She Wouldn't Say Yes (1945)

 

She Wouldn't Say Yes - 1945

Coming up next is 1945's "She Wouldn't Say Yes", a story about a woman who refuses to marry the man that fate has evidently picked out for her.

The film's cast includes Rosalind Russell, Lee Bowman, Adele Jurgens, Charles Winninger, Harry Davenport, Sara Haden, Percy Kilbride, Tom Dugan, Sam McDaniel, Darren McGavin, Ida Moore, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Cora Witherspoon, and Mabel Paige.

Noted psychiatrist Dr. Susan Lane is traveling home to Chicago after spending some time working at a mental hospital in New York City.

Collecting her train tickets, she meets a man whom she keeps bumping into, literally.  "I have a feeling that meeting under other circumstances I would've liked you very much," says the man, a Mr. Michael "Mike" Kent.  Clearly annoyed, Susan replies, "Then I'm glad the circumstances were as they are."

Coincidentally, they meet later on board the train.  He insists on having a drink with her in the club car.  When he likens her profession to being that of a "mental Peeping Tom", Susan retorts, "Only by appointment".

Susan is further annoyed when she finds out that Mike has tickets to her upper berth.  Apparently, the ticket office gave them a set of identical tickets.  She wastes no time tossing him out when the train goes around a sharp curve.

In Chicago, Mike, very smitten with Susan since first laying eyes on her, finds out where she lives.  He shows up and regales her father with tales of how the two shared an upper berth.  Susan's father, also a doctor, is mortified until Susan sets the story straight.

Susan's father, however, likes Mike a lot.  And he's tired of Susan thinking that she can do without love.  So, he tells Mike where he can find Susan the next day.  For her part, Susan only hopes she's seen the last of him.

When Mike shows up at Susan's office the next day, Susan thinks she's got the perfect way to get rid of him.  She gets a man hungry patient interested in him.

Susan goes to the trouble of arranging a dinner for the two of them at her house.  Mike thinks that Susan herself will be there, and he readily accepts.  However, Susan goes out with her father and leaves Mike and her patient, Allura, alone.

Once Mike realizes that it's all a set-up with the aim of getting Allura and himself together, he gets a little frightened.  Allura is very persuasive and she wants Mike.

Susan resists all of Mike's charms.  She's bound and determined to stay single.  She explains it's because of all the women who come through her office because of what "love" did to them.  Mike is bound and determined to wear down her defenses.

Susan's father goes to the trouble of arranging a marriage for the two.  Susan doesn't know anything about it.  She thinks she's there to treat a very jumpy judge.  Before she knows it, she and Mike are married, and she is none the wiser.

Naturally, Susan is very upset once she learns the truth about the marriage.  She orders Mike out of her house and her life.

However, Susan realizes that she does love Mike.  This realization comes right in the middle of a session with another patient.

She hurries to catch up with Mike, who is on his way to San Francisco.  She arranges to be in his upper berth.  They kiss and make up.  They also make plans to stop in Nevada and have a real wedding.

Cast rundown:

   Rosalind Russell.............................Dr. Susan Lane

   Lee Bowman..................................Michael Kent

   Adele Jurgens................................Allura

   Charles Winninger..........................Dr. Lane

   Harry Davenport............................Albert

   Sara Haden...................................Laura Pitts

   Percy Kilbride................................Judge Whittaker

   Tom Dugan...................................Cab Driver

   Sam McDaniel...............................Train Steward

   Darren McGavin.............................Soldier In Hospital

   Ida Moore.....................................Spinster On Train

   Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer......................Delivery Boy

   Cora Witherspoon..........................Mrs. Peterson

   Mabel Paige..................................Martha Whittaker

And that's it for She Wouldn't Say Yes.  The release date of the film clashed somewhat with a plot point.  Michael Kent was on his way to San Francisco so that he could join the war effort in Japan.  However, the war had ended three months before this film was released.

This film also marked the screen debut of actor Darren McGavin, who would later become famous (especially to American audiences) for his portrayal of Mr. Parker in the film "A Christmas Story".

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Government Girl (1943)

 

Government Girl - 1943

Coming up next we have 1943's "Government Girl", a film about a man who comes to Washington to do a job nobody knows how to do.  He's aided in this endeavor by a woman who hates him: his secretary.

The film's cast includes Olivia de Havilland, Sonny Tufts, Anne Shirley, Jess Barker, James Dunn, Paul Stewart, Agnes Moorehead, Harry Davenport, Una O'Connor, Sig Ruman, Jane Darwell, and Warren Hymer.

Elizabeth "Smokey" Allard is upset.  She's just found out that the room she's booked for a friend's wedding night is occupied.  When told the circumstances, the man won't vacate, and she is furious at his lack of consideration.

And she's definitely not happy the next morning when the only way for her to get to work is by motorcycle.  Not knowing how to operate one, she asks around.  To her dismay, the man from the previous evening volunteers.  Not knowing his way around Washington D.C., he asks her to give him directions as they go along.

What happens next is a wild ride through the streets of Washington D.C.

When they arrive at their destination, the War Construction Board, Smokey is fit to be tied, and she hopes never to see the man again.

It turns out that the man is Ed Browne.  He's being tasked by the government to supervise the building of bomber aircraft.

Smokey is completely shocked and dismayed when she finds out that she will be Mr. Browne's secretary.

Mr. Browne begins to tell Smokey his plan for producing the bombers.  He's going to double the number produced, as well as make the factories more effective.  Smokey cautions him about straying too far from government recommendations.

Smokey finds out during a lunch with a friend that the powerful Senator MacVickers is running an investigative committee about goings on in Washington.

Finding herself coming around to Mr. Browne, Smokey starts trying to educate him in the way that Washington works.

He is invited to a reception by society hostess Mrs. Adele Wright.  There, Mr. Browne and Smokey rub shoulders with Washington elite, including Senator MacVickers.  Mr. Browne says, "I can't find out how to get things done in Washington."  The senator smiles and says, "I've been trying to find that out for the last thirty years."

Things get touch for Mr. Browne.  He's accused of cutting corners with his bombers, and some among the Washington elite are looking for a scapegoat.  They actively plot his downfall.

Mr. Browne, however, has other things on his mind.  He's fallen for Smokey, and he is looking for ways to make himself better husband material.

Smokey has fallen for him, too...in a big way.  She even burns evidence that could hurt Mr. Browne in front of Senator MacVickers' committee.

She and her friend are asked by the government to help uncover a spy.  They are successful, and Smokey is able to return some files that Mr. Browne has been "accused" of stealing.

Still, Mr. Browne must face the senator's committee.  Things aren't going well at first, but then Smokey arrives on the scene.  She tells the senator that she's been deliberately kept from the proceedings by the prosecutor.  She gives an impassioned speech, and leaves the meeting.

Naturally, things turn out all right.  When Smokey sees him afterwards, she exclaims, "Oh, Mr. Browne!"  He responds, "Listen, if you ever call me Mr. Browne again, I'm gonna grab ya...and....and kiss ya."  Smokey smiles and exclaims again, "Oh, Mr. Browne!"  They fall into each other's arms.

Cast rundown:

   Olivia de Havilland......................Elizabeth "Smokey" Allard

   Sonny Tufts................................Ed Browne

   Anne Shirley...............................Mary Harness Blake

   Jess Barker.................................Dana McGuire

   James Dunn...............................Sergeant Joe Blake

   Paul Stewart...............................Branch Owens

   Agnes Moorehead........................Mrs. Adele Wright

   Harry Davenport..........................Senator MacVickers

   Una O'Connor..............................Mrs. Harris

   Sig Ruman.................................Ambassador

   Jane Darwell...............................Miss Trask

   Warren Hymer.............................Military Police Sergeant

And that's all for Government Girl.  Both Barbara Stanwyck and Ginger Rogers turned down the role of Smokey before it was assigned to Olivia de Havilland.  In the midst of legal disputes that resulted in the "de Havilland law", Olivia stated that she felt she was being punished and did not enjoy the role.

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