The Hard Way (1943)

Embittered, ambitious Helen Sherman sees an opportunity to escape her drab small-town life by becoming a 'stage mother' to her musically-talented younger sister.

Director:

Vincent Sherman

Writers:

Daniel Fuchs (screenplay), Peter Viertel (screenplay),

Stars:

Ida Lupino, Dennis Morgan, Joan Leslie

2 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ida Lupino	...	Mrs. Helen Chernen
Dennis Morgan	...	Paul Collins
Joan Leslie	...	Katherine 'Katie' Blaine
Jack Carson	...	Albert Runkel
Gladys George	...	Lily Emery
Faye Emerson	...	Ice Cream Parlor Waitress
Paul Cavanagh	...	John 'Jack' Shagrue

Storyline

Ambitious Helen Chernin (Ida Lupino) pushes her talented younger sister Katherine (Joan Leslie) into marriage with broken down song-and-dance man Albert Runkel (Jack Carson) so that the two women can leave the dirty steel town where they live. Runkel's partner Paul Collins (Dennis Morgan), however, sees through Helen's plan. Helen continues driving her sister's career and eventually Katherine becomes a star on Broadway, while Runkel and Collins' act flounders. Success soon goes to Katherine's head and she becomes a fast-living party girl. Time passes and Helen and Katherine run into Paul, now a successful band leader. He and Katherine soon fall in love. The two sisters eventually have a showdown on opening night of Katherine's latest show when Katherine discovers that Helen is also in love with Paul.

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Plot Keywords:

small town | party | marriage | stage mother | song and dance | 

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Taglines:

Sister LOVE...and HATE!

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Genres:

Drama | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 February 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

A nehéz út

Filming Locations:

Warner Bros. Museum, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Several actors with their character names listed in studio records and/or casting call lists were not seen in the movie. These were Eddie Coke (Variety Ad Taker), Frank Faylen (Policeman), Howard M. Mitchell (Policeman), Joel Davis (Jimmy, Six Years), Wilbur Mack (Stage Manager), Monte Blue (Assistant Stage Manager), Frances Morris (Telephone Operator) and Merrillee Lannon (Western Union Clerk).

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Goofs

Near the end of the film Dennis Morgan takes a seat to see Joan Leslie's play. He is seated next to a young woman. The next time the camera cuts to him he is in the same seat, but sitting next to an older woman wearing completely different clothing.

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Quotes

Paul Collins: [Looking around the train station] Wonder where that dumb partner of mine is. Boy, will I be glad to get him out of this town. Love has smitten him like a ten ton truck!
Ice Cream Parlor Waitress: Never hits you, does it?
Paul Collins: [Sarcastically] Every other Thursday, Baby.

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Connections

Referenced in American Me (1992)

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Soundtracks

"When My Dream Boat Comes Home"
(uncredited)
Written by Cliff Friend and Dave Franklin
Played on piano after Shagrue announces Helen and Katie at the party

User Reviews

Ida Lupino excels in archetypal tinsel-and-ashes melodrama

The siren lure of show business must have had a more irresistible song in the days when stars, in the flesh, came right to towns like Pocatello, Idaho and Biloxi, Mississippi. The dreams were delivered fresh and piping hot, not through the many scrims of television and movie screens, and not through the machinations of crafty publicists and a fawning press. That's the milieu of Green Hill, a sooty steeltown where Helen Chernen (Ida Lupino) has cut her losses and her hopes until her little sister (Joan Leslie) gets a whiff of the greasepaint and hears the roar of the crowd. Lupino up and leaves her laborer husband to propel sis right to the boulevard of broken dreams. First steps on the stampede to the top are the mediocre vaudeville duo of Jack Carson and Dennis Morgan; Leslie marries Carson but leaves him in the dust at Lupino's bidding. Soon Leslie is poised to be the toast of all Broadway, but the tinsel is turning to ashes, and she's turning against her unstoppable bulldozer of a big sister. The bookends of this story told in flashback involve an ermine wrap, a pier on New York's waterfront, and a couple of New York cops....You get the idea. The Hard Way still packs a punch (after all these years), if a punch somewhat softened with a tinge of nostalgia. This is one of Lupino's strongest roles (along with Lily in Road House), and at her best she makes you wonder why she didn't achieve the superstardom of a Davis, a Hepburn, or a Stanwyck. She's just that good.