She Had to Say Yes

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.

Yikes, when they said precode, they weren't kidding.

What a great social studies movie.

Loretta Young, Regis Toomey, and Lyle Talbot star in "She Had to Say Yes," from 1933. To keep major buyers purchasing from their clothing company, an organization has its models entertain the out-of-town customers. Dinner, a show, and there's a heavy implication of some after-show activity to bring in the big accounts. But the buyers are tired of the same old models.

One of the firm members, Tommy (Regis Toomey) suggests that instead of the models, they open these grand opportunities (which have bonuses attached) to the fresh, wholesome stenographic pool. One of the stenographers is his own fiancée Florence (Young), but she's off limits. However, one of the customers is desperate to go out with her, and with a big commission in the offing, Florence agrees. Florence is a complete innocent and thinks when it's dinner and theater, it's dinner and theater.

It goes from there, with Tommy fooling around on the side, and being caught by Florence. One of the buyers (Talbot) is truly interested in her, but some misunderstandings cause problems.

The problem here is that neither Toomey nor Talbot is what you'd call a good guy. But we're given to understand that all men are the same, so beautiful Florence's options are limited.

What a message. But you have to love Loretta Young, so gorgeous and so natural.

We're often given to believe, in films such as Waterloo Bridge, Baby Face, and countless others, that there were few opportunities for women to advance. They were often at the mercy of men who were their fathers, their bosses, their husbands. Since it's presented that way in film after film, I think, sadly, particularly during hard times, this was true.

This is really an interesting film. Depending on your age, think about your grandmother or great-grandmother watching this type of film and what it told them. The code was too limiting and ridiculous; I guess a happy medium just wasn't found.

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.

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.

SHE HAD TO SAY YES (First National Pictures, 1933), directed by Busby Berkeley and George Amy, reunites Loretta Young and Winnie Lightner, having teamed together in PLAYGIRL (1932). With Lightner's name above Young's in PLAYGIRL, as with SHE HAD TO SAY YES, both films belong to Loretta Young, with her name this time around over Lightner's. Being the directorial debuts of dance director, Busby Berkeley, and film editor, George Amy, it is also notable for being the final Warner Brothers production for its leading female players, as well as a chance for both directors in showing they are capable of doing more than their titled professions. Interestingly, Lightner, whose popularity in THE GOLD DIGGERS OF BROADWAY (1929) landed her a series of starring roles for the next few years (1930-1932), including a similar titled drama of SHE COULDN'T SAY NO (1930), for this production, she was obviously being phased out by being given little to do in both plot summary and comedy relief.

Set in New York City, Florence "Flo" Denny (Loretta Young), works for the garment industry of Sol Glass and Company Cloaks and Suits. She is engaged to Tommy Nelson (Regis Toomey), a salesman for the same company. At the staff meeting, its company president, Sol Glass (Ferdinand Gottschalk), who finds stiff competition is forcing his business to be losing sales. Daniel's suggests by having the stenographers acting as customer girls to entertain the out-of-town buyers to obtain new accounts and commissions. With Birdie Reynolds (Suzanne Kilbourn) the first to volunteer, Daniel makes certain that the clean-cut Florence not to become one of them. When Birdie is unavailable to entertain Daniel Drew (Lyle Talbot), an important client arriving from Chicago, Flo volunteers her services, unaware that by doing this, Tommy will be free to spend more time with Birdie. With the help of her close friend and roommate, Maizee (Winnie Lightner), Florence breaks off her engagement with Tommy and finding herself seeing more of Daniel instead. Wanting to earn back her respect by wanting out as a customer's girl, Florence is dismissed from the company, and later finds herself accused of resorting to cheap tactics tin getting Daniel Haines (Hugh Herbert), to sign an important contract for Daniel, leading to misunderstandings regarding her reputation. Co-starring Helen Ware (Mrs. Haines); Harold Waldridge (The Office Boy); Charles Lane (Mr. Bernstein); Harry Holman, Jed Prouty and Fred Kelsey.

For a movie with directorial credit by two men, it is hard to determine which parts of the story were directed by Busby Berkeley and George Amy. The only scenes pertaining to Berkeley's directorial style would probably be the ensemble fashion sequence featuring chorines from his earlier musicals playing models as Renee Whitney, Toby Wing and Barbara Rogers, along with a one girl night club dance segment. George Amy might been responsible for some of the dramatic sequences, but this only a guess on my part.

While Loretta Young carries much of its 64 minute material, Winnie Lightner is limited and virtually forgotten she's was even in the movie by the time the THE END closing title reaches the screen. Regis Toomey and Lyle Talbot do what's expected of them, but nothing more than showing men to be no different from any other male when accusing Flo for the very sin they are most guilty themselves. Hugh Herbert plays it straight, with little of his trademark buffoonery for which he is famous. Scenes move swiftly, but become a little distorted later on.

Never distribute on video cassette, SHE HAD TO SAY YES, a forgotten pre-code battle of the sexes theme quite common for its time, is available for purchase on DVD and viewing on Turner Classic Movies cable channel. (**)