"I'll Be Hard to Handle" is a 1932 song composed by

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...

, with lyrics written by Bernard Dougall. It was written for the musical ''

Roberta Roberta is a feminine version of the given names Robert and Roberto. It is a Germanic name derived from the stems *hrod meaning "famous", "glorious", "godlike" and *berht meaning "bright", "shining", "light". People with the name *Roberta Achtenbe ...

'', where it was introduced by

Lyda Roberti Lyda Roberti (née Pecjak; May 20, 1906 – March 13, 1938) was an American singer and stage and film actress. (According to the opening credits of "The Big Broadcast of 1936," Lyda is pronounced LEE-duh.) Early years Born in Warsaw, then p ...

. ''Roberta'' opened on Broadway in November 1933. In the 1935 film version of ''

,'' the song was sung by

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

, who did an imitation of Roberti. In the 1952

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

version, ''

Lovely to Look At ''Lovely to Look At'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Mervyn LeRoy, based on the 1933 Broadway musical ''Roberta''. Plot Broadway producers Al Marsh, Tony Naylor, and Jerry Ralby are desperately searching for invest ...

'', directed by

Mervyn LeRoy Mervyn LeRoy (; October 15, 1900 – September 13, 1987) was an American film director and producer. During the 1930s, he was one of the two great practitioners of economical and effective film directing at Warner Bros., Warner Brothers studios, ...

, it was sung and danced by Ann Miller.

Notable recordings

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

- '' Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook'' (1963)
Rogers and Astaire

References

Songs with music by Jerome Kern Ella Fitzgerald songs 1932 songs {{Pop-standard-stub