It Had to Happen

Last updated
It Had to Happen
It Had to Happen.jpg
Directed by Roy Del Ruth
Written by Rupert Hughes
Kathryn Scola
Howard Ellis Smith
Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck
Starring George Raft
Rosalind Russell
Leo Carrillo
Arline Judge
Alan Dinehart
Arthur Hohl
Cinematography J. Peverell Marley
Edited by Allen McNeil
Music by Arthur Lange
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date
  • February 14, 1936 (1936-02-14)
Running time
79 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

It Had to Happen is a 1936 American drama film starring George Raft and Rosalind Russell. The movie was written by Kathryn Scola, and Howard Ellis Smith, and directed by Roy Del Ruth. It is based on the 1909 short story "Canavan, the Man Who Had His Way" by Rupert Hughes.

Contents

Plot

An Italian, Enrico Scaffa, emigrates to America where he has a run-in with Beatrice, the elegant wife of a wealthy banker. Enrico gets a job working for a politician and works his way up to be a power in the city. Despite romancing his secretary Miss Sullivan, he crosses with Beatrice again and pursues her.

Cast

Production

Raft's casting was announced in September 1935. He was borrowed from Paramount. [1] The same month Roy Del Ruth was announced as director. [2] Leo Carillo was borrowed from Columbia. Constance Bennett was mentioned as a possible female lead. [3]

Filming started November 1935. [4]

Reception

The film was a box office hit. [5]

It was one of several films Raft made for Daryl F. Zanuck. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Seaton</span> American screenwriter, playwright, film director and producer, and theater director

George Seaton was an American screenwriter, playwright, film director and producer, and theater director. Seaton led several industry organizations, serving as a three-time president of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences, president of the Writers Guild of America West and the Screen Directors Guild, and vice president of Motion Picture Relief Fund. He won two Academy Awards for his screenplays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosalind Russell</span> American actress (1907–1976)

Catherine Rosalind Russell was an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and singer, known for her role as fast-talking newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson in the Howard Hawks screwball comedy His Girl Friday (1940), opposite Cary Grant, as well as for her portrayals of Mame Dennis in Auntie Mame (1958) and Rose in Gypsy (1962). A noted comedienne, she won all five Golden Globes for which she was nominated. Russell won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1953 for her portrayal of Ruth in the Broadway show Wonderful Town. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress four times during her career before being awarded a Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gail Russell</span> American actress (1924–1961)

Gail Russell was an American film and television actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Raft</span> American actor (1901–1980)

George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is remembered for his gangster roles in Quick Millions (1931) with Spencer Tracy, Scarface (1932) with Paul Muni, Each Dawn I Die (1939) with James Cagney, Invisible Stripes (1939) with Humphrey Bogart, and Billy Wilder's comedy Some Like It Hot (1959) with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon; and as a dancer in Bolero (1934) with Carole Lombard and a truck driver in They Drive by Night (1940) with Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino and Bogart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Brent</span> Irish-American actor

George Brent was an Irish-American stage, film, and television actor. He is best remembered for the eleven films he made with Bette Davis, which included Jezebel and Dark Victory.

Edward Small was an American film producer from the late 1920s through 1970, who was enormously prolific over a 50-year career. He is best known for the movies The Count of Monte Cristo (1934), The Man in the Iron Mask (1939), The Corsican Brothers (1941), Brewster's Millions (1945), Raw Deal (1948), Black Magic (1949), Witness for the Prosecution (1957) and Solomon and Sheba (1959).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Del Ruth</span> American filmmaker

Roy Del Ruth was an American filmmaker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bella Darvi</span> Polish actress (1928–1971)

Bella Darvi was a Polish film actress and stage performer who was active in France and the United States.

<i>Red Light</i> (film) 1949 film noir

Red Light is a 1949 American film noir crime film directed and produced by Roy Del Ruth, starring George Raft and Virginia Mayo, and based on the story "This Guy Gideon" by Don "Red" Barry, featuring strong religious overtones.

<i>The House Across the Bay</i> 1940 American film

The House Across the Bay is a 1940 film directed by Archie Mayo, starring George Raft and Joan Bennett, produced by Walter Wanger, written by Myles Connolly and Kathryn Scola, and released by United Artists. The supporting cast features Lloyd Nolan, Walter Pidgeon and Gladys George.

<i>She Couldnt Take It</i> 1935 film by Tay Garnett

She Couldn't Take It is a 1935 American screwball comedy film made at Columbia Pictures, directed by Tay Garnett, written by C. Graham Baker, Gene Towne and Oliver H.P. Garrett, and starring George Raft and Joan Bennett. It was one of the few comedies Raft made in his career.

<i>Rumba</i> (1935 film) 1935 film by Marion Gering

Rumba is a 1935 American musical drama film starring George Raft as a Cuban dancer and Carole Lombard as a Manhattan socialite. The movie was directed by Marion Gering and is considered an unsuccessful follow-up to Raft and Lombard's smash hit Bolero the previous year.

<i>Nob Hill</i> (film) 1945 film by Henry Hathaway

Nob Hill is a 1945 Technicolor film about a Barbary Coast, San Francisco, United States saloon keeper, starring George Raft and Joan Bennett. Part musical and part drama, the movie was directed by Henry Hathaway. It remains one of Raft's lesser known movies even though it was a big success, in part because it was a musical.

<i>Tail Spin</i> 1939 film by Roy Del Ruth

Tail Spin is a 1939 aviation film. The screenplay was written by Frank Wead and directed by Roy Del Ruth. It was based on the book, "Women with Wings: A novel of the modern day aviatrix", authored by Genevieve Haugen, who was also an advisor and stunt pilot in the film. Tail Spin starred Alice Faye, Constance Bennett, Nancy Kelly, Joan Davis, Charles Farrell and Jane Wyman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Danton</span> American actor, director and producer

Ray Danton was a radio, film, stage, and television actor, director, and producer whose most famous roles were in the screen biographies The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960) and The George Raft Story (1962). He was married to actress Julie Adams from 1954 to 1981.

<i>The George Raft Story</i> 1961 film by Joseph M. Newman

The George Raft Story is a 1961 American biographical film directed by Joseph M. Newman that stars Ray Danton as Hollywood film star George Raft. The picture was retitled Spin of a Coin for release in the United Kingdom, a reference to Raft's character's nickel-flipping trick in Scarface (1932), the film that launched his career as an actor known for portraying gangsters.

<i>Something for the Birds</i> 1952 film by Robert Wise

Something for the Birds is a 1952 American comedy film directed by Robert Wise and starring Victor Mature, Patricia Neal and Edmund Gwenn.

<i>Tell It to the Judge</i> 1949 film by Norman Foster

Tell It to the Judge is a 1949 American romantic comedy film directed by Norman Foster and starring Rosalind Russell as a divorcee who tries to get back her ex-husband, played by Robert Cummings.

<i>King of the Roaring 20s: The Story of Arnold Rothstein</i> 1961 film by Joseph M. Newman

King of the Roaring 20s: The Story of Arnold Rothstein is a 1961 American, biopic, drama, crime film directed by Joseph M. Newman, produced by Samuel Bischoff and starring David Janssen, Dianne Foster, Diana Dors and Jack Carson. During the prohibition era the gangster Arnold Rothstein rises to be a major figure in the criminal underworld. It is also known by the alternative title The Big Bankroll. It was based on a book by Leo Katcher.

<i>The Unguarded Moment</i> (film) 1956 film by Harry Keller

The Unguarded Moment is a 1956 American crime film noir thriller film directed by Harry Keller and starring Esther Williams, George Nader, John Saxon, and Edward Andrews.

References

  1. SCREEN NOTES. New York Times ]25 Sep 1935: 18.
  2. Zanuck Negotiating for Exclusive Right to Services of Cesar Romero: Los Angeles Times 27 Sep 1935: 15.
  3. Anna Sten, Leslie Howard and Dr. Frenke Plan to Produce Own Picture: Memorable Story to Serve Noted Players Constance Bennett May Team With Raft in "It Had to Happen;" Los Angeles Times 19 Oct 1935: A13.
  4. George Raft Will Become Gambler and Society Man in "The Duchess ": Los Angeles Times 16 Oct 1935: 15.
  5. Everett Aaker, The Films of George Raft, McFarland & Company, 2013 p 68-69
  6. Vagg, Stephen (February 9, 2020). "Why Stars Stop Being Stars: George Raft". Filmink.