The Hard Guy (1930) User Reviews

Spencer Tracy In A Six-Minute Movie!

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 9 February 2007]

I would guess the idea behind this very short (six minutes) short feature is two-fold: introduce a couple of actors who might develop into something more, and give an uplifting good message to those who were down-and-out during the beginnings of the Great Depression.

Well, one of the actors certainly made it big: a young dark-haired Spencer Tracy! Yes, Spencer Tracy in a six-minute movie. Amazing! He shows his talent, too, sounding as natural as can be. Playing his wife "Ellen" is Katherine Alexander. She's okay, but obviously didn't become a star like Tracy. However, she had steady work as an actress.

Anyway, Tracy plays "Guy," a down-and-out husband who is very down on himself and whines and whines about his jobless situation, not being able to take care of his wife and little girl. His wife warns him, "Guy, your getting hard-boiled again." She is the optimist in the family. "We'll get back on our feet again and back on easy street," she tells him.

He goes out to look for a job, but since it's cold outside, goes to his old trunk and takes out his old, heavy Army coat. Guy sees a gun and takes that with him, too. His wife discovers that as he leaves and panics, thinking her desperate husband might do anything.

In no time, Ellen hears the police and gunshots. Her husband comes home with food and a promised doll for the young child. The wife now is really panicking....until he explains he bought the stuff by hocking the gun. End of story. That was a nice twist and a nice message.

Young Tracy in an Interesting Slice of Cinema History

[evanston_dad · 6/10 · 26 May 2006]

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.

a short with a happy ending

[tpfaff100 · 6/10 · 12 October 2004]

My first thought when I saw it was that this short is something you would never see now. A short film with a happy ending seems to be something unattainable in this generation. Anyway that being said it's neither a great nor a bad short. A man and his wife are trying to feed and provide for their child. The man goes out, hoping to find a job, but first grabs his revolver. His wife find the revolver in the coat and is scared. He goes out with the gun and returns with a haul. His wife assumes that he stole the things after hearing a commotion downstairs with a police officer chasing after. Finally he tells her he sold the gun. Spencer Tracy is young and an okay actor. In my opinion just as he always was. If you want to see an entertaining movie with Spencer Tracy, try "Desk Set." It is apolitical and is a pretty cute comedy involving a mad computer and a coupl'a risqué librarians.

early Spencer Tracy one-reel short--of historical interest

[django-1 · 7/10 · 1 May 2006]

If you haven't seen this yet, don't read the plot summary. It starts off as a grim, naturalistic story of a starving urban family and the father's struggle to do something to make a change. How surprising to see Spencer Tracy so young and unformed as an actor! I won't give away the surprise ending because, frankly, without the surprise ending the short has little to offer. In only six minutes or so, it has no time to go into depth. Every time I see one of these early 1930's depression-era films that treat the underdog working man with such sympathy, I wonder what has changed so much in our society. Can you imagine any major studio project--other than a foreign import--set in the present time that sides with a working-class character who robs and pulls guns on his victims? Yes, it's another era, isn't it? That's not exactly what happens here, but this short plays on our expectation that that is what WILL happen. An interesting curio. Because TCM does not list shorts on its schedule, I just happened to be setting my TV to tape something on TCM later in the day when I caught the "one reel wonders" intro, and thought I'd hang around to see what it was. And after this, TCM ran an obscure 1930 interview with D.W. Griffith as filler! Great stuff, but is there any way we could find out about them IN ADVANCE, TCM???

Hard Guy Makes Hard Choices

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 6 December 2006]

The Hard Guy is a six minute short film that gives us a glimpse of the talent of Spencer Tracy. Just happened to catch it when TCM was between features and ran this.

Tracy plays a man with wife and child wondering where the next meal is coming from during the Great Depression. He's a veteran and two years from this film, veterans would be marching on the Capitol Building demanding a promised bonus. How society was dealing with them through out the world in that global depression was a big issue.

Wife Katherine Alexander feels an old service revolver in the pocket of Tracy's coat as he leaves the house. She fears he's been driven to desperate measures as so many in the Depression were. It's worse for her when she overhears two policeman talking about shooting to kill a dangerous stick up man.

Fortunately things do turn out all right for them and Tracy does not succumb to any temptations.

The Hard Guy is probably too melodramatic for today's tastes, yet it still in just six minutes gets its message across about the desperation that poverty causes and the strength of character it takes to resist certain temptations.

As for Spencer Tracy, I'm sure fans in 1930 saw this and said this guy can go places if he gets some good career breaks himself.

Nice for Tracy Fans

[Michael_Elliott · 11 June 2009]

Hard Man, The (1930)

*** (out of 4)

Spencer Tracy, in his third film, plays a Depression-era father who is tired of seeing his young daughter go without. After reading about a robbery in the newspaper, the desperate father goes out with a gun in his hand leaving his wife to fear the worst. This Vitaphone short runs just six-minutes but fans of Tracy will certainly want to see his early performance here. As far as the film goes there's really nothing too special here as it appears this film was made just to see what type of performances the actors could give. As far as Tracy goes I really enjoyed his work here because it contains that intensity that we'd come to expect from the actor and I found it to be rather impressive. The story itself is nothing too special but I thought it was interesting to see the Depression tale as many watching this film were probably feeling the same way Tracy's character does.

Spencer Tracy's first surviving film role...

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 11 February 2023]

... as the titular "Hard Guy". Which is to say he is a desperate out-of-work husband and father. From the conversation apparently this family has been doing well at some point in the past. His wife is supportive, but their young daughter has malnutrition and needs good - and that means expensive - food in order to recover. They are living in a poorly furnished flat in an Hell's Kitchen, New York.

Tracy tries on his hat and coat from his army days and finds a gun. When he takes the gun with him as he heads out without clearly stating his intentions, his wife fears he will do the worst.

This was enlightening in the sense that it was my impression that the Depression didn't really start to take a toll until 1931. From an art design perspective, this family's tenement has one of the highest ceilings that I've ever seen. From a talent recognition perspective, this short proves that Warner Brothers let Spencer Tracy get away from them. They also let Clark Gable get away too, but that would be a couple of years down the line.

This short film is worth a look for the film history of it all.

Adequate showcase for emerging legend

[BJJManchester · 6/10 · 29 November 2007]

Nothing more than a serious filmed sketch,THE HARD GUY is a watchable short film (only 6 minutes long) on the subject of the depression ,with an unemployed man ready to take extreme measures to support his wife and baby,with a nicely done twist ending.Despite being shot in the cheapest sets imaginable,and some obvious platitudes in the script,this still contains an excellent,believable performance by a raw Spencer Tracy,at the beginning of his distinguished film career.Even with material as slight as this,Tracy still manages to give a performance with traces of depth and character,something which plenty of other leading actors before and since have never managed in films twenty times the length of this one.

Tracy of course went on to become arguably Hollywood's most respected and revered leading actor in it's golden age,and you can see even in this very short and unremarkable film the quality that was to make him such a superb,gifted screen performer for the next four decades.

RATING:6 out of 10.

At only 6 minutes, it's hard for a young Spencer Tracy to make much of an impact

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 12 August 2007]

The film is a very, very short film--much shorter than the usual live-action shorts made by the major studios. What sets this one apart is that it's one of the very earliest appearances by Spencer Tracy and he does look awfully young. Probably the reason he seemed to age so much between this short in 1930 and starring roles in the mid-to-late 1930s was his alcoholism--he looks at least a decade younger than he did in SAN FRANCISCO (1936).

As for the plot, Spencer and his wife and young daughter are down and out in the midst of the depression--no money, no job and no prospects. So, in desperation, Spencer leaves the house with a Colt automatic and his wife assumes he's adopting a life of crime. This and the intervening segment where she hears two cops discussing crime are very heavy-handed and preachy. Later, when he returns with food and presents, his wife assumes the worst, but it turns out Tracy really is a nice guy and he just took the gun to the pawn shop! With that the scene dissolves and the film ends.

The bottom line is that this is a pretty poor little film and mostly of interest to film historians and idiots like myself who adore classic Hollywood films and actors.

By the way, since it's an early film, the sound quality was rather poor as some of the characters (particularly the little girl) are hard to hear and the sound levels needed to be adjusted--something they learned to do much better in subsequent years.

a star in the making

[kidboots · 7/10 · 28 October 2007]

This 6 minute short from 1930 - "The Hard Man" starred Spencer Tracy in one of his first roles. It didn't matter - he was so natural in his acting technique that it could have been made in 1950!!! His acting style did not change at all - he must have come to films great. He always said he was not acting but just being himself - maybe he was telling the truth - his acting style was so naturalistic.

It was about a family fallen on hard times. The husband goes out to find a doll for his daughter - carrying a gun. Is he going to do something desperate - who knows???

Anyway it was a wonderful 6 minutes to see a great star at his career beginnings.

Tracy shows his talent in this early short.

[Traj · 9/10 · 27 April 2005]

I was fortunate to see this early Tracy short on TCM. I haven't seen a Spencer Tracy movie yet that I didn't like. In the first minute of this movie I quickly realized that Spencer Tracy's talent was natural. Here it was in 1930 in his 3rd film looking as seasoned an actor that he was much later. He looked out of place with the other actors only because they seemed awkwardly amateurish next to him. Okay, so there were only 4 other actors, but you could see how he made it big- time. It was fun to see him so young in the film. I rate this 7 minute film a 9 out of 10 only because of the limited talent that surrounded Tracy. I recommend this film. It is a must for all Spencer Tracy fans.

Neat Little Twister

[JoeytheBrit · 6/10 · 10 August 2010]

A fresh-faced Spencer Tracy was just starting out on his acting career when he made this ultra-short movie for First National back in 1930. They were part of the Warners studio, so it's quite surprising that the home of the hard-boiled gangster flick couldn't figure out what to do with a tough actor like Tracy. Anyway, they were obviously giving him a try-out in this one, and he's pretty good as a war veteran who has fallen on hard times and is living in a one-bedroom slum in Hell's Kitchen. He's a lot better than Katharine Alexander who plays his supportive wife with all the aplomb of an actress who's afraid of the microphone. The story lets the audience believe Tracy is about to commit a robbery after he finds his service revolver in a trunk, but pulls a neat little twist to bring the film to a sudden, unexpected conclusion. Worth checking out as a curiosity.

Routine Production, Fairly Clever Story

[Snow Leopard · 14 November 2005]

Besides the chance to see a very young-looking Spencer Tracy, this short feature is worth seeing for its fairly clever story, despite the rather routine production quality. It's the kind of feature that used to be quite common, taking one plot idea and telling a simple story with, in this case, a twist at the end.

Tracy plays a World War I veteran who is down on his luck due to the depression. His endless, fruitless search for employment would surely have rung true with its original audiences, and while Tracy's style is not yet very polished, he is believable in portraying his character's rising desperation. This is increased by his wife's own fear and anxiety, and both are channeled so as to guide the viewer's expectations and set up the finale.

The climactic scene is really the whole reason for the movie, and it works rather well. With that and a situation that was all too familiar at the time, it's a relatively interesting miniature that comes off effectively enough, despite not having much more than that working for it.

A Six Minute Shot for Spencer Tracy

[wes-connors · 6/10 · 28 November 2012]

In the poor and crime-riddled section of New York City known as "Hell's Kitchen", young Spencer Tracy (as Guy) worries about providing for his wife Katharine Alexander (as Ellen) and their little daughter. Despondent and unemployed, Mr. Tracy gets ready to read the "classified" section of the newspaper. Times are hard. "Are there no men wanted in the paper?" asks Ms. Alexander. "Yeah, there's a lot of them - wanted by the police," Tracy replies. Looking for a winter coat, Tracy finds an old army gun in a trunk. This gives him an idea. Tracy takes the gun and goes out - intending to bring home food and a doll for little Doris...

****** The Hard Guy (9/6/30) Arthur Hurley ~ Spencer Tracy, Katharine Alexander, Valli Roberts, Arch Hendricks

A Sneak Peek At Spencer Tracy

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 30 October 2004]

A Warner Brothers VITAPHONE Short Subject.

Hit by the Depression, THE HARD GUY has to find any means to get food for his wife and tiny daughter.

This very brief film is notable only for its look at a young Spencer Tracy, who manages to make something of even this almost evanescent role. Katherine Alexander plays his beleaguered spouse.

***************************

Often overlooked or neglected today, the one and two-reel short subjects were useful to the Studios as important training grounds for new or burgeoning talents, both in front & behind the camera. The dynamics for creating a successful short subject was completely different from that of a feature length film, something akin to writing a topnotch short story rather than a novel. Economical to produce in terms of both budget & schedule and capable of portraying a wide range of material, short subjects were the perfect complement to the Studios' feature films.

This is the shortest "short" I have ever seen!!

[SkippyDevereaux · 13 May 2002]

This is only 6 minutes long and only interesting because it is Spencer Tracy's second film. It is all about an unemployed man trying to find food for his wife and child. Although the description says that it is a drama, I thought the ending was a bit funny. But, like I said, it is a VERY short film!!

Can you tell a great story in just six minutes?

[oscaralbert · 10/10 · 6 December 2014]

Yes, as THE HARD GUY proves. From its first lines to its final reveal, THE HARD GUY rarely wastes a word. The cast of five includes a young Spencer Tracy, cutting his eye teeth for the many future Tete-a-Tetes he'd have on the big screen with Katharine Hepburn. Though Katherine Alexander may not be as memorable as a "straight woman" here as Hepburn later would become for Tracy, the brief scene toward the end of this short with the two beat cops adds a deft touch that still resonates with today's headlines. The first cop says, "You hear about the sergeant's 'Shoot to kill' order?" The other officer replies, "Yes, we aim to please." This exchange is followed quickly by a couple of off-screen shots, and a "clincher" that short story master O. Henry would have envied.

One Of The First?

[dougdoepke · 29 August 2017]

I didn't know what to expect from a 6-minute quickie with Spencer Tracy. But the producer being 1930's Warner's and with a title like The Hard Guy, I couldn't pass it up. And a heckuva hard guy Spence is, but who wouldn't be— no work, no food, not even a dolly for his little girl. The wife's doing the best she can and so's the sweet daughter. But he's the man of the place so he better come up with something, because the Depression's not getting easier and the New Deal's still 2- years away. Gotta say I didn't see the upshot coming and I doubt anyone did. Note too, that less than a year separates the stock market collapse from this film. Thus, this quickie may have been one of the first to register the economic collapse. In any event, it's a nifty little short that probably cost a buck-eighty in order to dramatize a really bad time in America. At the same time, Spence shows why he would soon shoot to Hollywood's top.