The Hard Way (1943)

The Hard Way
Directed by Vincent Sherman
Written by Daniel Fuchs and Peter Viertel
1943/USA
Warner Bros
First viewing/Warner Archive DVD

[box] Ice Cream Parlor Waitress: [Love] Never hits you, does it?

Paul Collins: [Sarcastically] Every other Thursday, Baby.[/box]

This cliche-ridden picture about a woman who claws her sister’s way to the top features a steely performance by Ida Lupino and a touching dramatic turn by Jack Carson.

Helen Chernan (Ida Lupino) has raised her little sister Katherine Blaine (Joan Leslie) in the home she shares with her blue-collar husband in their grimy home town since the girls lost their parents.  Katherine is now about to graduate from high school and pining for a white dress.  But Mr. Chernan refuses to buy one for her despite the vehement protestations of Helen.

One night on a date, Katie goes to a vaudeville house where she is entranced by the act of comedy song-and-dance men Albert Runkel (Jack Carson) and Paul Collins (Dennis Morgan).  Afterwards, she does a little routine of her own for her friends at an ice cream parlor.  Albert spots her, tells her she is talented, and falls for her.  When she reports this back to Helen, Helen sees her opportunity to get out of hicksville.  With a little prodding, Katherine and Albert are married in no time and setting off on the road with the act.

Helen becomes a total “stage mother” type that will stop at nothing to make Katie a star.  She plays the men off against each other to get Katie a bigger part in the act.  After that, she manages to get Katie a solo spot of her own on Broadway and to separate her from Albert, breaking Albert’s heart in the process.  Paul sees through all this and compares Helen to Lady Macbeth.  But Helen is secretly in love with him any way.

The rest of the story takes the audience through the heartbreak of Katherine’s glowing success and a love triangle.

My biggest problem with this movie was that I thought both the vaudeville act and Joan Leslie’s singing and dancing were just terrible. This could have been intended I suppose but all indications are that we are meant to think that Katherine is very talented.  Dennis Morgan reveals his singing talent out of nowhere at the very end.  Otherwise, there are some strong performances in a rather cliched plot.  Jack Carson was the standout for me in an uncharacteristically dramatic and poignant role.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYx3p_u0LEs

Clip – Katie’s big day on Broadway