JohnHowardReid SYNOPSIS: An honest insurance adjuster (Ronald Reagan) is hounded by his shrewish wife (Sheila Bromley) and a corrupt claims investigator (Anderson Lawler).COMMENT: I didn't expect much from this Ronald Reagan "B" entry. True, it was odd to find our future President saddled with a "B" at this stage of his movie career, although I must admit that it is certainly a lively, extremely well-produced "B" entry.By the humble standards of a second feature, "Accidents Will Happen" does certainly have a really smart script, which abundantly provides Reagan with some really good opportunities to win audience sympathy with the character he portrays here with such likable acumen.Better still, the movie is directed at a really crackling pace, that not only enlivens some of the smartest, slickest acting I've seen in many a day, but wins audience sympathy, hands down! In fact it would be true to say that all the players from the stars themselves down to the tiniest bit-parts, are extraordinarily well cast. Snappy film editing, attractive photography and A-1 sets add to the film's visual appeal. My only complaint (and it's a very, very small one) is that Gloria Blondell (Joan Blondell's sister) has — of necessity — such a small role.

classicsoncall I was getting a little nervous there when Ronald Reagan's character appeared to be availing himself of all the underhanded techniques his opponents were using to settle fraudulent insurance claims. Fortunately we learn he's working hand in hand with the State's Attorney's office and all the scams he perpetrated were going to be made right. It would not have looked good for the future President to be a criminal! This was a generally entertaining and briskly paced little flick, with that clever opening in which Eric Gregg (Reagan) conducted his little experiment on women's shoes. Those were some mighty tough heels to withstand the fireplace, but I got more of a kick out of a handful of office gals going gaga over their twelve dollar replacement shoes! Poor Mary (Janet Shaw), Gregg's secretary, she hadn't had a pair that expensive in years! Say, here's something that present day screenplay writers wouldn't have tripped up on. When Blair Thurston (Addison Richards) declares that he'd like to 'amalgamate' Gregg into his shady operation, it's not much later that Gregg himself says something similar - what were the odds of them each zeroing in on that same word?Seeing as how Gregg split with his shrew of a wife Nona (Sheila Bromley), I'm glad he was able to hook up with nice girl Patty (Gloria Blondell). But it was a bit weird to see her laying there on the stretcher in the middle of the courtroom. I wonder if that's ever been done before.Well it was just the thing to bring down the whole insurance scam and take down the bad guys. With Addison Richards in the cast, it was cool to see that he didn't have to be a Western outlaw for a change. Same with another perennial baddie, Earl Dwire, who showed up here as Doc Faris. Rewritten, I guess this could just as easily have been a Western as well, with Reagan wearing a white hat as he rides into town to save the day.

csteidler Ronald Reagan plays Eric Gregg, up-and-coming (he hopes) insurance investigator. Sheila Bromley is his wife Nona, who is decidedly not satisfied with her husband's lack of quicker progress up the ranks. The film opens with a domestic scene—Reagan burning the toast, Bromley bringing in the breakfast—that gave me the idea I was in for a breezy comedy-mystery; in fact, it's anything but a comedy, and the "mystery" here is nothing like a typical who done it.A couple of major plot twists surprise and impress; the characters are only as deep as a 62-minute picture allows time for, but they do interact and affect each other in ways unusual and intriguing in a B movie.Reagan is fine as the lead. Bromley is quite impressively nasty, especially when delivering lines like, "Now it happens that I'm not weighted down with tons of righteousness." Gloria Blondell has too small a role but is attractive as the girl with her eye on Ronny who perks up sweetly when told that the wife has gone to Reno….Blondell really is the brightest spot in what is, at least for long stretches, a rather gloomy picture.An interesting if bizarre little movie. It fooled me, I'll admit that.

Michael_Elliott Accidents Will Happen (1938) *** (out of 4) Ronald Reagan plays a young insurance adjustor who is slowly working his way up the ladder but not fast enough for his high priced wife (Sheila Bromley). The wife joins a insurance fraud racket, which eventually gets her husband fired from his job but instead of lying down he decides to bring the racket down himself. This is yet another "B" film Reagan did at Warner and this one here actually kept me entertained from start to finish due to the rather interesting story and a nice performance by the young star. The movie is pretty much one note as we see the hot shot get torn down and then we see him built back up as he takes down the bad guys. What I enjoyed most was how we got to see the various scams play out. We see the characters brought into play, we see the wrecks and then we see how the claims are paid off. All of this was rather fascinating even though the movie never goes too deep into things. The film runs just 62-minutes so it's fast paced and right to the point. I really enjoyed Reagan here as he manages to be quite good in his cockiness early on and he is able to show the strength of the character in the second half. Gloria Blondell and Duck Purcell add good support as does Bromley who plays a great villain who you can't help but hate. If you're not a fan of "B" movies than this here will probably be a bit too shallow for your taste but those you do enjoy this type of thing will find themselves entertained throughout.