She Couldn't Say No (1953) User Reviews

Progress hits Arkansas: This Howard Hughes Throwaway Is a Good One To Catch

[krorie · 6/10 · 5 October 2005]

This whimsical movie is set in a fictitious town in Arkansas called Progress. Places such as Little Rock and Pine Bluff are mentioned. Then in one part one of the locals talks about the location being a few miles northwest of Little Rock which would place it somewhere around Mayflower or Conway, Arkansas. The countryside depicted in the movie looks a whole lot like southern California. Possibly one reason the name Progress was chosen was not only to cater to the stereotype at the time of Arkansas as a backward hillbilly state but also because the "Natural State's" slogan in those days was "Land of Opportunity." Being a native Arkansawer (Arkansan), I was pleased to see a fellow Arkansan, Arthur Hunnicutt, and someone from Missouri, Edgar Buchanan, in the cast. Hunnicutt is buried in Greenwood, Arkansas, near Fort Smith. He was a wonderful character actor and added authenticity to the film.

"She Couldn't Say No" teamed Jean Simmons and Robert Mitchum once more and the pairing works fairly well, not as good as Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer but better than some of the other female partners assigned him over the years. Both Simmons and Mitchum were top of the line Thespians and much under appreciated, even today. The title is weak and keeps many from watching a somewhat clever and entertaining flick.

I agree with one of the IMDb reviewers that not enough time is spent by director Lloyd Bacon developing the theme of media sensationalism once the press gets word that an anonymous donor has given the 200 residents of Progress money (the exact amount is not revealed but it was obviously a large sum). There's an old W.C. Fields movie "If I Had A Million" and an early TV series "The Millionaire" that dealt with how a million dollars given to strangers would change their lives and rather than making their dreams come true would usually alter their dreams in negative ways. So there was much potential in the basic theme of "She Couldn't Say No" that was never realized.

The idyllic sporting life lived by the country doctor is exploited in interesting ways, especially when trying to hook the big fish in the creek. It blends well with the romantic attachment between the country physician, Dr. Robert Sellers (Mitchum), and the high society lady with a British accent,Corby Lane (Simmons). The repartee between the two is at times humorous, especially in the beginning when Dr. Sellers thinks she's a crazy patient who may have escaped from a mental ward. Digger, a forerunner of Opie, adds a little depth to Dr. Sellers' character and tends to be an asset. All in all this Howard Hughes throwaway is a good one to catch.

Sweet little picture, better than might be expected.

[JimB-4 · 7/10 · 14 November 2005]

Some published reviews of this picture roast it as an inane waste of time, but having seen the film prior to reading those reviews, I was quite surprised. Although there is nothing magnificent about the movie, and it has its far-fetched quotient, it is nonetheless quite a lovely little picture. The awkwardness of the set-up is almost completely outweighed by the believability and lovability of most of the characters. I'm generally of the opinion that Robert Mitchum can do no wrong, but I was unprepared for the calm and masculine sweetness of his performance in a role that might normally have gone to Robert Young or Robert Cummings. Jean Simmons is much more interesting in roles where she can smolder a little, but she's almost adorable here. And the supporting cast, especially Arthur Hunnicutt, is both true to small-town life and quite excellent at depicting well-drawn and individual characters. And my goodness, whatever happened to Eleanor Todd, the cutie who yearns for Mitchum's affections? She apparently appeared in one other film, also with Mitchum. She's really attractive and interesting in what might otherwise have been a cardboard role. Nice little surprise, this picture.

Doesn't Always Make Sense But Charms

[Handlinghandel · 6/10 · 22 February 2005]

Jean Simmons and Robert Mitchum both lend star quality to this unassuming endeavor. It doesn't seem that they're lending it together. Mitchum was still playing characters, albeit here a country doctor, who'd have sex with anything in a skirt. Simmons seems less interested.

It's a sweet story. She seeks out a small town whose citizens had helped her when she was a sick child. Now, therein lies the single greatest flaw of this movie: Maybe the print I saw had been cut. However, exactly what this little town did to help a child of privilege is never made clear. And that kinds of eats away at the ore of the movie.

Still, her well meaning but ill thought-out good deeds make for a touching little story.

And the sequence in which people from all over the country drive up, trailers pulled behind their cars, hoping to benefit from her largess, sure is reminiscent of "Ace In The Hole"! That's an infinitely more cynical movie but these scenes have a dark quality too.

The other mystery is Simmons's clothes, especially in the first half. I am not one to pay much attention to ladies' fashions but she sure does appear to be pregnant hen she arrives in town.

She did have a baby not long after this. Maybe the movie was shot completely out of sequence; because in later scenes, she seems trim and chic. (She is chic in the maternity-style clothes, too, but they are hardly flattering to her.)

Curious Entry in the Mitchum Canon of Films

[l_rawjalaurence · 7/10 · 4 June 2014]

SHE COULDN'T SAY NO is a fascinating entry in the canon of Robert Mitchum films; it is comedy set in a small Arkansas town in which he plays a doctor with a passion for fishing. Life proceeds in a calm unhurried manner until spoiled rich girl Korby Lane (Jean Simmons) pays an extended visit. With more money than sense, she makes every effort to make the citizens' life better by giving them presents and/or gifts of cash, as she believes she has a debt to reply to the town, for having saved her life when she was a little girl. Unfortunately she only succeeds in creating chaos. Lloyd Bacon's film (his final work in a long career) has a strong moral tone to it, suggesting quite overtly that money is the root of all evil. D. D. Beauchamp's and William Powers' screenplay has some sharp one-liners in it, allowing Mitchum to display his talent for throwaway observations (something equally evident in the interviews he gave over the years on television). The film also has some strong character-performances by Arthur Hunnicutt (as Odie, a recovering alcoholic with a penchant for non sequiturs such as "It's very Monday today, isn't it"); Wallace Ford (as a splenetic vet); and Hope Landin (as a maternal boarding-house keeper). Simmons' costumes are a continual source of attention, especially when compared with the rather dowdy attire of the citizens; it's clear she is trying her best to draw people's gazes towards her. In terms of ideology. SHE COULDN'T SAY NO is redolent of mid-Fifties attitudes towards women, suggesting that they are not "fulfilled" unless they get married and have children. Hence the ending is rather wearily predictable. But nonetheless there are some incidental pleasures along the way, not least the sequence where Mitchum brings boxes of diapers to one of his patients' houses, only to find that Korby has (anonymously) sent a huge pile already. The sight of Mitchum's face, a mixture of anger and sheer bewilderment, is a sight to behold, reminding us - if we didn't already know - of his versatility as a film actor, despite his public protestations to the contrary.

Star chemistry wins through

[Oct · 17 September 2004]

This was the hundredth and last of Lloyd Bacon's features (in 28 years!) and it's way down from his career summit, 1934's "42nd Street".

Set in Progress, Ark. (pop. 200), "She Couldn't Say No" concerns a revenant from childhood, heiress Jean Simmons. She learns that spraying her cash around anonymously causes more chaos than gratitude; but she finds love with local doctor and sage Mitchum, watched quizzically by assorted cornpone and cracker-barrel types.

There are few intimations of modernity. TV crews cover the mob hysteria when Ms Simmons's dollar-stuffed envelopes arrive in the citizens' mailboxes. Mitchum contemplates spending his bounty on "one of those bomb shelters". By and large, though, it's timeless, escapist hick hokum. The sun shines, no-one works too hard and the only blacks are a couple of goggling delivery men.

Having deprecated Audrey Hepburn in my comment on "Breakfast at Tiffany's", let me commend Jean Simmons as a British gamine with a wider range and a lot less self-satisfaction. She was suing to get out from under Howard Hughes's bizarre sway at RKO when "She Couldn't Say No" was shot (it was backburnered, like so many Hughes projects, while the boss dithered) and within five years she would do her best work in "Elmer Gantry" and "Spartacus". As usual in Simmons's earlier American movies, the script has to account for her English voice, and there's a clumsy bit of fishing slapstick to prove she isn't a stuck-up Limey; but her spirited sparring with Doctor Robert, her coolly measured tones (no hint of screech or shout) and smouldering sexiness win through.

Mitchum, limbering up for "Night of the Hunter", is his superbly somnolent, reflective yet dynamically masculine and mature self: this quiet man could make John Wayne look noisily neurotic. The couple, who had clicked in "Angel Face", keep the mild, pleasant and not too preachy romcom fresher than most from the McCarthyised, nuke-haunted Hollywood of the early Fifties, when America needed more laughs than it got at the cinema.

like the premise but should be more fun

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 30 January 2022]

Corby Lane (Jean Simmons) is a 21 year old wealthy heiress. As a child, her hometown took up a collection to send her to get medical treatment. She intends to pay it back with her new wealth. The only person she knows is Doctor Robert Sellers (Robert Mitchum) who organized the collection but she doesn't actually know him.

I like this premise. I really like this premise for a light rom-com but the two leads are slightly out of phase. Jean Simmons is playing too angry. I don't like her being haughty either. Her character can be flighty. I keep thinking Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde or Clueless' Cher. Robert Mitchum is mostly fine but he falls for her a little too quickly. He's a little presumptuous. Their chemistry is a little wonky. This should be more fun.

Jean Play Santa Claus To The Rustics

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 22 June 2011]

She Couldn't Say No terminated the tempestuous relationship of Jean Simmons with RKO Studios and her most eccentric boss Howard Hughes. It was shot in 1953 and released in 1954. Being that it was held up for a year also made it the farewell film for Robert Mitchum on his RKO contract. Soon Hughes would unload the studio itself and before the decade was over, RKO would be out of business.

The film casts Jean Simmons as a rich heiress to an oil fortune who back when she passed through the town as a child she was the daughter of an oil wildcatter, ill and in need of an operation. The town raised the money for her and she's appreciative.

Jean should have taken her lawyer's advice and just given the town a new school or library. But she goes to town incognito to determine the individual needs and wants of everybody. That gets her in trouble, but does provide a few chuckles, no real belly laughs.

Simmons figures to make contact with the doctor who did the operation back then, but he's died and the practice has passed on to his son who is played by Robert Mitchum. He practices medicine as long as it doesn't interfere with his fishing with Jimmy Hunt.

She Couldn't Say No is set in rural Arkansas and the biggest thing the film has going for it is the casting of such people as Raymond Walburn, Wallace Ford, Edgar Buchanan, Arthur Hunnicutt, Gus Schilling, etc. You see all those in the cast and you know the film is not going to be sophisticated comedy. They are as interesting a set of rustics you will ever find in any movie and they more than the disinterested stars make She Couldn't Say No entertaining.

Mitchum and Simmons both thought lowly of this film and I'm inclined to agree.

Santa Claus is coming to town!

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 5 May 2022]

When the story begins, Corby (Jean Simmons) arrives in the small town of Progress, Arkansas. Considering she's sophisticated and sports a British accent, she does stand out a bit in the place! So why would she come to Progress? Well, apparently when she was a small child the people of this town helped her and her father when they were down and out....and she wants to repay the favor. But instead of buying the town a library or school or park, she lives in the place long enought to get to know the people and the things they want, as she secretly wants to give each one what they want. But, sadly, her efforts are VERY misguided and short-sighted...and soon she manages to nearly ruin the place!

The best thing about this film is the typically nice, easygoing performance by Robert Mitchum. He's terrific in the lead....and the script is enjoyable and fun. Well worth seeing.

What a waste of time

[Paularoc · 4/10 · 23 April 2012]

Given that this movie starred one of my favorite actors – Mitchum – and a couple of my favorite character actors – Ford and Hunnicutt – I was surprised how much I disliked it. The premise is promising: a wealthy young woman (Simmons) returns to the small town of Progress, Arkansas where as a small child the town's people saved her life by raising the money for an operation she needed. She wants to repay them by anonymously making their financial dreams come true. Upon arriving in Progress, she first looks for the doctor most responsible for saving her life and finds that he has died and his son has taken over the practice. Mitchum's character is an easy- going country doctor with an innate kindness and pleasing manner. The Simmons character is completely unlikable – egocentric to an amazing degree. Her "kindnesses" are not really kind and are done with the arrogance of one who is sure that she knows best regardless of all indications to the contrary. Her later speech of contriteness sounds phony. Mitchum walks through his part but at least is someone one actually would like to know. All of the character actors do a marvelous job, but my favorite scene was that of Dabbs Greer as a new father carrying his just born daughter into his wife and telling her "thank you." It was so touching. Greer nailed this scene perfectly. Even so, this is one movie I won't be watching again.

Dangerous,But Beautiful.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 6/10 · 26 April 2017]

After taking care of ill family members last week,I decided to get back into movie viewing. Taking a look at TV listings,I found that a rather rare Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons team up was being shown,which led to me finding out how dangerous beauty could be.

The plot:

Always having a place in her heart for the town due to the locals funding a life-saving operation during her childhood,heiress Corby Lane decides that it is time to return and pay the town back. Standing out like a sore thumb,Lane crosses path with doctor Robert Sellers. Telling him her idea,Lane is taken aback,when Sellers says that there are better ways that she could show gratitude to the town. Ignoring Sellers advice,Lane unintentionally sets a gold rush off in the town.

View on the film:

Breezing into town, Jean Simmons gives a sparkling performance as Lane,with Simmons using Lane's heiress status for an out of her depth comedic quality,and her misguided bleeding heart to stir up trouble between Lane and the locals. Being the main part of the community,Robert Mitchum gives a wonderful performance as Sellers,thanks to Big Bob's swaggering delivery capturing the at odds folk spirit between the town and Lane.

Placing the viewer in the middle of the "gold rush" Lane brings into town, Lloyd Bacon & cinematographer Harry J. Wild paint the title with a tall tale atmosphere of Lane's diamonds being the only thing that shines in the dust covered town. Giving everyone in town a rough sketch,the screenplay by D.D. Beauchamp/ William Bowers and Richard Flournoy show a wonderful feel for the place,with the writers opening the proud,but struggling state of the town. Whilst trimming any possible spiky exchanges Lane could have had with the locals,the writers give the snap exchanges between Lane and Sellers a light Screwball Comedy mood,as Sellers tells the town that Lane is beautiful,but dangerous.

She couldn't, but she should have

[blanche-2 · 5/10 · 3 May 2012]

Jean Simmons is the "she" in "She Couldn't Say No," a Howard Hughes film released in 1954 but probably made earlier. Simmons stars with Robert Mitchum, Arthur Hunnicut, Edgar Buchanan, and Wallace Ford.

Simmons plays Corby Lane, who as a child developed an illness and needed an operation her father could not pay for. The small Arkansas town she lived in took up a collection to send her to St. Louis and get the surgery she needed. Now, she's an adult and is returning to the town to show her appreciation.

Her first stop is to see the doctor who diagnosed her and sent her to St. Louis, Dr. Sellers, but he's gone and has been replaced by his hunky son Dr. Sellers (Mitchum). There's an attraction, but Corby -- who hasn't given anyone her real name -- notices that the doc has a few girlfriends.

She starts her giving by sending people things that she believes they need. They don't. She actually causes more problems than she solves. Then she decides to anonymously mail money (probably $5000 which in those days was a great deal of money - heck, I'd take it now). As soon as the news gets out, people drive in from all over the country hoping to get some nice mail like that. Meanwhile, the town residents are planning to leave and seek greener pastures.

Kind of a strange movie - first of all, Jean Simmons was such a beautiful woman, yet her hair in this film is most distracting as it looks like it was cut with a weed whacker. Also the character she plays is kind of annoying. Just think - Audrey Hepburn did Roman Holiday and Sabrina while Simmons did this.

Simmons and Mitchum make a great couple with lots of chemistry, as they did in the superior Angel Face. Mitchum is very sexy and Simmons does the best job she can with the material. The supporting cast is terrific, and the surroundings do evoke a small town atmosphere.

This was Lloyd Bacon's last film, and what a comedown from 42nd Street! It's a ragged script that needed a little more development.

I've always been a big fan of Jean Simmons and felt that she indeed lost out to Audrey Hepburn once she started working in the United States. Hepburn was a warmer actress, but I think Simmons had more range. Just an opinion.

Okay if you're a Mitchum fan, as he comes off the best here.

She Couldn't Say No review

[JoeytheBrit · 6/10 · 17 May 2020]

A sleepy Robert Mitchum tangles with well-meaning heiress Jean Simmons when she attempts to anonymously pass on her good fortune to the residents of the town which helped to save her life as a child. Beautiful but Dangerous misses the Capra-esque feel-good tone that it's clearly aiming for by a country mile, and what charm it does possess is thanks almost entirely to Simmons' spirited performance in the face of a co-star who is clearly struggling to stay awake.

Not My Cup of Tea

[SumBuddy-3 · 3/10 · 6 February 2011]

I just couldn't get over the character of Jean Simmons being portrayed as someone you were supposed to care for, but during the entire film she treats everyone she meets with such a superiority complex. A town of less than 200, and she's honking her horn for a bellboy at a boarding house, calling a doctor on an emergency Bell, simply because she wants to talk to him. It goes on and on, and in the end she gets the guy and comes out on top? Her little speech to explain why she was giving away money, was meaningless and going nowhere, until Mitchum diverts everyone's attention with a punch to a spectator. Terrible stuff. Robert Mitchum is essentially wasted trying to counterpunch her irritating character. Again, not my cup of tea

I've Always Liked It!

[patriciathompson · 29 April 2004]

This is one of those movies that is improbable but fun, with one of the most important features (in my opinion) for a movie - it is entertaining.

Bob's pairing with Jean Simmons is almost as good as his pairing with Deborah Kerr, although the chemistry is different; perhaps more paternal on his part.

I am, admittedly, a big Mitchum fan, but I won't buy a movie just because he is in it. The other actors in this film do a fine job and help give it a little more substance than the plot would have otherwise.

If this ever comes out on dvd, I'm buying it!

Friedrich Durrenmatt swiped the idea in 56 !

[Norgler47 · 7/10 · 21 May 2020]

From A level German i remember that Friesdrrich durrenmatt wrote " visit of an old lady " in 1956 . But there I seem to remember the old lady is paying people back for nastinesses . So contrast the sunny american take with dour german worldview . I wonder if there was cross pollination , and who was first . I dont think he was a a slow writer though . The english title strikes me as a complete non sequitur .

Indifferently written, acted and directed.

[JohnHowardReid · 5/10 · 6 June 2018]

Executive producer: Howard Hughes. Copyright 7 February 1954 by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Criterion: 26 February 1954. U.S. release: 15 February 1954. U.K. release: 6 July 1953 (sic). Australian release: 25 June 1953. 10 reels. 8,250 feet. 91 minutes.

U.K. and Australian release title: BEAUTIFUL BUT DANGEROUS.

COMMENT: A very minor bucolic romantic comedy, indifferently written, acted and directed. The scriptwriters had the germ of a promising comedy idea, but they fail to develop it satisfactorily. There are loose characters and loose plot ends all over the place and the film's grand roster of support players like Raymond Walburn, Edgar Buchanan and Wallace Ford have in fact very little footage whereas Mitchum and Simmons are literally swamped with dialogue.

Unfortunately, Mitchum doesb't rise to the bait and delivers his usual bored, off-handed portrayal. But at least he does give a performance of sorts. Jean Simmons, on the other hand, can make absolutely nothing of her part, which is understandable - the character is so ridiculously and unconvincingly conceived. Her hair style is unattractive too and her numerous close-ups make her look considerably less ravishing than the second female lead Sally Watson.

Bacon's direction can only be described as steadfastly unimaginative. George Amy's film editing rates as plodding and pedestrian as the direction (in fact the film could do with considerable trimming). Other credits are likewise routine and production values skimpy.

The title makes no sense...and neither does the picture

[moonspinner55 · 4/10 · 22 June 2011]

The 200 residents of Progress, Arkansas are each sent cash in the mail via an anonymous donor--a rich New York City gal who feels she owes the townspeople her debt of gratitude after her life was saved when she was only 2-years-old. Three screenwriters (William Bowers, Richard Flournoy, and D.D. Beauchamp, who also originated the story) worked on this stale tale of how the advent of sudden money turns citizen against citizen, with Jean Simmons snippy and unpleasant as the high-fashion figure who bulldozes her way into their sleepy backwater. Robert Mitchum, dressed like a gangster in over-sized suit jackets, is the bachelor doctor who, we're to believe, is just waiting for a girl like Simmons to come along. Considering how grim their conversations are, the 'happy' ending is anything but. *1/2 from ****

Paying back

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 1 April 2017]

I do enjoy watching vintage films that feature actors such as Kirk Douglas and Robert Mitchum is non gangster roles, but it does seem to a bit stretched to believe Mitchum as a small time country doctor.

Jean Simmons is a wealthy socialite who travels to the small town of Progress in Arkansas to do good deeds for the citizens who helped her out when she was an infant. She does this by sending money in envelopes to the townsfolk, a bit ill thought out as this brings in people from out of state who also think they will come into riches from an anonymous benefactor. Simmons should had listened to her lawyers who told her to build a library.

Along the way she crosses swords, wits and falls in love with Mitchum's country doctor. I think the film does not really work as a romantic comedy, Mitchum is fine as the easy going kind hearted doctor, But Simmons comes across as too snooty and superior and the film is not that funny.

She Should Have Said No *1/2

[edwagreen · 3/10 · 30 April 2012]

Jean Simmons is as serious minded as can be in this comedy. Wanting to thank a town for saving her life by paying for an operation, Simmons returns years later and literally gives money away.

She comes back to the small town in Arkansas that saved her. There she meets the town doctor, a terribly miscast Robert Mitchum. Nothing much is doing in this rural town, but that is basically true for the entire picture.

The town has some notable people such as Edgar Buchanan and Arthur Hunnicutt, who had won a supporting Oscar nomination 2 years before this film for "The Big Sky."

The film shows that when money is misdirected, problems may result.

Trouble with the film is its writing and that the characters depicted are boring.

Jean Simmons Rocks!

[cutterccbaxter · 2 February 2005]

Jean Simmons goes to Progress, Arkansas where she rock and rolls all night and parties every day. Oops! wrong Jean Simmons. Actually Jean does do a little partying in Progress upon her arrival. Progress, Arkansas is a sleepy small town of 200 people and almost all of them character actors. Jean plays a spirited young rich woman who wants to give the citizens gifts and money because they saved her life when she was a child. Her gifts and money cause turmoil in the town. Mitchum plays the level headed town doctor. This may be the only film in his long career where he had to run a fair distance while wearing fishing waders. Come to think of it, Mitchum never really ran much in his films. He maybe did a short dashes in the many war pictures he made, but he never had to do a sustained run. Now Dustin Hoffman, there's an actor who ran a lot in his films. He ran in "The Graduate" and in "Marathon Man." I think he may have even ran a bit in "Tootsie." Anyway, I really liked the premise of "She Couldn't Say No" but I wish the film would have explored the disintegration of the town a little more after their economic windfall. It seemed like the troubles that Simmon's character wrought were resolved too easily as well. I still found the movie to be fairly amusing and entertaining.

A Silk Purse out of a Sow's Ear

[JamesHitchcock · 4/10 · 6 February 2013]

This is one of those films which, for some reason or other, have become known by two quite different titles, in this case "She Couldn't Say No" and "Beautiful but Dangerous". To add to the confusion, it is not the only film to be known by either of those titles. There were three other films made between 1930 and 1940 entitled "She Couldn't Say No", the first of which (now believed lost) was made by the same director, Lloyd Bacon. Despite the coincidence, however, this film is not a remake of the 1930 one; indeed, it does not have any connection, as far as plot is concerned, with any of its namesakes. A Franco-Italian co-production from 1955, only a year after this film, is known as "Beautiful but Dangerous" in English, even though this is not an exact translation of either its French or Italian titles.

The film is set in the (fictitious) small town of Progress, Arkansas, population 200. (In America it would seem that no settlement, however insignificant, is happy to be referred to as a village, except perhaps in New England where the term "village" is thought to confer the sort of olde-worlde rustic charm that is good for the tourist trade). Corby Lane, a wealthy heiress, visits the town in order to express her gratitude to its residents, who had paid for a critical medical operation for her when she was a child. (In the IMDb cast-list her Christian name is spelt "Korby", but this is clearly an error as a set of monogrammed luggage bearing the initials "CL" plays an important part in the plot). Corby decides to help the local people by giving them money anonymously, but things do not turn out as she had planned. A romance also develops between Corby and the local doctor, Robert Sellers.

I watched the film because it features two major stars, Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons, but neither is at their best here. Mitchum was generally better in serious dramas, notably films noirs and Westerns; in comedies he could be too laid-back, and here he just seems content to stroll through the film without taking anything seriously. Jean Simmons could be better as a comic actress, but here she appears to be trying too hard to impersonate Audrey Hepburn, who had made a huge impression in her Hollywood debut the previous year in "Roman Holiday". There was, granted, a certain physical resemblance between Simmons and Hepburn, but Simmons here tries to imitate not only Hepburn's hairstyle but also her characteristic gestures, mannerisms and even voice, and her performance (predictably) ends up looking and sounding forced and artificial.

The main supporting actor is Arthur Hunnicutt who, as he normally did, plays a crusty old Deep South rustic with a thick accent virtually incomprehensible to anyone living on this side of the Atlantic. Indeed, it is probably equally incomprehensible to anyone from any part of America apart from Arkansas and the adjacent states. Hunnicutt played an almost identical character in "The French Line" (also directed by Bacon) the previous year; although he was only in his early forties at the time his characters seem much older. Corby is supposed to be American by birth, but the explanation is given that she was educated in Britain, thus accounting for Simmons' accent. Hunnicutt's character Odie, however, assumes that she is from Boston; the difference between British accents and certain East-coast American ones is not as clear-cut as we like to imagine. (I myself have been taken for a New Englander while travelling in one Western state).

This was to be Bacon's last film - he died the following year- and I doubt if it is really the film he would have wished to be remembered by. It has been suggested on this board that it might have been better if it had been made by another director such as Frank Capra, but any director is only as good as his material, and the truth is that Bacon is here trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. The basic idea could have been a good one, but it would have required a much funnier script; the one we actually have is leaden and humourless, with very few laughs to be had from beginning to end. When an inadequate script is combined with two below-par acting performances, the result is generally a predictably poor movie. 4/10 .

She Couldn't Say No

[CinemaSerf · 5/10 · 21 November 2022]

Jean Simmons is just way too aloof for Robert Mitchum in this simple story of a wealthy lady who returns to a tiny Arkansan town "Progress" to bestow some largesse after their doctor saved her life many years earlier. When she arrives in her swanky automobile, she discovers that the doctor (Mitchum) is much younger than she was expecting and pretty soon the two are spatting like alley cats! When her gifts cause an inundation of strangers and freeloaders to the town akin to the gold rush, things all come to an head. There are some fun contributions from Arthur Hunnicutt - even when well-off, he just sits on his porch wearing his new suit and from Jimmy Hunt as the kid "Digger", but the performance from Simmons - perhaps epitomised by her rather severe hairstyle - is quite wooden and she really doesn't gel at all with her co-star. It's still quite watchable, though.

Too silly

[HotToastyRag · 4/10 · 19 August 2018]

Jean Simmons plays a very wealthy woman who tries to express her gratitude to a small town by giving them money. The town saved her life, and she anonymously tries fixing people's problems, but nearly everything she does backfires. She's a city slicker and doesn't fit in with the small town, but that doesn't stop her from falling in love with Robert Mitchum. And in true romantic comedy fashion, the pair can't stand each other and bicker incessantly at first.

This movie isn't very good; it's just too silly. If you like screwball comedies, you might like this one, but I don't go in for that genre. Even with two very good-looking leads, the eye candy isn't enough to save this movie.

My favorite scene in She Couldn't Say No is one of Jean's good intentions going awry. To be kind, she spoils the town drunk by sending him a very fine label of whiskey. Robert Mitchum scolds her when he finds out, telling her the town's been watering down his jug for years since his liver can't take the real stuff. It's the most realistic part of the movie; the rest of it is just silly. If you want to see Bob and Jean together, you can rent the hilarious comedy The Grass is Greener or the film noir Angel Face instead.

A feather could knock it down.

[twhiteson · 5/10 · 1 February 2018]

Otto Preminger's 1952 film noir, "Angel Face," is credited as being British actress Jean Simmons' American film debut. "Angel Face" had Simmons starring alongside Robert Mitchum in a story about sexual obsessions, murder, and insanity. However, RKO had already teamed-up Mitchum and Simmons for this silly film which was actually shot before "Angel Face," but not released until two years later. Upon seeing both of them as part of TCM's marathon birthday tribute to Ms. Simmons, it's very understandable why this film was put on the back-burner to allow "Angel Face" to be her American debut. "She Couldn't Say No" was just too lightweight (and terrible) a vehicle to be her introduction to American audiences

The plot: "Corby Lane" (Simmons) is a 21 yr old oil heiress who has just returned home to the United States after spending years in English finishing schools. (Apparently, the producers felt that they had to explain Ms. Simmons' English accent.) With her inheritance in hand, she decides her first order of business is to pay back a debt of gratitude to the inhabitants of a tiny, rural Arkansas town who did her a kindness when she was a small child. So, she sets-out in a fancy new vehicle and designer wardrobe to Progress, Ark. where she intends to play secret Santa for all its long-term residents.

Of course, her good intentions lead to all sort of unintended consequences with her learning some harsh lessons about cause-and-effect. A lot of lessons are taught to her by the ultra-smooth town doctor, "Robert Sellers" (Mitchum), who quickly both exasperates her and charms her seamed stockings off.

The residents of Progress, Ark. are Hollywood archetypes of rural "hayseeds" played by a who's who of then Hollywood character actors who specialized in playing folksy, country bumpkins such as Edgar Buchanan and Arthur Hunnicutt. They sit on the porch of the general store, drink moonshine, and barter in pigs and chickens.

Mitchum looks decidedly uncomfortable playing a down-home, country doctor who extols small town values while repeatedly lecturing Miss Lane about her "idiotic" attempts to help the local yokels. (Today, most of Mitchum's dialogue would be decried as "man-splaining.") Dr. Sellers comes across as smug and condescending. Yet, he has no problem attracting seemingly every good looking young women in the vicinity including Miss Lane.

This was supposed to be a frothy romantic comedy. The comedy was to be provided by Ms. Simmons playing a fish-out-of-water and by showing the "humorous" consequences of her misguided attempts to be generous, but instead they only garner maybe a few tepid chuckles. Meanwhile, her scenes with Mitchum were supposed to generate the romance, but instead Dr. Sellers' constant lecturing her as to her "idiocy" makes one wonder why she didn't just tell him off.

The ONLY reason to watch this utterly forgettable film is Jean Simmons. Essentially, it's a little over 90 minutes of her looking absolutely adorable which she does extremely well. Anytime she's not in a scene, the film just dies and unfortunately there are too many scenes without her. (I think she looks unbelievably cute with short hair, but clearly the producers of "Angel Face" did not which is why she wore an ill-fitting wig for that film.)

In sum: Jean Simmons' beauty can overcome a lot of faults, but it cannot overcome this film's throwaway, feather-light plot and Mitchum's miscasting. I gave it an extra star because Ms. Simmons was just so incredibly cute.

Lackluster

[dougdoepke · 15 June 2016]

Plot— Wow! The people of small town Progress, Arkansas, are getting free money in the mail. So where's it coming from since the mail doesn't say. Is it greenbacks from heaven. No, it's from wealthy New Yorker, Simmons. Seems she wants to thank the town for saving her life as an infant. Now in town anonymously, Simmons meets the local characters, including straitlaced, hunky doctor, Mitchum. Trouble is, the sudden money may not be really helping this rural community with its traditional ways.

I'm not sure what the producers were reaching for. But, what they got is a rather flat result with a few lame stabs at comedy. Director Bacon makes no effort to liven up either the narrative or the acting. It's like he's just transferring script to screen. At the same time, Mitchum walks glumly through his doctor's role, never changing his one expression. Likely he's thinking about that obstacle course he has to run, while we get our ears blasted by moviedom's most infernal sounding horn. To say he's miscast is an understatement. Then too, Simmons seems unsure what to do, and since her scenes are ill-defined by the script or director, that's understandable. What's surprising is that such colorful hayseeds as Hunnicutt and Buchanan have little chance to practice their brand of hayseed humor. At least that would have lifted the lackluster results.

Nonetheless, the movie does remind us that the money economy is not the only basis of productive exchange. Instead of money, the small town residents use barter—an aspirin bottle may cost one chicken, for example. Of course, barter doesn't work in a complex economy. Still, I think it's well to be reminded that money (in whatever variety) is not the only possible means of meeting needs.

Anyway, after the Simmons-Mitchum triumph in the drama Angel Face (1952), this venture proves a disappointment, despite the titillating title. For sure, it's not a highlight of Mitchum's storied career, or Simmons's, for that matter.