While PRC occasionally made a decent film (such as a few of their films with George Zucco), their output mostly consisted of films that the lesser studios (like Monogram) would have been ashamed to release. The bottom line is that they specialized in a cute-rate product--and it usually showed. So, when I saw "Hard Guy", I wasn't too surprised it was bad--the studio seemed to specialize in bad.
The film is set mostly in a nightclub run by Jack LaRue. LaRue had an up and coming career with MGM, but by 1940 was forced to act in anything--and this fit that bill nicely. As he often did, he played a heavy--a cheep hood hiding in the guise of respectability. His specialty was getting the women in his employ to marry rich men and then get quickie annulments or divorces--splitting the money with him. This was a big problem with the film, as there is no reason for any woman to split the money with LaRue--it just made no sense. Nor did it really make sense for them to give up on their 'sugar baby' so quickly. When one of the women develops a conscience, LaRue kills her and makes it look like her new husband did it! So it's up to a bunch of idiots to somehow unravel the mystery.
The biggest problems with the film involved the acting. Too often, characters were just caricatures--like one-dimensional stereotypes that grated on the nerves. In particular, Goldie and Tex were practically sub-human in their roles and every minute they were in the film was agony--especially at the end (uggh!). In addition to bad acting, the film never makes sense nor do the characters--and it shows that this script was hurriedly thrown together. Cheap, dull and not one bit believable--the film isn't quite bad enough to be enjoyed by bad movie addicts and is probably only good for masochists!
The film is set mostly in a nightclub run by Jack LaRue. LaRue had an up and coming career with MGM, but by 1940 was forced to act in anything--and this fit that bill nicely. As he often did, he played a heavy--a cheep hood hiding in the guise of respectability. His specialty was getting the women in his employ to marry rich men and then get quickie annulments or divorces--splitting the money with him. This was a big problem with the film, as there is no reason for any woman to split the money with LaRue--it just made no sense. Nor did it really make sense for them to give up on their 'sugar baby' so quickly. When one of the women develops a conscience, LaRue kills her and makes it look like her new husband did it! So it's up to a bunch of idiots to somehow unravel the mystery.
The biggest problems with the film involved the acting. Too often, characters were just caricatures--like one-dimensional stereotypes that grated on the nerves. In particular, Goldie and Tex were practically sub-human in their roles and every minute they were in the film was agony--especially at the end (uggh!). In addition to bad acting, the film never makes sense nor do the characters--and it shows that this script was hurriedly thrown together. Cheap, dull and not one bit believable--the film isn't quite bad enough to be enjoyed by bad movie addicts and is probably only good for masochists!