''She Wouldn't Say Yes'' is a 1945

screwball comedy film Screwball comedy is a subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary characteristi ...

directed by

Alexander Hall Alexander Hall (January 11, 1894 – July 30, 1968) was an American film director, film editor and theatre actor. Biography Hall acted in the theatre from the age of four through 1914, when he began to work in silent movies. Following his milit ...

and starring

Rosalind Russell Catherine Rosalind Russell (June 4, 1907November 28, 1976) was an American actress, comedienne, screenwriter, and singer,Obituary '' Variety'', December 1, 1976, p. 79. known for her role as fast-talking newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson in the H ...

and

Lee Bowman Lee Bowman (December 28, 1914 – December 25, 1979) was an American film and television actor. According to one obituary, "his roles ranged from romantic lead to worldly, wisecracking lout in his most famous years". Career Born in Cincinnati, ...

Plot

A psychiatrist, Dr. Susan Lane, is leaving a military hospital after spending two weeks working with patients there. Before she leaves, she encounters a patient reading a comic strip by Michael Kent. The comic's character, ''the Nixie'', encourages people to act on their impulses by whistling in their ear. Dr. Lane explains to the patient that it's not good to act on their impulses. Colonel Brady, another psychiatrist, mentions to Dr. Lane that her confidence as a professional comes from some problem that she has repressed. Later, at Grand Central Station, Dr. Lane picks up her train ticket and gets knocked down by another customer who apologizes. Several bumps and bruises later, she leaves and the customer—who turns out to be comic writer Michael Kent—picks up his ticket. At the last minute, the clerk—acting on his impulse because of ''the Nixie''—switches Kent's ticket to be the same compartment as Dr. Lane's ticket. On the train, Kent and Dr. Lane bump into each other again while at the bar. He continues to get on her nerves as the days pass. One day, he tricks her into marrying him.

Cast

Rosalind Russell in The Feminine Touch trailer

was cast in the part of Dr. Susan Lane, an unmarried psychiatrist, happy to be single. Russell had a prolific film career with

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 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 ...

starting in 1934, when she signed a seven-year contract with them. She had been nominated for 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 ...

three years earlier as ''Best Actress in a Leading Role'' for her part in ''

My Sister Eileen ''My Sister Eileen'' is a series of autobiographical short stories by Ruth McKenney, originally published in ''The New Yorker'', which eventually inspired many other works: her 1938 book ''My Sister Eileen'', a play, a musical, a radio play (a ...

''.

played the part of Michael Kent, a cartoonist in the military that pens a comic strip, ''The Nixie'', which encourages people to follow their impulses. *

as Dr. Susan A. Lane *

as Michael Kent * Adele Jergens as Allura *

Charles Winninger Charles J. Winninger (May 26, 1884 – January 27, 1969) was an American stage and film actor, most often cast in comedies or musicals. Life and career Winninger was born in Athens, Wisconsin, the son of Rosalia (Grassler) and Franz Winninger ...

as Doctor Lane *

Harry Davenport Harry Davenport may refer to: * Harry Davenport (actor) (1866–1949), American film and stage actor * Harry Davenport (footballer) (1900–1984), Australian footballer * Harry J. Davenport (1902–1977), Democratic Party member of the U.S. House ...

as Albert *

Sara Haden Sara Haden (born Catherine Haden, November 17, 1898 – September 15, 1981) was an American actress of the 1930s through the 1950s and in television into the mid-1960s. She may be best remembered for appearing as Aunt Milly Forrest in 14 entrie ...

as Laura Pitts *

Percy Kilbride Percy William Kilbride (July 16, 1888 – December 11, 1964) was an American character actor. He made a career of playing country hicks, most memorably as Pa Kettle in the ''Ma and Pa Kettle'' series of feature films. Early life Kilbride was b ...

as Judge Whittaker * Lewis L. Russell as Colonel Brady * Arthur Q. Bryan as Train Passenger in sleeping car (speaking in Elmer Fudd voice) *

Mary Treen Mary Treen (born Mary Louise Summers, March 27, 1907 – July 20, 1989) was an American film and television actress. A minor actress for much of her career, she managed to secure a plain, unassuming niche for herself in the Hollywood of the 1 ...

as Train Passenger at Bar * Carl Switzer (uncredited) as the flower delivery boy * Ray Walker as Docter

Production

The original working title for the film was ''Some Call It Love'' and was later changed to ''She Wouldn't Say Yes''. Production for the film began on May 8, 1945 and went through July 14. 1945. Rosalind Russell had previously worked with director Alexander Hall on several films including ''My Sister Eileen'' from 1942 and '' This Thing Called Love'' from 1940. The release date of the film caused an anachronism in the plot: the traveling Kent character is en route to Japan, via San Francisco, and mentions at least three times he is "off to war"—but the war ended three months earlier.

Release

''She Wouldn't Say Yes'' was released to theatres on November 29, 1945. The film was adapted as a radio play for

Screen Directors Playhouse ''Screen Directors Playhouse'' (sometimes written as ''Screen Directors' Playhouse'') is an American radio and television anthology series which brought leading Hollywood actors to the NBC microphones beginning in 1949. The radio program broadcas ...

and broadcast on June 2, 1950. The radio play was released as an

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in th ...

in 1977.

Home media

''She Wouldn't Say Yes'' was first released to the home video market on video cassette. The movie was released to DVD on August 4, 2009 as part of the ''Icons of Screwball Comedy, Volume 1'' set along with ''

If You Could Only Cook ''If You Could Only Cook'' (1935) is a screwball comedy of mistaken identity starring Herbert Marshall as a frustrated automobile executive and Jean Arthur as a young woman who talks him into posing as her husband so they can land jobs as a butle ...

'', ''

Too Many Husbands ''Too Many Husbands'' (released in the United Kingdom as ''My Two Husbands'') is a 1940 American romantic comedy film about a woman who loses her husband in a boating accident and remarries, only to have her first spouse reappear—yet another var ...

'', and ''My Sister Eileen''.

Reception

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* * * {{Alexander Hall Films directed by Alexander Hall Columbia Pictures films American black-and-white films American romantic comedy films 1945 romantic comedy films 1945 films 1940s American films