L'affaire se complique

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 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.

Hard to Handle (1933)

** (out of 4)

James Cagney plays a hustler who fixes contests where the winners get a small amount of money while he makes it rich. Once again we get Cagney playing a fast talker and for the most part the film remains entertaining, although it's certainly lite all around. Mary Brian is great as the love interest and Ruth Donnelly steals the show as her loud mouth mother. There's a nice spoof of the grapefruit scene from The Public Enemy.

As of now this one isn't available on DVD so you'll have to keep your eyes on Turner Classic Movies.

Ignore the haters that didn't appreciate this unpolished gem from the gold digger era. It's Cagney in a romantic comedy as a low-grade con man, against a mother-daughter team in matching outfits looking to bag a rich husband. When his scams profit, mother Ruth Donnelly thinks he's a perfect mate for daughter Mary Brian, but when his fortunes turn as they often do, the ladies switch polarity. Donnelly never misses an opportunity to kick him while he's down, meanwhile Brian's passion for underdogs cools when he's in the black.

If you're looking for Cagney as a toughguy gangster this isn't it, although the film takes some timely, self-aware potshots at Cagney's image including grapefruit jokes. Here his schemes are mostly harmless like rigging a dance contest, and he's as likely to be scammed as he is to make a big score. I can see how his fans might be disappointed, but Cagney was also a song-and-dance man and a self-depricating comedian. Gold digger comedies, like crime-genre and noir, are filled with amoral characters and backstabbing frenemies but played for laughs. It's easy to forgive shady motives when the leads are wholesome Dick Powell and sunny Priscilla Lane. James Cagney on the otherhand has electricity and an edge that plays for darker characters. Here he's forced to rely on charm and guile - you may be waiting for him to bust up the joint and rub out his enemies, but gold digger heroes are lovers not fighters. This isn't his best fit, but "date movie" Cagney is the nicer guy who doesn't smash citrus in women's faces.

Ruth Donnelly anchors the meandering plot as the most gold digger-y character in a gold digger comedy. What kills the film is the casting of elegant Mary Brian who mostly stands around looking pretty. Her "inverse barometer" reactions to Cagney's ups and downs would have played better with a more sexual screen presence. She represents the female sexual urge, while mother Donnelly represents the brain, conflicted over bad-boy Cagney's tumultuous circumstances. They dress alike because they metaphorically are one woman, but also because it's funny hanging a lampshade on their mother-daughter bear trap. The clever subtext is that Cagney can't win the girl until he figures out how to appeal to both women's sensibilities at the same time.