"Hard to Get" is what you might call a low-key comedy. There are some pratfalls, but the action is mostly at a relaxed pace, not frantic or riotous. Olivia de Havilland (as Margaret) and Dick Powell (as Bill) are delightful as the couple who find romance in a most unexpected (to them) way. She tears out of the house in a pique of rebelliousness but finds that the car's fuel tank is low. When she stops to get gas at a combination garage/motor court, she tries to charge the expense, but the attendant--who does not know her--refuses to extend her credit.She's actually from a wealthy family, but Bill doesn't know that and he forces her to work for the cost of the gasoline by making beds and dusting in the motor court's bungalows. She concocts a scheme for getting even, which involves her father, Charles Winninger (Ben Richards).If you believe the film, CEOs--like Mr. Winninger--spend their days wasting time or indulging in whimsical activities, like wrestling with their butlers, but it makes for a funny story.The cast is excellent. Together they create a light-hearted comedy that revolves around a growing romance.

After refusing to join her family on a summer vacation, spoiled New York heiress Olivia de Havilland (as Margaret "Maggie" Richards) storms out of the house. She stops to get gas, but has no cash to pay singing attendant Dick Powell (as Bill Davis). He doesn't believe de Havilland is rich and makes her work off the $3.48 as a maid in the gasoline station's neighboring "Cozy Cabins". She is furious and vows to get even with Powell, who is an aspiring architect. After their debt is settled, Powell takes de Havilland out to dinner. She sets out to queer Powell's ambitious architectural plans, with help from oil tycoon father Charles Winninger (as Benjamin "Ben" Richards)...The tables get turned, and turned again. Powell and his stunt double get bounced around frequently. Winninger wrestles with enterprising servant Melville Cooper (as Case). The men have a good scene, near the end, on a skyscraper. Powell sings the #1 hit "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" and reprises Al Jolson's "Sonny Boy" in less dignified black-face. De Havilland seems almost entirely out of sorts. Although never as big as her co-stars, brunette maid Penny Singleton (as Hattie) owns the funniest scene. It's when she and de Havilland switch roles. After this film, Ms. Singleton bleached her hair blonde and appeared almost exclusively in the "Blondie" series.***** Hard to Get (11/5/38) Ray Enright ~ Dick Powell, Olivia de Havilland, Charles Winninger, Penny Singleton

Spoiled rich girl Olivia de Havilland fills up her car at a gas station where aspiring architect Dick Powell works. She doesn't have any cash to pay for the gas so Powell makes her work off the debt. She sets about trying to get even with Powell by leading him on and tricking him into pitching his dream idea for a chain of auto courts to her father and his friend, who she knows will never give Powell's idea a fair shot. Things change when she inevitably develops feeling for him.Mean-spirited at times but mostly funny screwball comedy. The leads are great. Also, love seeing Bonita Granville, Penny Singleton, and Allen Jenkins. Helps if you haven't seen other, better screwball comedies from the period. If you have, this will definitely have an air of familiarity about it. Still, it's a good one. Powell sings a couple of songs, including "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" and a jarringly out-of-place blackface number. There's one ridiculous part where, as part of a gag by de Havilland's father, Powell is tricked into opening a door that leads onto a ledge several stories up. It's implied this trick has been used before on others. I'm sure we're not supposed to look into this too closely but that part kind of bothered me since Powell very easily could have fallen to his death. Some gag.

This is one of those films from the thirties where no effort is made to have a realistic story or characters, and where the purpose is purely fun. The film is highly amusing, although it has its corny moments. This is a rare glimpse of Olivia de Havilland as she was before GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) changed her career in the following year. Her co-star here is Dick Powell. A very bad makeup person has made Dick Powell all but unrecognisable by excessive makeup round his eyes, and has done no favours for Miss de Havilland either, as she is also made to look somewhat artificial, despite her costumes working very well and showing inspired touches. As is only to be expected, both stars excel in this romantic comedy and spark off each other nicely. The film also contains a wonderful performance by the British actor Melville Cooper as a droll butler, not unlike Jeeves (and probably modelled on him), who is even allowed the last word at the end. Charlie Winniger also gives one of his very good performances (for he could be a bit uneven and 'required direction') as Miss de Havilland's eccentric father. A famous song by Johnny Mercer was written specially for this film, 'You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby' ('… cause, baby, you're beautiful now.') The film also features an amazing scene where Dick Powell in blackface does a marvellous imitation of Al Jolson singing 'Sonny Boy'. This film was certainly unconstrained in its casting about for new ways to laugh. Dick Powell also disguises himself as a woman scrubbing a floor in an office building, descends on a rope down the side of a New York skyscraper to enter an office window, and other antics. At one point Winniger is taken to the top of a skyscraper riding on a steel beam, as 'the elevators are not installed yet'. He holds a business meeting several hundred feet up, balancing on the beams, while Powell inserts rivets. Any wild situation will do for this story! At one point, the action is suddenly interrupted and we cut to Miss de Havilland and Powell sitting in a row-boat together at night, rowing across a lake in Central Park and falling in love. Some linking scenes must have been cut to get them there, but no one seems to mind the lack of continuity. Anything goes! Miss de Havilland starts as a rich spoilt brat who screams when she does not get her way. She falls out with Dick Powell, who works in a garage, over a bill for $3.48. Powell refuses her credit, and says if she were to fail to pay, he would 'not be able to afford lunch for a week'. That says a great deal about the value of money in 1938, if you could eat lunch for a week on $3.48. Miss de Havilland later falls in love with Powell, in a shockingly short period of time and with a lack of motivating circumstances. But she manages to switch from being a fiery-eyed bitch, passing through a phase of being a cunning schemer seeking vengeance, to a doe-eyed and love-struck maiden, with all the ease of an Olympic pentathlete who can do anything and who changes sports without noticing that he has stopped running 100 metres and is now throwing the javelin (or in this case, Cupid's dart). The film was directed by Ray Enright, who started as a gag writer for Mack Sennett, became an editor, and worked his way up to director. He never entered the top ranks but made lots of movies, retiring in 1956. If you want to have some laughs and be entertained, and do not mind films from the thirties, this will do nicely.