This innocuous little comedy concerns a ne'er-do-well salesman, played by Ian Hunter, who decides to stop living hand-to-mouth on commission work and get a permanent job when he rescues a 10-year-old orphan. While trying to impress a woman named Cynthia, who happens to be the daughter of petrol (gas) station magnate, he stumbles upon an idea that would double the profits of petrol stations by transforming them into one-stop shopping plazas. After being rebuffed by the woman's father, he takes his idea to a rival company, which hires him, puts his plan into action, and begins running the competition out of business. The comedy arises from the fact that Hunter never knows that Cynthia is the daughter of his business rival and hires her as his own secretary.
It's typical B-film fodder, but entertaining enough to while away an hour before bedtime or a rainy Saturday afternoon. The real attraction for most film buffs is that it happened to be director by the great Michael Powell (of "Red Shoes"/"Black Narcissus" fame). This was very early on in Powell's career; between 1931 and 1936, Powell directed two dozen "quota quickies" -- cheap films produced by Hollywood studios in Britain in order to get around British quota laws that required UK cinemas to show one British-produced movie for every Hollywood movie they imported. Later in life, Powell was largely dismissive of these films, claiming that he didn't really come into his own until his 1937 independent production "The Edge of the World." However, "Something Always Happens" reveals that Powell was already a director of distinction, with an eye for impressive shots.
In fact, more than anything else, "Something Always Happens" also reveals the extent to which Powell had already been influenced by German Expressionist cinema. In particular, it seems heavily indebted to Fritz Lang's "M," which was released only three years earlier. For one thing, Powell employs the associative audio edits that made "M"'s sound design so innovative. Scenes in "Something Always Happens" shift by linking what one character says in one location to what another character is saying in another location. (In Powell's movie, this technique is for comic effect, though.) Also, the opening shots of "Something Always Happens," like the opening shots of "M," are dominated by an overhead crane master-shot of children playing in the street. Considering that Powell, like Hitchcock, was a fan of inter-war German film-making, these points of comparison can't be accidental.
Unfortunately, even Powell can't make this movie entirely coherent. Its best moments occur early on, when Hunter's character and the 10-year-old orphan he rescues meet and become friends. In fact, these early scenes almost seem to be setting up an entirely different movie. Once Hunter's character meets Cynthia, the movie suddenly shifts focus and gradually settles into formulaicism. It's still fun, but you get the sense that Powell himself was growing rather bored with the plot after the much more interesting first third. If you want to see Powell more fully engaged with the material he was assigned during his early years as a director, you should watch "Crown Vs. Stevens" instead. (There are some ideas in that movie that Hitchcock seems to have lifted for "Suspicion" and "Shadow of a Doubt.")
It's typical B-film fodder, but entertaining enough to while away an hour before bedtime or a rainy Saturday afternoon. The real attraction for most film buffs is that it happened to be director by the great Michael Powell (of "Red Shoes"/"Black Narcissus" fame). This was very early on in Powell's career; between 1931 and 1936, Powell directed two dozen "quota quickies" -- cheap films produced by Hollywood studios in Britain in order to get around British quota laws that required UK cinemas to show one British-produced movie for every Hollywood movie they imported. Later in life, Powell was largely dismissive of these films, claiming that he didn't really come into his own until his 1937 independent production "The Edge of the World." However, "Something Always Happens" reveals that Powell was already a director of distinction, with an eye for impressive shots.
In fact, more than anything else, "Something Always Happens" also reveals the extent to which Powell had already been influenced by German Expressionist cinema. In particular, it seems heavily indebted to Fritz Lang's "M," which was released only three years earlier. For one thing, Powell employs the associative audio edits that made "M"'s sound design so innovative. Scenes in "Something Always Happens" shift by linking what one character says in one location to what another character is saying in another location. (In Powell's movie, this technique is for comic effect, though.) Also, the opening shots of "Something Always Happens," like the opening shots of "M," are dominated by an overhead crane master-shot of children playing in the street. Considering that Powell, like Hitchcock, was a fan of inter-war German film-making, these points of comparison can't be accidental.
Unfortunately, even Powell can't make this movie entirely coherent. Its best moments occur early on, when Hunter's character and the 10-year-old orphan he rescues meet and become friends. In fact, these early scenes almost seem to be setting up an entirely different movie. Once Hunter's character meets Cynthia, the movie suddenly shifts focus and gradually settles into formulaicism. It's still fun, but you get the sense that Powell himself was growing rather bored with the plot after the much more interesting first third. If you want to see Powell more fully engaged with the material he was assigned during his early years as a director, you should watch "Crown Vs. Stevens" instead. (There are some ideas in that movie that Hitchcock seems to have lifted for "Suspicion" and "Shadow of a Doubt.")
