Hard to Handle (1933)
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43% of users liked it
(38 ratings)
Hard to Handle stars James Cagney as a fast-talking promoter who pounces upon every current fad and foible to make a quick buck. He promotes marathon dances (where spectators feel cheated because no one drops dead), crash diets, reducing creams and treasure contests, finagling his way into the… More Hard to Handle stars James Cagney as a fast-talking promoter who pounces upon every current fad and foible to make a quick buck. He promotes marathon dances (where spectators feel cheated because no one drops dead), crash diets, reducing creams and treasure contests, finagling his way into the confidence of high rollers and money men. In a cute "inside" joke harking back to a choice Cagney moment in The Public Enemy, our hero at one point takes up the promotion of grapefruits! Like most conners, Cagney isn't aware when he is being conned himself, and he falls victim to his marathon-dance business partner, who absconds with the winnings. The contest winner is pretty Mary Brian, whose mother (Ruth Donnelly) tries to extract payment by forcing Cagney to marry her daughter. He does, but only after eight reels of high-pressure wheeling and dealing. In the tradition of Jimmy Cagney's other early-1930s, Hard to Handle is socked over by the energetic insouciance of its star. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Mervyn LeRoy
- Genres
- Romance, Classics, Comedy
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Jan 28, 1933 Wide
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Cast
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James Cagney
as Lefty Merrill
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Mary Brian
as Ruth Waters
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Ruth Donnelly
as Lil Waters
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Allen Jenkins
as Radio Announcer
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Claire Dodd
as Marlene Reeves
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Gavin Gordon
as John Hayden
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Emma Dunn
as Mrs. Hawks the Landlady
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Robert McWade
as Charles Reeves
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John Sheehan
as Ed McGrath
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Matt McHugh
as Joe Goetz
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Louise Mackintosh
as Mrs. Weston Parks
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Berton Churchill
as Col. Wells
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George Pat Collins
as Dance judge
- Mary Doran
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Douglas Dumbrille
as District Attorney
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Bess Flowers
as Merrill's secretary
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Grace Hayle
as Fat lady with vanishing cream
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Sterling Holloway
as Andy
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Harry Holman
as Colonel's associate
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Lew Kelly
as Hash-slinger
- Stanley Smith
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William Strauss
as Antique dealer
- Walter Walker
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Charles C. Wilson
as Jailer
