''Accidents Will Happen'' is a 1938 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by William Clemens and written by George Bricker and

Anthony Coldeway Anthony W. Coldeway (August 1, 1887 – January 29, 1963) was an American screenwriter who had an extensive career from 1910 through 1954. Although most of his work was on films, he did some writing for television and also was the director of a ...

. The film stars Ronald Reagan,

Gloria Blondell Gloria Blondell (August 16, 1915 – March 25, 1986) was a stage, film, and television actress who was the younger sister of actress Joan Blondell. Family She was born into a vaudeville family. Her parents and siblings, Edward Jr. and Joan, wer ...

Dick Purcell Richard Gerold Purcell Jr. (August 6, 1905 – April 10, 1944) was an American actor best known for playing Marvel Comics' Captain America in the 1943 film serial, co-starring with Lorna Gray and Lionel Atwill. Purcell also appeared in fil ...

Sheila Bromley Sheila Bromley (born Sheila LeGay; October 31, 1911 – July 23, 2003), (The reference work ''Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2003'' gave her birth date as October 31, 1907). sometimes billed as Sheila LeGay, Sheila Manners, Sheila Manno ...

, Addison Richards, Hugh O'Connell and Janet Shaw. The film was released by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

on April 9, 1938.

Plot

Eric Gregg is an insurance investigator whose avaricious wife Nona wants him to make more money. After he solves a case and is promised a raise, Nona is a witness in a car crash involving a claim against Eric's company. Her testimony conflicts with others at the scene. Later, Eric discovers Nona with a very expensive fur coat on credit. He learns that she paid it off with the help of Thurston, the loan company's boss, who works with a ring of criminals working to defraud insurance companies. Shortly thereafter, Eric ends up losing his job after a rival, Dawson, exposes the fraud. Eric and a cigarette girl, Patricia Carmody, begin pulling insurance scams of their own, and they attract the attention of the other criminals, who decide to "amalgamate" their business with his. Eric begins working with the others, and is so successful that he begins to be put in charge of bigger operations. Eric tells the others in the ring that their smaller operations of $2,000 per case are insignificant next to what can do for them. He then details a large scam in which Patricia pretends to have suffered a permanent spinal injury due to a drunk driver. At the meeting to discuss the plan, he runs into Nona, who is working with Thurston. They tell Eric of their plans to be married. The incident happens as planned, and a lawsuit is filed for $25,000. At trial, while pretending to be paralyzed, Patricia suddenly stands up from her bed, shocking the courtroom, and declares that she was part of a criminal ring. Eric then takes the stand and tells the court that he was part of an undercover operation to expose all of the insurance fraud, and that he and Patricia have been working for the State's Attorney. Nona and Thurston are arrested in the courtroom, and as Eric and Patricia embrace, Eric's old boss apologizes for firing him and gives him his old job back with a raise.

Cast

* Ronald Reagan as Eric Gregg *

as Patricia Carmody *

as Jim Faber *

as Nona Gregg * Addison Richards as Blair Thurston *

Hugh O'Connell Hugh O'Connell (August 4, 1898 – January 19, 1943) was an American film actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in ...

as John Oldham * Janet Shaw as Mary Tarlton *

Elliott Sullivan Elliott Sullivan (July 4, 1907 – June 2, 1974) was an American actor. Sullivan was born in San Antonio, Texas, the son of Rabbi Solomon Solomon. He appeared in the films ''They Won't Forget'', '' Over the Wall'', ''Accidents Will Happen'', ' ...

as Burley Thorne *

Anderson Lawler Anderson Lawler (May 5, 1902 – April 6, 1959) was an American actor and producer in film and theatre who had a career lasting from the 1920s through the 1950s. He began on Broadway before moving to featured and supporting roles in Hollywood ove ...

as F.R. Dawson *

Spec O'Donnell Walter "Spec" O'Donnell (April 9, 1911 – October 14, 1986) was an American film actor. Biography Born in Fresno, California, in 1911, O'Donnell appeared in more than 190 films between 1923 and 1978. He worked frequently for producer Hal R ...

as 'Specs' Carter *

Kenneth Harlan Kenneth Daniel Harlan (July 26, 1895 – March 6, 1967) was an American actor of the silent film era, playing mostly romantic leads or adventurer types. Early life Harlan was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of George W. Harlan and ac ...

as Attorney Elmer Ross * Don Barclay as Martin Dorsey *

Earl Dwire Earl Dwire (October 3, 1883 – January 16, 1940), born Earl Dean Dwire, was an American character actor who appeared in more than 150 movies between 1921 and his death in 1940. Dwire acted for three years in stock theater with companies i ...

as Dr. Faris

References

External links

* * * * 1938 films 1930s English-language films Warner Bros. films American drama films 1938 drama films Films directed by William Clemens American black-and-white films 1930s American films {{1930s-drama-film-stub