The Hard Guy (1930)

An unemployed man hangs around his flat.

Director:

Arthur Hurley

Writers:

Betty Ross (story), Burnet Hershey (adaptation)

Stars:

Spencer Tracy, Katharine Alexander, Arch Hendricks

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Spencer Tracy	...	Guy
Katharine Alexander	...	Ellen (as Katherine Alexander)

Storyline

Married couple Guy and Ellen, who live in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City, are having a hard time making ends meet since Guy can't find a job. It is especially difficult for them as they have to worry about providing for their daughter, Doris, who is suffering from vitamin deficiency due to malnutrition. As Guy reads through the want ads in the newspaper often reading of crimes on the street instead, and as he searches through his old army trunk looking for his warm winter coat to pound the pavement while finding other army related items in the trunk, he may have other ideas on how to provide for his family.

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Plot Keywords:

pistol | gun | marriage | husband wife relationship | poverty | 

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Genres:

Drama | Short

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 September 1930 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Tough Guy

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vitaphone Corporation, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

6 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Vitaphone)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This short film is available as a bonus on the Warner DVD of Little Caesar.

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Goofs

Guy refers to his automatic handgun as "the old Army revolver".

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Connections

Featured in Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story (2002)

User Reviews

Young Tracy in an Interesting Slice of Cinema History

A very young Spencer Tracy plays the eponymous guy in this Depression-era short that starts out as a gritty slice of realism and, due to a surprise and funny ending, ends as a comedy. This kind of thing served merely as a time filler, so there's no point in reviewing it for its artistry or film techniques. But it is very interesting from a historical standpoint. Simply knowing that this short film played in mainstream movie houses, and addressed the Depression head on, shows how different a world we live in today, when mass entertainment seeks to do anything but make its audiences think about current events. And there's a chilling moment when Tracy says that the war they're currently waging (the Depression) makes the war they just lived through (WWI) seem like a cake walk---this wouldn't have been chilling at the time, but from today's vantage point, knowing WWII was just around the corner, it gives this little nothing of a film a prophetic quality.