He Couldn't Say No

Lambert T. Hunkins (Frank McHugh) is a mild-mannered pushover office clerk. He is obsessed with socialite Iris Mabby (Diana Lewis), daughter of Senator Mabby. He gets a surprise promotion and an extra $10 a week. With that new money, his girlfriend Violet Coney (Jane Wyman) is getting pressure from her mother to get a marriage proposal. The brow-beaten Lambert doesn't have the courage to bid on auction items until they bring out a statue resembling Iris Mabby. All hell breaks loose.

I do have issues with this movie. This premise could do with a remake. First and most obvious, the statues need to be really nudes and not faux nudes. The other issue is nice girl Jane Wyman. They can't make her into a shrew. She's all wrong for the role. In fact, she would be a great Iris Mabby. On the other hand, Frank McHugh is the perfect Lambert. He is a complete pushover. It's actually quite compelling to have him stand up for himself. I really like this movie. It just need to switch out Wyman.

Annoying little Warner Brothers shortie … only 57 minutes, but they manage to waste a lot of film in a short time. Frank McHugh, with his great comedic character emotions and expressions, had supporting parts in many a film, but he sure couldn't carry this one. Even more annoying is that at every opportunity to get away from the "bad guys", he stays and taunts them more. Furthermore, he is hen-pecked by his girlfriend (Jane Wyman), her mother (Cora Witherspoon), and his boss at work. Just frustrating to watch all around. Cora Witherspoon was a pro, starring with W.C. Fields and other headliners; she frequently played the nosy, next door neighbor or old aunt or sister. The girlfriend, played by Wyman, would go on to win an Oscar for Johnny Belinda in 1948…. after being married to co-star R Reagan for eight years. One of the writers, Joseph Schrank, had also worked on some great shows, like Panama Hattie, Cabin in the Sky, and Ziegfeld Follies, so it was disappointing to see how this one turned out. Skip this one if there's something else on.

I noticed that one of the reviews for this film says it's among the 10 worst films that they've ever seen. I can't understand this unless you just haven't seen all that many movies. I see it instead as a seriously flawed film but a decent time-passer nevertheless. It's the sort of nonsensical story you need to watch without thinking or complaining--just accept it for what it is.

The film begins with Frank McHugh playing a meek man (Lambert) who has a secret--he has an infatuation with a society lady, Iris Mabbey. You never really have any idea why--he just thinks she's the most beautiful woman on Earth. There is a woman who works with him (Jane Wyman) and she and her mother have just taken for granted that she WILL marry Lambert! And, while it looks as if Lambert doesn't want to marry her, he's so meek that he can't say no. Later he takes her and her super-obnoxious mother shopping for furniture at an auction. However, instead of spending his money on furniture, there's a statue that appears to be Iris--and he buys that instead. The two women are infuriated with him but for the first time he's clear--he MUST have that statue. Even when a blustering Senator (Iris' father) offers him a ton of money for it, Lambert isn't swayed--he MUST have that statue! Where all this leads, you'll have to find out yourself.

While the plot above is pretty silly and some parts of the ending are ridiculous, the film has a likable charm as well. No brilliant by any standard, still, I had a hard time disliking this cute film.

Frank McHugh is the star. He is a soft-spoken employee of a big company. As the movie starts, we see him on a very realistic looking subway to work.

Jane Wyman works with him. Wyman looks different from her usual. Her hair is dark, as it was in her later movies. But the face seems a little different. As always, she is appealing. Her mother is played in hilarious fashion by Cora Witherspoon.

The lovely Diana Lewis is an heiress McHugh is pining for. She looks gorgeous and plays this aloof but kind character to perfection.

The title refers to an auction. What happens at the auction results in the appearance of standard comical bad guys. One of them is burly Tom Kennedy, who played the same sort of role over and over -- always amusingly -- at Warner Brothers in the 1930s and forties.

"He Couldn't Say No" ranks as one of the top ten worst films I have ever seen. Jane Wyman, a brilliant, Academy Award winning actress, is completely wasted in this film. There are brief humorous moments, but they are overshadowed by the cardboard plot and insufficient character development. Frank McHugh was well-cast in the lead, but the film is so unbelievable that this is the only point in its favor.

The basic "plot" (such as there is) is as follows: Lambert, a less than average looking fellow (McHugh), who is fascinated by the beautiful Iris Mabby (Diana Lewis), a senator's daughter, is engaged to one his coworkers (Wyman). His fiancé dominates him and has an overbearing mother (Cora Witherspoon) as well. The three of them go to an auction to buy furniture to furnish the apartment in which all three (!) of them will live after the wedding. At the auction, Lambert spends an outlandish sum on a nude statue that looks exactly like Iris Mabby, infuriating his fiancé and her mother. From then on, the film centers around his attempts to keep the statue despite a great deal of crusading efforts from numerous other people.

All of the actors in this film were far more talented than this film makes them appear. If you are a Jane Wyman or Diana Lewis fan, don't disappoint yourself by watching this pathetic motion picture. There are a great many far better classic films that you could be viewing instead.