User reviews

HARD TO GET (Warner Brothers, 1938), directed by Ray Enright, is another one of many formula fluff comedies capitalizing on the current trend of spoiled rich girl and the common working man. Not quite Frank Capra material, but something along that line.

The spoiled heiress in question is Margaret "Maggie" Richards (Olivia De Havilland), who happens to be young, pretty and bored. She has a sophisticated mother, Henrietta (Isabel Jeans); a business-tycoon father, Ben (Charles Winninger), who spends most of his time doing physical fitness by wrestling with his valet (Melville Cooper) behind office doors and at home; and a bratty kid sister, Connie (Bonita Granville). Because she doesn't want to go to New Port with her family, Maggie storms out of the mansion and takes the convertible. Running low on gasoline, she stops at the Federal Oil and Gas Company, a gas-station motel, to fuel up, where she is served its owner, Bill Davis (Dick Powell), and his partner, Roscoe (Allen Jenkins). Because Maggie accidentally left her purse at home and is unable to pay the $3.48 gas debt, she tells Bill to charge it. Because she's a total stranger, and been duped before, Bill puts this snooty customer to work cleaning out cabins and making the beds. Although Maggie tries sneaking away several times, Bill outsmarts her. After doing her chores, Maggie, resenting Bill's actions, returns home demanding her father to have the gas station attendant fired. Old Man Richards surprises his daughter by agreeing with the young man's actions, and that she is now a young woman who should now look out for herself. This she does, by plotting a vicious scheme getting even with Bill. Returning to the gas station the following morning, she pretends to be sorry, and sweet talks him into taking her out to a dinner date. During those few hours with him, Maggie learns Bill to be an ambitious architect having designed an auto court for a proposed chain of them across the country. What he badly lacks is money and a financier to back him. Maggie suggests Ben Richards (not telling him that he's her father but that of being his maid), and gives him the secret password, "Spouter," so to get past the secretary. Each time Bill goes to the office, he gets thrown out, physically. In spite of everything, Bill is not discouraged, going through extremes (disguising himself as a cleaning lady) to have one of these financial backers examine his blueprints. Once he learns Maggie has played him for a practical joke, he gives up. It's now up to Maggie to amend her ways, and when she does, Bill is gone and nowhere to be found.

Occasionally labeled a musical, HARD TO GET is actually a straight comedy with three (really two) songs inserted, crooned by Dick Powell only so briefly. The first, "There'a a Sunny Side to Every Situation" is heard only through a few verses by Powell minus any underscoring. The second tune , "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby," crooning to De Havilland on a canoe ride in Central Park, is a song standard composed by Harry Warren and Johnny Mercer. What fitting lyrics to proclaim De Havilland's beauty. The third and final is an old one, "Sonny Boy" originally introduced by Al Jolson in THE SINGING FOOL (1928). While Jolson sang it for sentiment, Powell (disguised in black-face passing as a member of a band) sings it for laughs. His rendition almost sounds like Jolson himself, performing it to a point where the guests look on confusingly.

HARD TO GET may not as famous as the other "screwball" comedies from that era, but it does have some bright moments. Penny Singleton as Hattie, a daffy maid, gets one during an amusing dinner sequence. Switching roles with Maggie, pretending to be the débutante, Singleton displays her ability in comic timing where she becomes responsible for making the proposed dinner party a near disaster. Following the dinner, Powell quips, "That dame... she should be parked on Edgar Bergen's other knee." Although some portions of HARD TO GET might be a trifle slow, it's redeemed by a construction site sequence where Old Man Richards and his valet find the only way to get to speak to Davis, working 40 flights up, is by hanging onto a steal beam lifted over the city streets. While this is obviously done with rear projection screen, it get by realistically.

As with most comedies during this period, HARD TO GET gets great support by familiar character actors ranging from Grady Sutton, Granville Bates, Nella Walker and Vera Lewis to Arthur Housman doing one of his many drunk interpretations. Charles Winninger, a Hollywood reliable, gives one of his many business tycoons and lovable father-type performances that has made his famous. Melville Cooper provides some really droll comedy relief with his constant quipping of "Amazing!"

HARD TO GET is further evidence of the Warner Brothers musical with lavish dance numbers by Busby Berkeley and Warren and Dubin tunes becoming a thing of the past. Powell continues to sing a song or two, but by 1938 was concentrated more as a light comedy actor in routine assignments. De Havilland, best known for her numerous adventure films opposite Errol Flynn, would appear in more comedies of this sort, but like Powell, she proved her ability in assuming dramatic roles in the changing times of the 1940s.

The 80 minute presentation of HARD TO GET can be seen whenever presented on Turner Classic Movies. Amazing! (**1/2)

Hard To Get casts two of Jack Warner's most unhappy players on his lot in their second film together. Both Dick Powell and Olivia DeHavilland were begging Jack for more dramatic material to do and he was refusing both of them. Powell didn't get his first break in that department until years after he left Warner Brothers. As for Olivia, her salvation was coming next year when she loaned out to David O. Selznick for Gone With The Wind.

Olivia is a rich girl coming from a family that looks suspiciously like the Bullochs from My Man Godfrey with mother Isabel Jeans, younger sister Bonita Granville and father Charles Winninger. Olivia's the rebellious one who just doesn't want to go to Newport again with mom and sis. She takes the car and stops at a gas station owned by Dick Powell and Allen Jenkins. The gas station is also a small motel and when Olivia forgets to bring her purse and Powell doesn't believe she's rich, he forces her to turn down the beds for her gasoline.

That starts the usual sparring between the rich girl and the poor, but ambitious young man who has a plan for a chain of motel/filling station establishments across the country. If he can only get a rich backer.

I think anyone who's seen enough Thirties screwball comedies knows exactly how this is going to end up. The film isn't quite on the level as My Man Godfrey or Libeled Lady, but it certainly is amusing enough. Especially when you consider both the leads were begging their boss not to keep giving them light stuff to do.

Most amusing performance however is that of Penny Singleton as the maid in the Winninger household. Powell's got the idea DeHavilland is the maid there, mainly because she gave it to him and to keep the act up, Singleton impersonates DeHavilland at dinner. She's got the best moments in the film because of that. Second best are Powell trying in various disguises to see Thurston Hall, an associate of Winninger.

The film is best known for Dick Powell introducing You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby on the screen, singing it to Olivia while rowing on Central Park Lake. For reasons unknown Powell never recorded this one. Bing Crosby has a primo version done for Decca in 1938.

Hard To Get today is remembered for the song that came from it and for the fact that two frustrated stars did some pleasant work here.

I decided to give this one a go and wow, what a treat.

This cast was just A+ all around. Everyone had great lines given to em. That obviously means a good script. Even though the big names fronted the film, the supporting cast to me was the big difference. Really great character actors in this one.

Dick Powell is his usual comic-dead-on-timing self. Olivia D was good as a spoiled brat and watch out for her father played by Charles Winninger, he steals this entire film. His scenes with his servant/butler are the anchors of this film. Just flat out funny each scene.

Give this one a go, you'll love it

It's hard to believe that this little Warner Bros. comedy was made a year before de Havilland played Melanie in Gone with the Wind. She is such a feisty, saucy little minx that it's no wonder Dick Powell has to tame her. Proof that de Havilland was not just a fluffy ingenue is the fact that three films later she was playing the demure, ladylike Melanie. Makes you wonder why Jack Warner never fully appreciated her talent. Anyway, this is an enjoyable comedy about a brash architect working as a gas station attendant who treats a spoiled heiress rather harshly when she has no money to pay for gas. She decides to turn the tables on him and therein lies the germ of a plot. Charles Winninger and Melville Cooper are delightful in supporting roles, as is Penny Singleton as a dim-witted maid in the wealthy man's household. Too bad this one isn't available on video. Like another early de Havilland comedy, It's Love I'm After, it deserves to be seen by viewers who don't have Turner Classic Movies on their cable stations.

... and exhibit A as to why both Dick Powell and Olivia De Havilland ultimately fled from Warner Brothers for meatier roles. Still, it has its good points.

Maggie Richards (De Havilland) has just had a fight with her mother about not wanting to go to Newport for the summer, like most rich mothers and daughters did back in the day. As a result Maggie flees the scene by borrowing the valet's car and doesn't get far before she realizes she's out of gas. She stops at a gas station, lets the attendant (Dick Powell as Bill) fill up her car, and then tells him to "charge it", claiming to be the daughter of a wealthy man. The car isn't hers, she has no ID, and the money would come out of Bill's pocket if she never comes back, so he insists she return the gas or cough up the money, which she doesn't have since she ran out without her purse. When she tries to flee, Bill makes her make up the beds in all ten bungalows of the accompanying motor lodge to pay the bill, and hits her on the dernier with a broom when she tries to escape. Humiliated, Maggie vows revenge, but back home Dad (Charles Winninger) just is not interested in getting involved in this petty scrape.

Maggie returns the next day and gives Bill what he wants - a completely fabricated story about how sorry she is and tells him she is really wealthy Maggie Richards' maid. Bill buys this, dates her, and she tells him the password to get in to see Mr. Richards (Maggie's father), head of Federal Oil and Gas who might back his idea about building motor courts along with his company's gas stations. That password, however, was Mr. Richards' nickname in the oil fields when he started out in the business, plus Maggie knows her dad is really riled by strangers taking advantage of a password meant for old friends - much like a telemarketer calling an unlisted number. Mr. Richards gives Bill the business alright, but not the business Bill was hoping for. Maggie has her revenge, but she's starting to care for Bill and feel pangs of conscience about what she's done, but not before she has enlarged the ruse to ridiculous proportions so that if Bill finds out, she'll probably never see him again. How does this all work out? Watch and find out.

This could have been a better comedy, and it is pleasant enough as is, but there are some real inanities thrown into the situation, some funny some tiresome. One of funny parts is having Penny Singleton as the maid and Maggie switch roles for an evening. Penny is just perfect as a girl all dressed up like a plutocrat's daughter, but still with a working class demeanor and a rather limited and slanged vocabulary. This was the last film she did before she became famous as Blondie and she shows some of that comic flair in this film. The tiresome part of the film has to do with Mr. Richards, supposedly a self-made man, wanting to waste the day away with fifteen cent bets boxing, wrestling, and fencing his valet who always bests him. It's just not funny and seems out of character for a self-made man who had to be hard charging to get where he was. Why would he want to waste his time with such a silly pursuit? Recommended for fans of De Havilland and Powell, and for those great character actors who always added a touch of spice to these 1930's films.

When spoiled young heiress Maggie Richards (Olivia de Havilland) tries to charge some gasoline at an auto camp run by Bill Davis (Dick Powell), Gas station attendant Dick Powell punishes cash-less rich girl Olivia de Havilland, forcing her to scrub floors of the adjoining motel ! De Havillandshe seeks the plot's revenge, pretending to be her rich dad's maid instead of daughter ; and Powell's more than a poor man's dreamer, holding a grand idea for a "modernized" gas station...Long story short, Olivia falls in love after Powell croons "You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby" by moonlight, and then has to get out of the hole she's dug herself involving that lie...

D: Ray Enright. Dick Powell, Olivia de Havilland, Charles Winninger, Allen Jenkins, Bonita Granville, Penny Singleton. Good variation on spoiled-rich-girl-meets-poor-but- hardworking-boy idea.

I found this firecracker of a movie on TCM and fell in love with it! There's lots of crazy slapstick, clever & snappy dialogue, tender moments, good music and all-around great, lively performances. . Olivia is a blast as a spoiled little rich girl - she was spunky and absolutely radiant. Pleasant romantic comedy .

I really liked de Havilland in comedy !! Particularly liked Olivia in the light romantic comedy PRINCESS O'ROURKE (1943)

Dame (in the UK) the title given to a woman equivalent to the rank of knight) Olivia de Havilland is an iconic British-American actress who starred in some of the greatest movies of all time. She made her movie debut in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (1935).

The actress gained fame playing the lead in box office blockbusters like 'The Great Garrick' (1937), 'It's Love I'm After' (1937), 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' (1938), 'Hard to Get' (1938), 'Dodge City' (1939), and 'Santa Fe Trail' (1940). She found herself being cast in one of the most iconic movies of all time 'Gone with the Wind' (1939), in which she played the 'Oscar' nominated role of Melanie Hamilton Wilkes. She earned two more nominations for 'Hold Back the Dawn' (1941), and 'The Snake Pit' (1948). Olivia de Havilland won her first 'Academy Award' for playing Jody Norris in 'To Each his Own' (1946) and her second one for 'The Heiress' (1949).

Some of the best movies of Olivia de Havilland's career include Gone with the Wind' (1939)'Hold Back the Dawn' (1941), Princess O'Rourke (1943) 'My Cousin Rachel' (1952), 'Light in the Piazza' (1962), 'Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna' (1986), and 'Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte' (1964). Olivia de Havilland passed away in July 2020 at the age of 104.

What would Hollywood have done if "It Happened One Night" hadn't been made? After that, the movies were peppered with heiresses, one of which was Olivia de Havilland in 1938's "Hard to Get" starring Dick Powell, Charles Winninger, Roscoe Jenkins, and Bonita Granville.

Margaret (de Havilland), an heiress, runs afoul of gas jockey Bill (Powell) because she doesn't have $3.48 to pay for gas and oil. He then makes her clean some bungalows. Outraged, she complains to her father (Winninger) and demands that he do something. He refuses and tells her to take care of it herself.

Margaret returns to the gas station, and, pretending to be the valet's daughter, makes nice, flirts, and goes out with Bill, who proceeds to tell her about a business venture for which he is seeking investors. Margaret then sets out to extract her revenge. And guess what happens along the way.

I'm not as enthusiastic about this film as some others on this board. It's totally predictable and, in my opinion, not one of the better screwball comedies, though there are some funny sections, especially toward the end.

Olivia de Havilland was absolutely beautiful and excellent as the spoiled heiress, and Dick Powell was delightful, as was his singing of "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" and his entertaining "Sonny Boy," as a Jolson impersonation (blackface and all). Winninger and his friends (Melville Cooper, Thurston Hall) are very funny on the construction site at the end.

The cast makes it enjoyable.

"Hard to Get" is what you might call a low-key comedy. There are some pratfalls, but the action is mostly at a relaxed pace, not frantic or riotous. Olivia de Havilland (as Margaret) and Dick Powell (as Bill) are delightful as the couple who find romance in a most unexpected (to them) way. She tears out of the house in a pique of rebelliousness but finds that the car's fuel tank is low. When she stops to get gas at a combination garage/motor court, she tries to charge the expense, but the attendant--who does not know her--refuses to extend her credit.

She's actually from a wealthy family, but Bill doesn't know that and he forces her to work for the cost of the gasoline by making beds and dusting in the motor court's bungalows. She concocts a scheme for getting even, which involves her father, Charles Winninger (Ben Richards).

If you believe the film, CEOs--like Mr. Winninger--spend their days wasting time or indulging in whimsical activities, like wrestling with their butlers, but it makes for a funny story.

The cast is excellent. Together they create a light-hearted comedy that revolves around a growing romance.

A spoiled rich girl wants revenge on the gas station attendant who humiliated her - he wants to sell his idea for auto courts across America; both are about to learn that some things in life are very HARD TO GET.

This is a wonderful, hilarious screwball comedy, boasting good performances, genuine laughs & fine production values. Witty & winning, it is a shame it is so obscure today.

Dick Powell appears to be having a terrific time as the young go-getter with the big ideas. As eager to please as a puppy dog, he enthusiastically hurls himself into the zany plot permutations. Whether impersonating Jolson singing ‘Sonny Boy,' or introducing the song hit ‘You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby,' Powell is never less than entertaining.

Lovely Olivia de Havilland is a pure pleasure to watch as she slowly bends to Powell's winning ways. Considered more of a dramatic actress, her considerable comedic talents are on full display here. The scene where she attempts to serve a fancy dinner while impersonating her maid is a quiet riot.

An unusually large cast of supporting players help move the fun right along: cuddly Charles Winninger as Olivia's physical fitness mad dad; Isabel Jeans & Bonita Granville as his insufferably snooty wife & youngest daughter; Melville Cooper as Winninger's long-suffering valet; Allen Jenkins as Powell's dimwitted buddy; Thurston Hall as a banker with a dangerous love of practical joking; Grady Sutton as Olivia's flaccid suitor; and Penny Singleton as a wonderfully unsophisticated servant.

Movie mavens will recognize Arthur Housman as a polite inebriate, and Arthur Hoyt, Vera Lewis & Jimmy Conlin as attendees at a flower lovers' banquet, all uncredited.

Rear projection screening was the bane of the cinema for years, as its patently fake visuals tended to distract from the action. HARD TO GET, therefore, deserves some credit for its splendidly vertiginous high-rise construction segment, which really does grab hold of the viewer's spine.

This is one of those films from the thirties where no effort is made to have a realistic story or characters, and where the purpose is purely fun. The film is highly amusing, although it has its corny moments. This is a rare glimpse of Olivia de Havilland as she was before GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) changed her career in the following year. Her co-star here is Dick Powell. A very bad makeup person has made Dick Powell all but unrecognisable by excessive makeup round his eyes, and has done no favours for Miss de Havilland either, as she is also made to look somewhat artificial, despite her costumes working very well and showing inspired touches. As is only to be expected, both stars excel in this romantic comedy and spark off each other nicely. The film also contains a wonderful performance by the British actor Melville Cooper as a droll butler, not unlike Jeeves (and probably modelled on him), who is even allowed the last word at the end. Charlie Winniger also gives one of his very good performances (for he could be a bit uneven and 'required direction') as Miss de Havilland's eccentric father. A famous song by Johnny Mercer was written specially for this film, 'You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby' ('… cause, baby, you're beautiful now.') The film also features an amazing scene where Dick Powell in blackface does a marvellous imitation of Al Jolson singing 'Sonny Boy'. This film was certainly unconstrained in its casting about for new ways to laugh. Dick Powell also disguises himself as a woman scrubbing a floor in an office building, descends on a rope down the side of a New York skyscraper to enter an office window, and other antics. At one point Winniger is taken to the top of a skyscraper riding on a steel beam, as 'the elevators are not installed yet'. He holds a business meeting several hundred feet up, balancing on the beams, while Powell inserts rivets. Any wild situation will do for this story! At one point, the action is suddenly interrupted and we cut to Miss de Havilland and Powell sitting in a row-boat together at night, rowing across a lake in Central Park and falling in love. Some linking scenes must have been cut to get them there, but no one seems to mind the lack of continuity. Anything goes! Miss de Havilland starts as a rich spoilt brat who screams when she does not get her way. She falls out with Dick Powell, who works in a garage, over a bill for $3.48. Powell refuses her credit, and says if she were to fail to pay, he would 'not be able to afford lunch for a week'. That says a great deal about the value of money in 1938, if you could eat lunch for a week on $3.48. Miss de Havilland later falls in love with Powell, in a shockingly short period of time and with a lack of motivating circumstances. But she manages to switch from being a fiery-eyed bitch, passing through a phase of being a cunning schemer seeking vengeance, to a doe-eyed and love-struck maiden, with all the ease of an Olympic pentathlete who can do anything and who changes sports without noticing that he has stopped running 100 metres and is now throwing the javelin (or in this case, Cupid's dart). The film was directed by Ray Enright, who started as a gag writer for Mack Sennett, became an editor, and worked his way up to director. He never entered the top ranks but made lots of movies, retiring in 1956. If you want to have some laughs and be entertained, and do not mind films from the thirties, this will do nicely.

'Hard to Get' was released just six months after 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' made 22-year-old Oliva de Havilland a star, and she's as delightful as ever. She plays a spoiled rich girl who seeks a little revenge on a gas station attendant (Dick Powell) after he forces to work as a maid to pay off a gas bill. Powell's character has a big business idea and she gets him in to see her father (Charles Winninger), knowing that he won't be seriously considered. Her father doesn't seem serious about much, entertaining himself busy by engaging his servant (Melville Cooper) in a variety of competitions for small sums of money, e.g. fencing, ping pong, wrestling, and boxing.

de Havilland is highly animated and I loved how her character was playful with both the young man and her father, surprising the latter by assuming the role of the maid to keep up the charade. There is a lot of clever banter all around, and Cooper is fantastic and a real highlight in his supporting role. "Keep your chin covered, sir," he says in his dignified accent, before socking his employer in the belly. "I couldn't resist the temptation, sir, the target was so large and inviting." And then, a little out of nowhere, Powell busts out a wonderful rendition of "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby," serenading de Havilland while on a lake at night.

The film was cruising to a higher rating, but degraded in the last twenty minutes or so. My heart sank as I saw Powell sneak his way into a dinner party as part of the orchestra by wearing blackface, and then perform the Al Jolson number, 'Sonny Boy.' It was painfully ironic to have one white performer imitating another white performer's blackface routine, and while brief, it's tough to watch. The plot itself also gets a little silly from there, even for a screwball comedy. In this kind of movie we all kind of know how it's going to play out, but the way this one does in particular - both with an about-face on the business proposition and then later romantically, are awkward and forced. Worth seeing, albeit with reservations.

When this film begins, you find that Olivia DeHavilland plays a thoroughly obnoxious spoiled brat--too spoiled to be a likable character, as I think they should have toned down her character a bit. Anyway, she stops at a gas station and fills up but has no money. No matter in her mind, as she instructs the attendant (Dick Powell) to 'just charge it'. However, the company does not allow charges and Powell cannot just trust her for the amount, as it will come out of his paycheck should she not return to pay him later. On top of that, she behaves with such a strong sense of entitlement, it's not surprising he won't let her go until she works off her debt! Eventually, Olivia works off the debt and returns to her rich father (Charles Winninger) and insists that Daddy have Powell fired. Instead, Winninger and Olivia eventually decide to spend much of the film toying with Powell and behaving like total jerks in the process.

I really think they should have made this family a bit kookier and a lot less mean-spirited and selfish--as it handicapped the film significantly. On the plus side, Powell is excellent--with a few nice songs (I usually hate songs) and seemingly effortless acting. He was at his best here--and DeHavilland, who is usually one of my very favorites, is in a film that is simply beneath her extraordinary talents. No wonder she eventually sued Warner Brothers to get out of her contract!!! The bottom line is that the film has lots of nice moments and is likable at times. But, with such annoying characters to undo the plot, it fails where it SHOULD have been a winner. A simple re-write would have done a world of good with this film.

By the way, while I liked Powell in the film, I was shocked to see him do a number in black-face. Uggh!!! The pain!

Also, get a load of James Finlayson playing a bit part. It's nice to see him in a role outside of his usual Laurel & Hardy appearances.

Gas station attendant Dick Powell punishes cash-less rich girl Olivia de Havilland, forcing her to scrub floors of the adjoining motel: Yet she's the one who seeks the plot's revenge, pretending to be her rich dad's maid instead of daughter (replaced by real maid Penny Singleton); and Powell's more than a poor man's dreamer, holding a grand idea for a "modernized" gas station...

Long story short, Olivia falls in love after Powell croons "You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby" by moonlight, and then has to get out of the hole she's dug herself involving that lie...

Although this is more a Powell picture than de Havilland; the latter has rarely looked prettier but HE has the lion's share of frantic, slapstick running around, mostly alongside rich dad Charles Winninger (later the poor dad in STATE FAIR).

Cute romantic comedy from Warner Brothers: heiress Olivia de Havilland tries to charge her gasoline fee to her father, but station attendant Dick Powell makes her work it off. Of course, they eventually fall in love, but many obstacles stand in their path.

Hard to Get is a surprisingly entertaining and sprightly little comedy. Powell and de Havilland weren't getting very good roles from Warner's at this point in their careers, but I think this marks one of the better films for both of them from this time period.

The main pleasure is the delightful supporting cast: Allen Jenkins as Powell's has station co-worker, Charles Winniger as Olivia's father, Melville Cooper as Winniger's valet, Penny Singleton as the family maid and Grady Sutton a as a dimwitted employee. Powell gets to sing Johnny Mercer and Harry Warren's "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby"; he also does quite a good Al Jolson impression singing "Sonny Boy".

Spoilt rich girl Olivia de Havilland (Maggie) stops at a garage managed by Dick Powell (Bill) and tries to drive away without paying for her petrol. Powell puts her to work cleaning 10 bungalows to pay off her debt before letting her go. She returns the next day with a plan for revenge.

This is a comedy that will have you laughing thanks to the excellent cast. There are a couple of annoying screwball comedy-type situations where people talk over each other, notably in Powell's attempts to sell his business idea, but there are more hits than misses and we get some choice dialogue and dialogue delivery by all involved. I was impressed the way de Havilland serves the soup calling out "soup" and throwing people's napkins onto their laps when she is pretending to be a maid. Why can't all domestic help be like this. Powell sings a few songs, one in blackface mimicking Al Jolson and the main number being "You Must Have Been a beautiful Baby". I wouldn't call this a musical - it is a comedy with a couple of songs thrown in.

I have complete sympathy with de Havilland at the beginning of the film - I gave up on family holidays as a teenager. They just aren't what a teenager wants.

Margaret Richards (Olivia de Havilland) is an entitled rich girl and her family is growing frustrated. She storms off with the car. She purchases some gas and tries to charge it to her daddy's account. Gas attendant Bill Davis (Dick Powell) refuses without proof of identity and forces the spoiled heiress to clean motel rooms. She is infuriated and asks her oil tycoon daddy to fire him. When her daddy refuses, she schemes her revenge in other ways.

She is right about one thing. It's kidnapping. While the meet cute is inventive, it is pushed too far and borders on abuse. There is one section when Bill tries to pitch his plan to Ben Richards. It's trying very hard to be slapstick and goes too long. It does get to a hilarious setup for the dinner section but her daddy shouldn't tell Margaret ahead of time. There is no reason for her to play along at that point right after playing the trick on him. After this point and before the dinner, she can fall in love with him and therefore she would be forced to play along. With some rearranging, this could be one of the best rom-com around. Finally, I must warn that there is a cringeworthy blackface comedy bit.

Spoiled rich girl Olivia de Havilland fills up her car at a gas station where aspiring architect Dick Powell works. She doesn't have any cash to pay for the gas so Powell makes her work off the debt. She sets about trying to get even with Powell by leading him on and tricking him into pitching his dream idea for a chain of auto courts to her father and his friend, who she knows will never give Powell's idea a fair shot. Things change when she inevitably develops feeling for him.

Mean-spirited at times but mostly funny screwball comedy. The leads are great. Also, love seeing Bonita Granville, Penny Singleton, and Allen Jenkins. Helps if you haven't seen other, better screwball comedies from the period. If you have, this will definitely have an air of familiarity about it. Still, it's a good one. Powell sings a couple of songs, including "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" and a jarringly out-of-place blackface number. There's one ridiculous part where, as part of a gag by de Havilland's father, Powell is tricked into opening a door that leads onto a ledge several stories up. It's implied this trick has been used before on others. I'm sure we're not supposed to look into this too closely but that part kind of bothered me since Powell very easily could have fallen to his death. Some gag.

Olivia de Havilland stops for gas at the motor court run by Dick Powell and Allen Jenkins. She has forgotten to bring money, so Powell makes her clean the rooms. The next day she comes back with the cash, but Powell waves it off; she's paid with labor. Powell has an architect's degree and a plan for a series of motor courts across the country. Miss de Havilland, pretending to be a maid in Charles Winniinger's household, tells him how to get in to see her boss to pitch the idea. This results in Winninger and fellow plutocrat tormenting Powell for a while.

Director Ray Enright is working here in screwball comedy, with a poorly written script, filled with businessmen acting like children, and people making up ridiculous stories with no explanation. Enright makes something with it by ignoring the plot and filling it with some fine comic sequences, like Winnininger fighting with valet Melville Cooper, and a very funny sequence in which housemaid Penny Singleton is presented as Winniner's daughter.

In the end, we know that Powell will get his business ambitions and Miss de Havilland, so Enright rushes through that a bit mechanically. Powell sings three numbers, introducing "You must Have Been A Beautiful Baby", imitates Jolson in blackface, and sings another song a cappella. The result is eminently watchable, if sometimes a bit more bizarre than funny. With Bonita Granville, Isabel Jeans, and Thurston Hall.

A delightful comedy about a very ambitious gas station attendant that meets a spoiled rich girl...and her quirky father. Olivia de Haviland is the gorgeous gal. You may recognize a familiar voice in "Hattie", played by Penny Singleton, who went on to play "Blondie" in the first film of the series that same year(1938), and later was the voice of Jane Jetson. Fast-paced and original.

After refusing to join her family on a summer vacation, spoiled New York heiress Olivia de Havilland (as Margaret "Maggie" Richards) storms out of the house. She stops to get gas, but has no cash to pay singing attendant Dick Powell (as Bill Davis). He doesn't believe de Havilland is rich and makes her work off the $3.48 as a maid in the gasoline station's neighboring "Cozy Cabins". She is furious and vows to get even with Powell, who is an aspiring architect. After their debt is settled, Powell takes de Havilland out to dinner. She sets out to queer Powell's ambitious architectural plans, with help from oil tycoon father Charles Winninger (as Benjamin "Ben" Richards)...

The tables get turned, and turned again. Powell and his stunt double get bounced around frequently. Winninger wrestles with enterprising servant Melville Cooper (as Case). The men have a good scene, near the end, on a skyscraper. Powell sings the #1 hit "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" and reprises Al Jolson's "Sonny Boy" in less dignified black-face. De Havilland seems almost entirely out of sorts. Although never as big as her co-stars, brunette maid Penny Singleton (as Hattie) owns the funniest scene. It's when she and de Havilland switch roles. After this film, Ms. Singleton bleached her hair blonde and appeared almost exclusively in the "Blondie" series.

***** Hard to Get (11/5/38) Ray Enright ~ Dick Powell, Olivia de Havilland, Charles Winninger, Penny Singleton

In their own wacky way, screwball comedies like "My Man Godfrey," "It Happened One Night" and "The Awful Truth" somehow made sense. The problem with "Hard to Get" is that as much fun as it frequently is, you never believe that the shenanigans could actually happen. Would the head of a major oil company spend most of his time arm-wrestling and playing pingpong with his butler? Or take a forty story ride on a steel girder to meet a young inventor? And would his otherwise intelligent daughter pretend to be her clumsy maid to bewilder that same inventor? Then again, Dick Powell, Olivia de Haviland, Charles Winninger, Melville Cooper and even Penny Singleton (in a terrific sequence as de Haviland's real maid) behave as though the script had a nodding acquaintance with reality. Which makes it surprisingly entertaining.