Hard to Handle (1933)

Ruth Donnelly had such a barbed way with a stinging comment, she found her niche playing secretaries and battle axe mothers whose dialogue was often made up of wise cracks and witty repartee. To "Blessed Event" and the overbearing aunt who forces her husband (Guy Kibbee) to find jobs for all her free loading and talentless relatives in "Footlight Parade", I would add the $$ signs mother in "Hard to Handle" as one of her most incisive performances. She was only a few years older than James Cagney but in this movie they make a terrific team - he as "Lefty" Merril a fast talking con man who has a million ideas - none of them on the level. He is in love with Ruth (sweet Mary Brian) whose mother (Donnelly) is determined that she marry rich, rich, rich!!! The busy banter between Cagney and Donnelly - he "I just have to find a place to stay", she "what's wrong with the park", he "until I find a proper location" she "where? Sing Sing??" - keeps the movie sparkling!!His schemes always fail - a dodgy dance marathon where his partner runs off with all the money, a treasure hunt on the Sea Breeze pier where the winner is to find $5,000, only there is no prize but the thousands of seekers let loose wreck the pier (a hilarious scene)!! One of his schemes does take - a cold cream that doesn't absorb into the skin becomes Velvet Reducing Cream and Lefty becomes an instant millionaire!! Now Ruth is hesitant - she liked the old "go get 'im" Lefty and feels his head may be turned by his wealthy lifestyle and now wants to wait a few months before accepting his marriage proposal. That is all the time needed for vampy college student beauty Marlene Reeves (gorgeous Claire Dodd who else) to try to get her red nailed fingers into him. If only Claire Dodd could have got her man just once - her smarts and cunning matched his and even though Ruth said to Lefty of New York "this is my town, not yours" Dodd's slinking made Brian look like a country bumpkin. I also couldn't understand those matching mother daughter outfits either - quite odd!!! But Miss Dodd was always destined to be the scintillating other woman and what an "other woman" she was.Cagney didn't like being restricted to "dese, dem and dose" type roles - although even today they are elevated by his emotional honesty and sheer dynamism. He walked out of "Blessed Event" (I'm glad - I don't think Lee Tracy could be bettered) claiming he was doing too many movies for too little pay. "Hard to Handle" was his return movie and even though he played yet another scrapper - similar to his Bert in "Blonde Crazy" - at least he was getting more pay!!!Highly Recommended!!

This film holds up really well and can still raise a laugh.The mother is hilarious as she sways to and from Cagney as a prospective husband for her daughter according to his financial position at the time. The film breezes along with some predictability but the sparkling script and entertaining cast more than compensate. A great pity that the film is unavailable but I recorded it on Channel 4 in the UK some years ago and was pleased that I have now finally got round to watching it! Set during the Depression era, the opening marathon dance scenes sequences capture the desperation of the poverty-stricken at that time who would do almost anything to get ahead.The power of advertising and the gullibility of the public are admirably portrayed with a tongue-in-cheek humour that constantly appearing throughout the film. I laughed out loud several times which has not always been the case when I have been watching so-called comedies of recent times!

James Cagney is better in the Roy del Ruth movies of this period. However, he was a dynamic, unstoppable force. He is believable here as a goodhearted con artist with a good heart.He has some great scenes: In one, he runs down flight after flight of a winding staircase.Mary Brian is the nominal leading lady. She's OK. But Ruth Donnelly is really Cagney's co-star here. Playing Brian's avaricious, canny mother, she is hilarious. Nobody can put one over on her. If anyone tries, she'll bounce right back. She'll change her tune. She'll double-cross and triple-cross to get what she wants for herself and her pretty daughter.Donnelly was a reliable supporting performer in more movies than anyone could easily count. Rarely did she get such a role. She grabs it and runs with it. She and Cagney are fantastic together. It's a shame they were never teamed again.

This movie was never intended as a film that would change the world. No, instead it was like a lot of Warner Brother films--a formula piece with modest pretensions starring one of their "old reliable" actors. And, in this light, this is a very likable film--so good, I almost gave it a score of 8. The acting is very good and the direction provides a fast pace that holds your attention even though the plot itself is so very simple. As a result, the audiences got exactly what they paid for and left very happy.Jimmy plays an idea man--sort of like a freelance promoter. While the summary on IMDb says he was a "con man" this is not the case--his ideas were honest at heart--he just knew how to bend the truth a little to sell an idea! When the film starts, there is a dance marathon occurring that Cagney has organized. It's a great success and Cagney's girl (Mary Brian) is about to win. However, Cagney's unscrupulous partner absconds with the money and he is nearly torn apart by the audience. Throughout the film, Cagney comes up with idea after idea and sells them to companies that manufacture face cream or sell land. The only idea that fails is a promotion to encourage the public to frequent an oceanside pier--you'll need to see how it backfires yourself! Throughout all these ups and downs and schemes, Mary's mother, played by Ruth Donnelly, is a real schemer herself. Her number one goal is getting her daughter married to the richest man possible--regardless of what they guy is like. When Cagney is down, she hates him and won't let Mary give him the time of day and when he is rich and successful, he's her "favorite future son-in-law". This is funny for a while, but she was so transparent and one-dimensional (and obvious "funny" character by design), that I soon found her to be the weakest character in the film--becoming a bit too predictable and monotonous.But, whatever this character lacks or any other character for that matter, Cagney's intense energy more than makes up for it. And while the energetic and manic Cagney is all wrong for many films, it is perfect for this one (as well as movies like ONE, TWO, THREE). He single-handedly carries the film and is just a lot of fun to like. I really think his character works because while "full of blarney", he IS basically decent and honest! If he had been full of larceny, then his character would have been difficult, if not impossible to like--like Spencer Tracy was in The Show-Off (1934). And, in this case it was very easy to like him and want him to succeed.