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She Had to Say Yes (1933)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Warner Pre-Code has a sleazy boss coming up with the idea of "offering" girls from his stenographic department to clients in exchange for deals. This is going well until one (Loretta Young) turns down a high-powered client (Lyle Talbot) but soon the two begin to fall in love but more shady deals might happen. This is certainly a strange film for someone like Berkeley to make a debut on but if you're a fan of Warner's Pre-Codes then there should be enough here to keep you entertained even if the film tampers off during the second half. The first half is a pretty interesting mix to the genre as it is hammered home that women are nothing more than sex objects and their only place in the world is to serve men. This certainly isn't a storyline we could see too often in the Golden Era and especially after the Hayes Office took full effect the following year. On that level this film remains entertaining just because of the sexual innuendo, riske storyline and some rather snappy dialogue including a funny little dig at the (then) Republic Party. Young turns in a nice performance because she can perfectly mix that innocent nature with a burning sexuality. Not for a second will anyone not believe she's this sweet girl but at the same time, when she needs to, she can turn on that sexual lure and it too is believable. Talbot is just as usual and he too turns in a nice performance in that Lyle Talbot fashion. What keeps the film from being a total success is the second half of the film when it loses its edge and goes into typical melodrama with one predictable turn after another.

For his first director's credited film (shared with the film's editor) Berkeley got this strange, sleazy story. The direction is mostly pedestrian except for a few good shots: a nightclub introduced by a track through shaking maracas and our discovery that Tom is cheating on Flo when he is talking to her from a phone booth and a woman's gloved hand takes the cigarette from his mouth. These touches don't make up for a film that leaves a very sour taste in the mouth. Not only is the idea of the film offensive, if believable (using secretaries as call girls for clients) but all the men in the film are scum. This film ranks with "In The Company Of Men" for its portrait of the perfidy of men toward women. Throughout I found myself wondering how this film could ever wrap up satisfactorily and indeed it doesn't. A near-rape scene is shot in the look associated later with film noir. After that no quick Hollywood wrap-up would suffice.

Wow. I just saw this film for the first time. Totally stunning.

Only back in the Pre-Code era - not even today when we're supposedly so enlightened - could a movie *accurately* depict what actually happens far too often between men and women, between predators and their prey.

Bravo as well for the finale, not a conventional Hollywood "happy ending" at all, but one more solid and shocking confirmation of the dead end deal for so many women in our society. This movie may not always be pleasant to watch, but it's a worthy slap in the face, just like the one Loretta Young gave to Regis Toomey.

Busby Berkeley went down in cinema history for directing musicals, so it might surprise people to learn that his directorial debut was a pre-code comedy. "She Had to Say Yes" casts Loretta Young as a garment worker whose boss realizes that the company could be losing customers to other stores, so he has his garment workers moonlight as call girls for the customers.

To us nowadays this doesn't seem particularly scandalous, but it was probably these sorts of movies that led to the Hays Code's enforcement (it got created in 1930, but didn't get enforced until 1934). I wouldn't call this a masterpiece, but it does have some funny scenes, namely the meeting in the restaurant. I don't know if the movie's available on any streaming platform, so you'll have to see if a local video store has it.

This 1933 film is surprisingly frank about the practice of using "customer girls" to promote commerce. A throw away line in this flic is an early indication of Hollywood leftist group think that now dominates the industry.

Flo (Loretta Young) explains to Maizee (Winnie Lightner) why she once loved a two-timing salesman:

Flo: He was different once. Maizee: Yeah, and so was the Republican Party.