It Couldn’t Have Happened; But It Did
1728. IT COULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED (But It Did) (1936-USA). With Reginald DENNY, EVELYN BRENT, JACK LA HUE. Dapper Reginald Denny stars in this crackerjack whodunit as Greg Stone, a successful but grossly underpaid writer of plays whose latest effort is in rehearsal. He’s surrounded by a gallery of show biz types, from a pair of manipulative producers to a temperamental actress, a past-his-prime actor being put to pasture to a tough guy wishing to see the name of his no-talent girlfriend lighting up the theater marquee. Stone’s play is a murder mystery, and the essence of his story becomes shockingly real when both the producers are brutally killed. The writer becomes a prime suspect, as the victims had refused to up his salary or let him out of a long-term contract. At the urging of the producers’ spunky secretary-who of course is passionately in love with him-Stone reluctantly is forced to prove his innocence by solving a crime that has the entire homicide squad biting its nails. 70 minutes. Crime-Mystery-Suspense