''Little Accident'' is a 1939 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Charles Lamont Charles Lamont (May 5, 1895 – September 11, 1993) was a prolific filmmaker, directing over 200 titles and producing and writing many others. He directed several Abbott and Costello comedies and many Ma and Pa Kettle films. Biography A Calif ...

and written by Paul Yawitz and

Eve Greene Eve Greene (May 21, 1906 – July 15, 1997) was an American screenwriter active primarily during the 1930s through the 1950s. Biography Early life Greene grew up in Champaign, Illinois, and dreamed of being a Hollywood writer. Career ...

. It is very loosely based on the 1928 play ''

Little Accident ''Little Accident'' was a 1928 Broadway three-act comedy written by Floyd Dell and Thomas Mitchell (who also played Norman Overbeck in the play). It was based on Dell's 1927 novel ''An Unmarried Father''. It was produced by Crosby Gaige and direc ...

'' by

Floyd Dell Floyd James Dell (June 28, 1887 – July 23, 1969) was an American newspaper and magazine editor, literary critic, novelist, playwright, and poet. Dell has been called "one of the most flamboyant, versatile and influential American Men of Letters ...

and Thomas Mitchell, mostly retaining just its title. The film stars

Hugh Herbert Hugh Herbert (August 10, 1885 – March 12, 1952) was an American motion picture comedian. He began his career in vaudeville and wrote more than 150 plays and sketches. Career Born in Binghamton, New York, Herbert attended Cornell Univers ...

Florence Rice Florence Davenport Rice (February 14, 1907 – February 23, 1974) was an American film actress. Early years Florence Davenport Rice was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the only child of the noted sportswriter Grantland Rice and Fannie Katherine ...

, Richard Carlson,

Ernest Truex Ernest Truex (September 19, 1889 – June 26, 1973) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. Career Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Truex learned acting at an early age after his father, a doctor, treated actor Edwin Melvin, who ...

Joy Hodges Joy Hodges (born Frances Eloise Hodges; January 29, 1915January 19, 2003) was an American singer and actress who performed on radio, on film, on Broadway theatre, Broadway, and with big bands. Early years Frances Eloise Hodges was born in Des M ...

Kathleen Howard Kathleen Howard (July 27, 1884 – April 15, 1956) was a Canadian-born American opera singer, magazine editor, and character actress from the mid-1930s through the 1940s. Biography Howard was born in Clifton Hill, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada ...

Howard Hickman Howard Charles Hickman (February 9, 1880 – December 31, 1949) was an American actor, director and writer. He was an accomplished stage leading man, who entered films through the auspices of producer Thomas H. Ince. Career In 1900, Hickman d ...

Edgar Kennedy Edgar Livingston Kennedy (April 26, 1890 – November 9, 1948) was an American comedic character actor who appeared in at least 500 films during the silent and sound eras. Professionally, he was known as "Slow Burn", owing to his ability to por ...

Etienne Girardot Etienne Girardot (22 February 1856 – 10 November 1939) was a diminutive stage and film actor of Anglo-French parentage born in London, England. Biography The son of French painter Ernest Gustave Girardot, he studied at an art school, but le ...

and

Fritz Feld Fritz Feld (October 15, 1900 – November 18, 1993) was a German-American film character actor who appeared in over 140 films in 72 years, both silent and sound. His trademark was to slap his mouth with the palm of his hand to create a "pop" s ...

. The film was released on October 27, 1939, by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

Plot

On the day before his second wedding, a man finds out that his bride-to-be has had a baby.

Cast

as Herbert Pearson *

as Alice Pearson * Richard Carlson as Perry Allerton *

as Tabby Morgan *

as Joan Huston *

as Mrs. Allerton *

as Mr. Allerton *

as Paper Hanger *

as Professor Artemus Glenwater *

as Malisse *

Charles D. Brown Charles D. Brown (July 1, 1887 – November 25, 1948) was an American stage and film actor. Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Brown wrote and directed a single short film in 1914. As an actor, he appeared in more than 100 films, stretching fro ...

as Jeff Collins * Baby Sandy as Sandy

Critical reception

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote that although the movie "displays cute smile and antics of Baby Sandy, combining some elemental and slapstick comedy sequences by Hugh Herbert and adult members of the cast, but all on a rather inconsequential story that serves nothing more than as an excuse for the individual situations and that "as an attraction, ''Little Accident'' will suffice as supporter in the family houses, lacking story strength to get attention above that slot."

References

External links

* {{Charles Lamont 1939 films American comedy films 1939 comedy films Universal Pictures films Films directed by Charles Lamont American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films