a furious pace, then comes to a denouement: thud, bing, bang, boom!

We begin on stage. Later the two producers are murdered. Looks like Denny could have done it. Yeah, he had a motive, but his heart, mind, and soul just ain't that kind. Brent looks and acts the part. She's tough. So are a couple of others. Oh, and, yeah, La Rue's a laughing - and sometimes laughable - gangster. He's tough enough to do it. Would he? Well, he laughs too much, don't ya think? Who else? Everybody, that's who... A quick 70 minutes that most will enjoy. Some will think, "This is just awful!" Some will moan, "No more!" Some will wonder what hit them. I thought it was well worth the watch. Especially with Denny in it. But Inez Courtney was a blast... Brent seemed tired, frankly; maybe just plain worn out. Oh, by the way, the murder method is about as inventive and just plain out of this world - if not corny - as any you've ever seen! You'll never figure it out. I must admit, too, that by the end, I couldn't really figure out who the murderer was. Yeah, it's told, but I really didn't care. Still, it was worth the watch.

The Play's the thing

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 15 October 2013]

It Couldn't Have Happened, But It Did casts Reginald Denny as a playwright who is among many people suspected of murdering the two producer partners who are putting on his play. He just wants to stay away and let Detective Robert Homans do his job. But the producer's secretary Inez Courtney who has a thing for Denny wants him to solve the mystery. After all it certainly worked for Jessica Fletcher for years. And think of the publicity.

Like Nick Charles who in several Thin Man films would feign indifference but in the end was drawn in and solved the mystery, Reginald Denny has the additional motivation of being a suspect. Courtney is a little bit more annoying than Myrna Loy was, but in the end she proves a useful ally.

Denny takes a leaf from the Bard and Hamlet like writes a play to catch the conscience of the killer. It Could Have Happened might easily have been a whole lot better at a major studio, but it's all right film in any event.

No one could dream up a dumber murder method (but they did)

[Paularoc · 6/10 · 19 August 2013]

This movie gets off to a really slow start, so much so that I was mentally retitling it 'It couldn't be this bad (but it is).' But then surprisingly, it became enjoyable, mostly due to the Linda Sands character wonderfully played by Inez Courtney. Two theatrical producers of a murder mystery play are murdered. Linda, the producers' secretary, prods the playwright (Reginald Denny as Greg Stone), who she's sweet on, to investigate which he very reluctantly finally does. Greg is one of the suspects since he wanted to get out of his contract with the producers. Another suspect is the gangster Smiley Clark (Jack La Rue) who wanted the producers to put his girlfriend in the play. It's the wisecracks and general levity that makes this movie entertaining. At one point, Linda says of the play's leading actress "The oftener I see that woman, the more I like rattlesnakes." Ouch. Another fun thing about the movie was seeing Jack LaRue play a likable gangster, it's almost a parody of his typical gangster roles. His alibi for one of the murders is that he was at a movie theater watching a Shirley Temple movie! What an alibi for a gangster to have. When Linda finds the body of one of the producers, she asks if he is dead. Smiley responds with "No guy with a hole in him that big ever talked back to an undertaker." But why didn't Linda hear the gunshot or why wasn't a bullet found? Greg figures it out - it's because the murderer instead of using bullets, poured water into the barrel of the gun and then "shot" his victim. What? Even so, the movie's entertaining dialog makes this worth a watch.

Disappointing!

[JohnHowardReid · 6/10 · 16 November 2017]

Evelyn Brent (Beverley), Reginald Denny (Greg), Inez Courtney (Linda), Hugh Marlowe (Forest), Jack La Rue (Smiley), Robert Homans (O'Neil), Bryant Washburn (Carter), Claude King (Holden), Crauford Kent (Bennett), Robert Frazer (Schaefer), Miki Morita (Hashi), Emily LaRue (Smiley's friend), Henry Herbert (Sherwood), Lynton Brent (Lansdale), Dian Manners (Louise), Broderick O'Farrell (Johnson), Henry Hall (hotel manager), Forrest Taylor (stage manager), Dick Rush (detective), Lester Dorr (fingerprint man).

Director: PHIL ROSEN. Screenplay: Arthur T. Horman. Photography: M.A. Andersen. Film editor: Roland D. Reed. Art director: Edward C. Jewell. Production supervisor: Herbert S. Cohen. Assistant director: Melville Shyer. Sound recording: Richard Tyler. RCA Sound System. Producer: Maury M. Cohen.

Copyright 28 August 1936 by Invincible Pictures Corporation. U.S. release through Chesterfield: 11 September 1936. 7 reels. 70 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: Two testy theatrical producers end up murdered. Did one kill the other? If so, who shot him?

COMMENT: An interesting cast trapped in a mostly static, dull, over- talkative, and ultimately rather disappointing movie.

I couldn't make sense of the garrulous plot (even on a second viewing), and it's a shame to see Evelyn Brent wasted in such a small, unrewarding role, whilst a chatterbox like Inez Courtney and a tepid hero like Reginald Denny hold center stage for seemingly hours at a time.

One incredibly boring scene, in which the lackluster Denny is interrupted by a non-stop flood of extremely garrulous visitors just as he is about to take a bath, I thought would never end.

Still, we do have some compensations in Jack La Rue's helpfully friendly gangster, Hugh Marlowe's intense "other man", Miki Morita's singing houseboy, and Robert Homans' promotion from the ranks of cops on the beat to captain of detectives.

Alas, little is made of the potentially fascinating theatrical background, whilst Phil Rosen's direction remains throughout on a consistent level of steadfast plodding.

Silly semi-entertaining flick

[scsu1975 · 5/10 · 20 November 2022]

Reginald Denny is a playwright reluctantly trying to solve a double murder. Since he writes murder plays, everyone seems to expect him to be able to solve the murder of two producers, one found tied up in a closet, another shot in the head without a gunshot being heard.

Jack LaRue, as a gangster trying to help Denny, steals every scene he's in. Inez Courtney plays the producers' secretary, and naturally she's nuts about Denny - but he's too dumb to notice. The big surprise was seeing Hugh Marlowe (billed as John Marlowe) in one of his earliest roles. The not-so-big surprise is that he was obnoxious even that far back.

The climax is preposterous. Denny pens a quickie play which is performed in front of the police and all the suspects, and the murderer is revealed. He couldn't have just said "So and so did it." No, that would have only taken five seconds.

One scene I especially enjoyed is when Denny is in his apartment at night getting ready to take a bath. He is interrupted by a constant parade of people begging him to solve the murder. Then four cops show up as well, and search the place. The only thing missing was Margaret Dumont opening the apartment door and everyone tumbling out.

With the right paint and the right numbers, you really can paint a clear picture of how murder is committed in the movies.

[mark.waltz · 3/10 · 28 April 2018]

Basically a "connect the dots" formula B murder mystery, this is a combination of several archetypes of the standard 1930's who done it. Reginald Denny and Evelyn Brent are serviceable in their parts as the playwright and leading lady of a play in rehearsal where the two producers are murdered. A combination of Nick and Nora Charles and Broadway's first couple, Lunt and Fontanne, they squabble both playfully and seriously, utilizing elements of screwball comedy and light romance as they strive to trap the guilty party so they can go on with the show. It's pretty standard fair for a D grade poverty row studio (in this case Invincible) that has a fairly elegant look and a few amusing moments, but I didn't really end up caring enough who did it to try to figure it out on my own. Brent has a stereotypical flighty Asian servant, played for laughs but cringe worthy for audiences of a highly sensitive nature today. It's over quickly, but this isn't exactly a play I'd be recommending to friends to spend good money on.

Another wonderful 'forgotten' murder mystery

[binapiraeus · 8/10 · 31 May 2014]

It couldn't have happened, but it obviously did: this WONDERFULLY enjoyable, entertaining and clever classic 'whodunit' seems to have sunken into oblivion. I'm VERY lucky that it was recommended to me by a very good friend of mine, a real connoisseur of classic mysteries, because otherwise I'd probably never heard about it at all...

And how much wrong can time do to such great movies - just because they weren't produced by a major studio, just because they didn't have some 'great star' in their cast?? And yet, this SUBLIME example of a classic murder mystery, which has literally got everything from a complicated plot with LOTS of suspects, a pretty unusual murder method, and some QUITE suspenseful moments, to the most funny and original wisecracks and the most hilarious characters, CAN boost of quite some big names among its cast: first of all, former silent leading lady Evelyn Brent (best known to us all as 'Feathers' in the archetypal gangster movie "Underworld"), once again as the 'femme fatale' for many men; then Reginald Denny (whom we got to know and love as 'Algy', the hapless friend of 'Bulldog Drummond') as the playwright who reluctantly starts investigating the case, being pushed by his secretary who's in love with him - and wonderfully played by lovely Inez Courtney - , and last but not least Jack La Rue, one of Hollywood's 'eternal gangsters'.

Now, I'd say that it's HIGH time to remember those 'forgotten' old mysteries, dig them up from the movie cellar and bring them back into the limelight again - and "It Couldn't Have Happened, But It Did" certainly is one of those who DESERVES to become known to a MUCH wider audience!