She Couldn't Say No is a 1939 British comedy film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Tommy Trinder, Fred Emney and Googie Withers. It was written by Clifford Grey, Bert Lee and Elizabeth Meehan based on the 1927 play Funny Face by Paul Gerard Smith and Fred Thompson. A woman arranges a burglary to try to recover a stolen diary with compromising details written in it.
Contents
Plot summary
Frankie and Dora Barnes live under the care of their guardian, Jimmy Reeves. Because Frankie is a compulsive liar, Jimmy locks away her diary the moment he discovers it. Desperate to retrieve it, Frankie convinces Peter Thurston, a young airman, to pull off a quick burglary to get it back. Peter and his friend Dugsie Gibbs break into the house on the night of Jimmy’s birthday party, unwittingly timing their break-in at the exact same moment as a pair of real thieves. The overlapping burglaries result in chaos. Fleeing the scene, Peter and Dugsie seek refuge in a nearby sanatorium, where staff mistake them for a doctor and a patient. The madness escalates when Frankie arrives disguised as a nurse, followed closely by the real burglars in their own disguises. Following a hectic climax, all the misunderstandings are resolved.
Cast
Tommy Trinder as Dugsie Gibbs
Fred Emney as Herbert
Googie Withers as Dora Barnes
Greta Gynt as Frankie Barnes
David Hutcheson as Peter Thurston
Bertha Belmore as Dr. Grimstone
Basil Radford as Lord Pilton
Cecil Parker as Jimmy Reeves
David Burns as Chester
Wylie Watson as Thrumgood
Doris Hare as Amelia Reeves
Geoffrey Sumner as announcer
Reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "This thoroughly artificial and impossible plot has been used before. It is now embellished with various irrelevant episodes and incidents. The result is mildly amusing rather than hilariously funny. The cast work hard, but their material is inadequate. Tommy Trinder gives a characteristic performance, and Fred Emney supports him energetically. Googie Withers is well up to what is asked of her, but Greta Gynt seems a somewhat bewildered Frankie."
Kine Weekly wrote: "Even if the picture is a little thin and ingenuous in plot it should go down well at popular halls. Its fooling is of a broad variety and tuneful song numbers and a dance or two add to its mass appeal."
The Daily Film Renter wrote: "Slender narrative makes suitable vehicle for amiable fooling by Tommy Trinder and Fred Emney, while song and dance numbers are neatly introduced into general theme. Amusing situations provided by obvious complications of story."