Film Review
The third of the three films that Jean Simmons grudgingly made for RKO Pictures
in the early 1950s was conceived as a screwball comedy but, beset with
an uninspired script and a director who was well past his prime, it
failed spectacularly to live up to its potential. As in her first
(and best) film for RKO -
Angel Face (1952) - Simmons is
romantically paired with Robert Mitchum, although these two films could
hardly be more different. In
Angel
Face, an exemplary noir thriller, Simmons played a psychotic
killer; in
She Couldn't Say No,
she is cast, somewhat against type, in a much lighter role, that of an
irresponsible Lady Bountiful. In both films, the ever-charming Mr Mitchum falls
hopelessly under her spell and consequently has his world turned upside
down, albeit with different results.
As in their earlier film, Simmons and Mitchum spark off one another
superbly and together they perform a remarkable salvage operation on a
formulaic comedy that would have look dated and pedestrian even if it
had been made a decade earlier. The fact that the film's release
was held back two years (all three of Simmons' RKO films were shot in
quick succession in 1952) bears witness to studio boss Howard Hughes's
disappointment with it. The studio even had difficulty coming up with a
title for the film, and it has been released under two generic titles -
She Couldn't Say No and
Beautiful But Dangerous - neither
of which tallies with the film's content. Director Lloyd Bacon
notched up a fair number of Hollywood classics in the course of his
highly productive career, including the landmark musical
42nd
Street (1933), but here, on the eve of his retirement, he is
clearly just going through the motions and does little to make up for
the inadequate script.
She Couldn't Say No is a routine
comedy that has more charm than sparkle, and whilst it hardly does justice
to its two star performers it does at least manage to be an
amiable little time waster.
© James Travers 2014
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Corby Lane returns to her small home town in Arkansas with a clear
objective in mind: to reward the residents who clubbed together to pay
for a life-saving operation when she was a child. Now that she is
a wealthy woman Corby can afford to be generous, but she has resolved
that no one should discover the identify of their mysterious
benefactor. Before she can put her scheme into practice she runs
into the local doctor, Robert Sellers, who takes an instant liking to
her. Robert is not slowing in deducing where all the unexpected
gifts are coming from but his attempt to persuade Corby to keep her
wealth to herself falls on deaf ears. When everyone in the town
receives an anonymous envelope stuffed with banknotes it isn't long
before it becomes a magnet for undesirables from across the country
hoping to get something for nothing. Corby's plan has backfired
spectacularly...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.