Such Things Happen

Original title: Love Is a Racket

1932
Unrated
1h 12m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Ann Dvorak in Such Things Happen (1932)

A gossip columnist helps a Broadway ingenue beholden to a penthouse gangster.A gossip columnist helps a Broadway ingenue beholden to a penthouse gangster.A gossip columnist helps a Broadway ingenue beholden to a penthouse gangster.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

604

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Top cast26

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Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

Jimmy Russell

Ann Dvorak

Sally Condon

Frances Dee

Mary Wodehouse

Lee Tracy

Stanley Fiske

Lyle Talbot

Edward Griswold 'Eddie' Shaw

Warren Hymer

Burney Olds

André Luguet

Max Boncour
(as Andre Luguet)

Cecil Cunningham

Aunt Hattie Donovan

Terrance Ray

Seeley

William Burress

Ollie
(scenes deleted)

George Raft

Sneaky
(scenes deleted)

George Beranger

Manager of Elizabeth Morgan's
(uncredited)

Gino Corrado

Sardi's Waiter
(uncredited)

George Ernest

Newsboy
(uncredited)

Harrison Greene

City Editor
(uncredited)

Eddie Kane

Sardi's Captain of Waiters
(uncredited)

John Larkin

Tod - Jimmy's Elevator Operator
(uncredited)

John Marston

George Curley
(uncredited)

Director
- William A. Wellman
Writers
- Rian James
- Courtney Terrett
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

User reviews21

Featured review

5/10

Just okay...

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. plays a worldly-wise newspaperman whose beat is Broadway. He always seems to be one step ahead of everyone and is never a chump...except when it comes to one woman (Frances Dee). This lady has written some bad checks and he decides to help her. However, it all ends up backfiring on him. It's a shame, as his lovely assistant (Ann Dvorak) can't get him to notice her. When his lady love gets in trouble, he decides to help her....with results he never anticipated. Along for the ride are Lee Tracy as his sidekick and Lyle Talbot as the tough guy who has the rubber checks.

While this isn't a bad film, it isn't all that great either. One way I knew this is that as I watched, I kept finding my attention drifting. The dialog is a bit snappy but there just seems to be SOMETHING missing. I think it's fun...and perhaps an interesting plot. A time-passer and nothing more.

Trivia
During his tenure with Warner Bros., William A. Wellman churned out a number of energetic, fast-paced entertainments which are often overlooked by admirers of his work but stand out from the assembly-line programmers they were intended to be. Among the highlights from this early period are Night Nurse (1931) with Barbara Stanwyck, the grim Pre-Code drama The Lost Lady (1931) and Such Things Happen (1932) (1932) starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as a newspaper columnist working the Broadway beat. The latter film is not only a fascinating time capsule of its era, with glimpses of then-popular New York City nightspots such as Sardi's, but also presents an unapologetic, cynical view of reporters who often resort to any means necessary to score a front-page story.

Wellman would go on to make several more distinctive B-pictures for Warner Bros. including the post-World War I social drama Heroes for Sale (1933) and the picaresque railroad adventure, Wild Boys of the Road (1933), but Such Things Happen (1932) is a fun, unpretentious introduction to his Pre-Code films for the studio.

Quotes
James 'Jimmy' Russell: [Giving her a gift of 'nylon' stockings] Here you are, ya' peroxide pirate.
Switchboard Operator: Oh, Mr. Russell... they're lovely! And extra length, too!
James 'Jimmy' Russell: Yeah... winter'll soon be here.