The Hard Way - Warner Archive Collection

We've all heard of stage mothers. You know, those pushy, brazen slave-drivers who drag their performing seals - I mean, children - to endless auditions, badger and browbeat producers and casting directors, and ruthlessly manage their progenies careers in a relentless pursuit of fame and fortune. But have you ever heard of a stage sister? I can't say for certain, but I'd place a bet The Hard Way was the first - and probably only - movie to introduce the idea of a sibling acting in the same capacity. And as brilliantly portrayed by Ida Lupino, she's such a monstrous character she most likely frightened anyone in real life from following in her footsteps.

A classy production that epitomizes Warner Bros' tough, take-no-prisoners moviemaking style, The Hard Way tells a downbeat tale with a mixture of brutality and grace. Though the strict censorship code at the time dictated some aspects of the plot, the screenplay by Daniel Fuchs, who won an Oscar a dozen years later for Love Me or Leave Me, and Peter Viertel pulls few punches in its damning portrait of unbridled ambition and maniacal manipulation. Climbing the theatrical ladder and getting to the top takes grit, guts, and gumption and The Hard Way magnifies those qualities to the extreme as it depicts both the fruits of those labors and the inexorable toll they exact.

Helen Chernen (Lupino) married her much older husband, Sam (Roman Bohnen), fresh out of high school in a futile attempt to escape the dirt and dreariness of her dead-end, industrial hometown. Worried her kid sister Katie (Joan Leslie) might fall victim to the same fate, she encourages a relationship between Katie, who possesses a modest song-and-dance talent, and vaudeville hoofer Albert Runkel (Jack Carson), who becomes smitten with Katie when he and his partner Paul Collins (Dennis Morgan) catch her clowning around in a diner following their show.

Helen sees Katie as her ticket out of town and hopes to ride her coattails to a better life. After Albert and Katie impulsively marry and he and Paul incorporate her into their act, Helen ditches Sam and tags along, sticking to her sister like glue and micromanaging her career...at the expense of everyone else. First, she engineers the break-up of Albert and Paul (who instantly senses her modus operandi), then plots to separate Katie from Albert, a poor sap who's no match for Helen's diabolical wiles. Everything Helen does, she does for Katie - or so she says - and as Katie attains Broadway stardom, Helen's dreams of wealth, glamor, and respect at last come true. But at what price? And after pushing, pushing, pushing Katie for so long, is it possible for her to stop?

Director Vincent Sherman was fast making a name for himself at Warner Bros when he signed on to The Hard Way, and the film significantly increased his studio standing. Like its despicable main character, the movie brims with confidence and attitude, and while Sherman's brisk style keeps the narrative rolling, his efficiency doesn't come at the expense of artistry. He and master cinematographer James Wong Howe craft an array of stimulating visuals that heighten tension and emotion. At its core, The Hard Way, despite focusing on female characters, is a film noir, and Sherman and Howe expertly co-mingle the dark backstage nastiness with the bright lights of Broadway success.

Bette Davis reportedly rejected the part of Helen, thus affording Lupino, who had to battle Olivia de Havilland, Barbara Stanwyck, and Ann Sheridan for Davis' cast-offs, the rare opportunity to chow down on a meaty role. She attacks Helen with relish, filing arguably the finest performance of her Warner Bros period. Though the character has almost no redeeming qualities, somehow Lupino makes her human. We all know Karma will eventually catch up to Helen, but instead of cheering her downfall (like many femme fatales), we feel sorry for Helen and lament how she allowed herself to become so obsessed with ambition and greed. That's all due to Lupino's brilliance, and though she was inexplicably passed over for an Oscar nomination, the New York Film Critics Circle recognized her compelling, complex portrayal and named her the year's Best Actress.

I've been guilty of dismissing Leslie as little more than a perky ingenue in the past, but she especially impresses here in a tricky role. Katie may be somewhat naïve and ignorant of her sister's machinations and eventually rebels against them, but she's also a silent, willing participant - at least at first - and Leslie walks that tightrope with aplomb. The 18-year-old actress was already a screen veteran, but despite her tender age, she's able to project myriad emotions in a believable manner and shade them with mature nuances. Though she capably played Gary Cooper's wife in Sergeant York (at age 16!), James Cagney's wife in Yankee Doodle Dandy (at 17), and danced with Fred Astaire in The Sky's the Limit right after completing The Hard Way, Leslie really shows what she's made of in this film, and she and Lupino make a formidable duo.

The Hard Way also marked the beginning of the Morgan-Carson partnership, which would span six years and produce five more pictures. The easygoing chemistry between the two adds spirit, spunk, and a little pathos to The Hard Way, with Carson pulling the heartstrings as the hapless Albert, who adores Katie but can't combat Helen's Machiavellian maneuvers. Though he often played slick, fast-talking operators with an angle, the imposing Carson could be disarmingly vulnerable when called upon to brandish his tender side. The big lug makes a big impression in The Hard Way, and his memorable work rivals that of Lupino.

The ending of The Hard Way is hard to swallow. The film opens with Helen attempting suicide, then tells her story in flashback, yet after watching what she goes through and how she reacts to each conflict and crisis, it's difficult to believe a character as selfish, fierce, and resilient as Helen, even at her lowest moment, would try to take her own life. Helen's "punishment" for her reprehensible actions was either studio-mandated or the result of a Production Code review, but it's the one aspect of this very fine movie that doesn't ring true.

Otherwise, The Hard Way gets most everything right. In an era of wartime escapism, it dared to shine a glaring spotlight on the seedy side of the theater and paints an unvarnished portrait of a cutthroat individual who doesn't care who she tramples on her way to the top. Trust me, you won't like Helen, but you'll adore Ida Lupino. She makes The Hard Way easy to love.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
The Hard Way arrives on Blu-ray packaged in a standard case. Video codec is 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 and audio is DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono. Once the disc is inserted into the player, the static menu without music immediately pops up; no previews or promos precede it.

A brand new HD master struck from a 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative yields a striking 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer. I don't own the 2009 DVD, but it's impossible to imagine The Hard Way looking any better than it does here. Grain levels fluctuate, but even when the texture runs a bit thick, it suits the drama's gritty nature. The image always exudes a lovely film-like feel, and the marvelous clarity and contrast allow us to fully appreciate the often arresting cinematography of two-time Oscar-winner James Wong Howe. Dense blacks, vibrant whites, a wide grayscale, and terrific shadow delineation complement the movie's noirish look, while sharp close-ups showcase tears, sweat, and fine facial features. No nicks, dirt, or scratches sully the pristine source, and no digital anomalies could be detected. This is another impressive effort from Warner Archive, which continues to lead the home video industry in the classics department. 

The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track outputs clear, well-modulated sound. Solid dynamic range and excellent fidelity allow the music score by Heinz Roemheld, who won an Oscar the previous year for Yankee Doodle Dandy, to fill the room with ease. Bright highs and weighty lows produce a pleasing soundscape, and no age-related hiss, pops, or crackle spoil its purity. Sonic accents like gunshots and facial slaps are crisp, the musical numbers enjoy a slight level boost, and all the dialogue is easy to comprehend.

The 2009 DVD contained no supplements except a trailer, which has been ported over to this Blu-ray release. Lucky for us, Warner Archive has padded this disc with several vintage extras, including a radio adaptation of the film.

• Vintage Short: Gun to Gun (HD, 18 minutes) - This 1943 two-reel western about corruption and murder in 1848 Los Angeles incorporates a fair amount of action and atmospheric footage from an old silent movie to flesh out its narrative. The unorthodox presentation makes this short an interesting curio.
• Vintage Short: Over the Wall (HD, 21 minutes) - Beautifully remastered in HD and directed by Jean Negulesco, who would go on to helm such esteemed features as Humoresque, Johnny Belinda (when will this superb film get a Blu-ray release?), Titanic, How to Marry a Millionaire, and Three Coins in the Fountain, this 1943 two-reeler stars tough guy Tom Tully as a tender-hearted Irish priest who tries to soften a hardened criminal (a young, scruffy Dane Clark, who looks a lot like Humphrey Bogart in The Petrified Forest) after he escapes from prison.
• Vintage Radio Adaptation (60 minutes) - Lux Radio Theater host Cecil B. DeMille introduces this truncated radio adaptation of The Hard Way. Miriam Hopkins, Anne Baxter, Franchot Tone, and Chester Morris assume the roles played by Lupino, Leslie, Morgan, and Carson in the film. Some fun scripted banter between the stars and DeMille closes out the broadcast, which aired on March 20, 1943.
• Vintage Cartoon: The Aristo-Cat (HD, 7 minutes) - A couple of decades before the Disney film of almost the same name, this Looney Tunes cartoon chronicles the efforts of a pampered cat to survive after his beleaguered staff or servants quits.
• Vintage Cartoon: Scrap Happy Daffy (HD, 8 minutes) - This black-and-white Looney Tunes cartoon, produced at the height of World War II, projects a strong anti-Nazi message as it pits Daffy Duck against a German goat intent on seizing his pile of scrap metal.
• Theatrical Trailer (SD, 2 minutes) - The film's original preview completes the extras package.

It's easy to love The Hard Way, despite its downbeat nature. The electric performances, solid direction, and top-notch script combine to create a compelling drama that pulls few punches. Warner Archive's superior transfer struck from a 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative, remastered audio, and a bountiful extras package make this release hard to resist. Highly Recommended.