''The Girl Said No'' is a 1930

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...

American romantic comedy film starring

William Haines Charles William Haines (January 2, 1900 – December 26, 1973) was an American actor and interior designer. Haines was discovered by a talent scout and signed with Goldwyn Pictures in 1922. His career gained momentum when he received favo ...

and

Leila Hyams Leila Hyams (May 1, 1905 – December 4, 1977) was an American film and stage actress, model, and vaudevillian, who came from a show business family. Her relatively short film career began in 1924 during the era of silent films and ended in 19 ...

. In the film, a young college graduate goes to extreme lengths to win the girl he loves.

Plot

Tom Ward, a cocky young football hero, returns home after graduation determined to conquer the world. He begins a flirtation with Mary Howe, secretary to his rival, McAndrews, and in a restaurant he bribes a waiter to spill soup on her employer. Although offered a local banking job, Tom stakes his fortunes on a scheme to sell bonds to wealthy old Hattie Brown, a befuddled spinster, and achieves the difficult task while posing as a doctor by getting her drunk. Finally, desperate over Mary's engagement to McAndrews, Tom kidnaps her from the altar. In a chase finale she is convinced that he loves her.

Cast

as Tom Ward *

as Mary Howe *

Polly Moran Pauline Theresa Moran (June 28, 1883 – January 25, 1952) billed as Polly Moran, was an American actress of vaudeville, stage and screen and comedian. Career Born in Chicago, Illinois, Moran started in vaudeville, and widely toured North A ...

as Polly *

Marie Dressler Marie Dressler (born Leila Marie Koerber, November 9, 1868 – July 28, 1934) was a Canadian stage and screen actress, comedian, and early silent film and Depression-era film star. In 1914, she was in the first full-length film comedy. She ...

as Hettie Brown *

Ralph Bushman Ralph Everly Bushman (1903 – 1978), was an American actor. He appeared in 55 films between 1920 and 1943. In his early film career, he often was credited as Francis X. Bushman Jr. The son of notable silent film star Francis X. Bushman and ...

as J. Marvin McAndrews *

Clara Blandick Clara Blandick (born Clara Blanchard Dickey; June 4, 1876 – April 15, 1962) was an American character, film, stage and theater actress. She played Aunt Em in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939). As a character actress, she ...

as Mrs Ward *

William Janney William Janney (born Russell Dixon Janney, February 15, 1908 – December 22, 1992) was an American actor who appeared in 39 films between 1929 and 1937. He was the son of author and theatrical producer Russell Janney,(28 December 1940)William J ...

as Jimmie Ward *

William V. Mong William V. Mong (June 25, 1875 – December 10, 1940) was an American film actor, screenwriter and director. He appeared in almost 200 films between 1910 and 1939. His directing (1911–1918) and screenwriting (1911–1922) were mostly for ...

as Samuel A. Ward * Frank Coghlan as Eddie Ward *

Phyllis Crane Phyllis Crane (August 7, 1914October 12, 1982) was a Canadian-born American film actress. She appeared in over 45 films between 1928 and 1937. Career Crane signed with Columbia Pictures in 1934.Anna Christie ''Anna Christie'' is a play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill. It made its Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 2, 1921. O'Neill received the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for this work. According to historian Paul Avrich, the orig ...

'' (1930) and the rave reviews that not only

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragedy, ...

received for her performance but also her co-star

M-G-M Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

management decided to cast the latter actress in ''The Girl Said No''. Although Dressler was happy to have a new assignment from the studio, she had to hide her disappointment over the script and her role. According to biographer Betty Lee in ''Marie Dressler: The Unlikeliest Star'', "It seemed fairly obvious..that although M-G-M was impressed with Dressler's potential...the top office did not know how to handle their unique new contract player. tudio head

Louis B. Mayer Louis Burt Mayer (; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1882 or 1884 or 1885 – October 29, 1957) was a Canadian-American film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios (MGM) in 1924. Under Mayer's management, MGM became the film industr ...

, who had already informed his minions that he wanted Dressler to be marketed as a mother figure who was also a battered version of life's wars, asked her to lunch in his private bungalow on the

Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...

lot. Not only did Dressler appear to be a substantial mother figure in real life, M-G-M's boss was also aware that the actress exuded an easy air of upper-class panache. She was, he decided, a far classier individual than the Hollywood glamour girls he often professed to disdain." Dressler would go on to star in a total of seven films in 1930 and win an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for her performance in ''

Min and Bill ''Min and Bill'' is a 1930 American Pre-Code comedy-drama film, directed by George W. Hill and starring Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery. Adapted by Frances Marion and Marion Jackson from Lorna Moon's 1929 novel, ''Dark Star'', the film tells ...

'' (1930), opposite

Wallace Beery Wallace Fitzgerald Beery (April 1, 1885 – April 15, 1949) was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in ''Min and Bill'' (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in ''Grand Hotel'' (193 ...

External links

* * * 1930 films 1930 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by Sam Wood Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films with screenplays by Charles MacArthur 1930s English-language films 1930s American films {{1930s-romantic-comedy-film-stub