Zeus

She Couldn't Say No (1953)

• Director
  • Lloyd Bacon
• Writers
  • D.D. Beauchamp(screen play)
  • William Bowers(screen play)
  • Richard Flournoy(screen play)
• Stars
  • Robert Mitchum
  • Jean Simmons
  • Arthur Hunnicutt

  Lloyd Bacon wrapped up his lengthy directorial career with the innocuous comedy She Couldn't Say No. "She" is a young heiress named Corby (Jean Simmons), who visits the small town of Progress, Arkansas, hoping to repay a good deed. It seems that, when Corby was a child, the villagers had all donated money to pay for her life-saving operation. Now she intends to reward the villagers by anonymously donating all sorts of financial boons and civic improvements. This serves only to stir up resentment against our well-intentioned heroine. Particularly offended is local doctor Robert Mitchum, who rightly sees Corby's beneficence as an invitation for every hustler and con-artist on earth to descend upon Progress. What Doc Mitchum can't foresee (though the audience can) is that he'll fall head over heels in love with Corby before fadeout time. With She Couldn't Say No, Jean Simmons fulfilled her contractual obligations to RKO, freeing her for more prestigious assignments like Desiree and Guys and Dolls.