Hard to Handle

I'm tempted to say that this is the best film I've ever seen. Obviously it's not but when you're watching it, you believe it is. Cagney is more Cagney than you ever thought possible - he's brilliant, the film is brilliant!

It's like he's been put in a bottle, shaken then released like never ending champagne exploding into your face. Every word he says is like a firework and Mervyn LeRoy's dynamic direction fills every single second with energy and sheer happy, warm fun. You know that this is neither a classic nor clever picture but It's inexplicably entertaining and thoroughly engaging.

Mary Brian is the billed as the lead female she's a bit of a non-entity, the real co-star is Ruth Donnelly as his prospective mercenary mother-in-law. She gives Cagney a run for his money, firing back wisecracks as fast as John McEnroe. Rarely has she been allowed to shine as much as she does in this. She is genuinely funny and she and Cagney make a brilliant comedy double act.

Comedy can age really badly - even comedies from just a decade ago can seem cringingly creaky. Tastes in the early thirties were clearly different to today's but because this is neither too 'left-field' or overly subtle it is still funny. It's so professionally acted, expertly directed, deftly written and above all, so crazily fast that you don't notice that it's actually just a silly light comedy. When you're watching this you're as happy as a dog that's discovered it's been locked in a butcher's shop. Guaranteed enjoyment!

This is a great little film that demonstrates everything that was fun about the Warner Brothers precodes. There are dance marathons, scams aplenty with Cagney's character at the center of them all - sometimes knowingly sometimes not, and that precode actress you'd just love to strangle - Claire Dodd.

Ruth (Mary Brian) is in love with Cagney's character, but Ruth's gold-digging mother Lil (Ruth Donelly) wants to make sure Ruth marries money. When Cagney is doing well, Lil's all for him as a future son-in-law. When he's not, she's after a photographer - " a 25000 dollar a year man" - as she describes him. The girls dress alike and Lil is always referring to herself and her daughter as "we", as in "we love you" or "we can't marry a pauper like that". Cagney plays an advertising promoter whose ideas sometimes work and sometimes don't, but always to comic effect. This film is not on DVD or VHS, so chances are you've never heard of it. Another interesting tidbit - Ruth Donelly and Mary Brian are actually only about ten years apart in age, yet play mother and daughter pretty effectively. Highly recommended for the silliness of it all.

Hard to Handle has James Cagney dusting off his role as con man that he debuted with in Blonde Crazy. That film was a bit more serious and had the virtue of Joan Blondell.

Here the Blondell role is split in two and Cagney deals with a mother/ daughter duo of Ruth Donnelly and Mary Brian. Like Blondell, Donnelly gives as good as she gets from Cagney.

Donnelly and Cagney were roughly the same age and Brian was about six years younger than Cagney. Ridiculous now when you think about Donnelly and Brian being mother and daughter. No film maker could get away with that casting now.

There's no real story to this film, Cagney moves from one con to another, skirting ever so close to illegality. Donnelly and Brian are alternately for and against him and not at the same time either at certain points.

It's a film that relies solely on the charm of Jimmy Cagney which is considerable. And it's the stuff Cagney was disputing with Jack Warner over.

His last con involved the marketing of grapefruit, from the man who made grapefruit tossing a national past time at breakfast/

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!

I have seen this numerous times and loved it the same each time. Being a devout cagney fan I love all his traits and especially his laughter.

Don't get me wrong he plays the script and follows his lines but as any actor has he has his own mannerisms and quirky ways.

This is the story of a con man who teams up with the usual blonde with one exception he gets the battleaxe mother too and she is exceptionally funny with it. Cagney laughs in every scene as he goes from one con to another. His energy is big, it's like he is dancing through this film.

The usual ups and downs, dumb blondes, twists and double crossings make this a short, energetic film a good one.

Overall funny film, fun and happy times.