She Had to Say Yes

If She Had To Say Yes had kept its cynical edge throughout this film might be undiscovered gem among before the Code pictures. But when it relented and allowed for a kind of happy ending the whole film was totally spoiled.

Loretta Young stars and plays a beautiful young woman working in the garment industry where at least the heterosexual men are really oversexed and expect a little something something on the side when they're buying from a firm. But the older and around the track a few too many times ex-chorus girls just aren't doing it for the buyers.

Number two guy Regis Toomey comes up with the bright idea of using the wholesome young ladies in the stenography pool as 'customer girls' for the buyers. Naturally though, Young is his private preserve. But the lure of a good commission even overcomes that.

Buyer Lyle Talbot is no better a specimen of the male side of humankind as he blows hot and cold and also lets his libido get the better of him. In the end all that seems to be proved is men are beasts.

Another beast in the film is another buyer played by Hugh Herbert. He gives a very restrained performance, mostly on the serious side without his usual manic antics.

She Had To Say Yes had the potential to be a real classic, but its cop out ending blows the whole film up. Loretta does wind up with one of these specimens, but I won't tell.

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.

She is quite charming and beautiful in this film, you could see why Gable was so smitten with her (she had his child, denied it for a long time but the kid looked too much like him to believe anything else). This film could not be made a year later after the Hayes code kicked in--young women who worked for a company that also acted as call girls for company buyers visiting town overnight. The sexual innuendo would never had passed muster after the code...the overall plot would have been rejected or asked to be reworked to a point that was unrecognizable. There are some vile people in this film and some misunderstandings that occur that make you frown. Good movie!!

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.

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.