TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

DipitySkillful an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

twhiteson Otto Preminger's 1952 film noir, "Angel Face," is credited as being British actress Jean Simmons' American film debut. "Angel Face" had Simmons starring alongside Robert Mitchum in a story about sexual obsessions, murder, and insanity. However, RKO had already teamed-up Mitchum and Simmons for this silly film which was actually shot before "Angel Face," but not released until two years later. Upon seeing both of them as part of TCM's marathon birthday tribute to Ms. Simmons, it's very understandable why this film was put on the back-burner to allow "Angel Face" to be her American debut. "She Couldn't Say No" was just too lightweight (and terrible) a vehicle to be her introduction to American audiencesThe plot: "Corby Lane" (Simmons) is a 21 yr old oil heiress who has just returned home to the United States after spending years in English finishing schools. (Apparently, the producers felt that they had to explain Ms. Simmons' English accent.) With her inheritance in hand, she decides her first order of business is to pay back a debt of gratitude to the inhabitants of a tiny, rural Arkansas town who did her a kindness when she was a small child. So, she sets-out in a fancy new vehicle and designer wardrobe to Progress, Ark. where she intends to play secret Santa for all its long-term residents.Of course, her good intentions lead to all sort of unintended consequences with her learning some harsh lessons about cause-and-effect. A lot of lessons are taught to her by the ultra-smooth town doctor, "Robert Sellers" (Mitchum), who quickly both exasperates her and charms her seamed stockings off.The residents of Progress, Ark. are Hollywood archetypes of rural "hayseeds" played by a who's who of then Hollywood character actors who specialized in playing folksy, country bumpkins such as Edgar Buchanan and Arthur Hunnicutt. They sit on the porch of the general store, drink moonshine, and barter in pigs and chickens.Mitchum looks decidedly uncomfortable playing a down-home, country doctor who extols small town values while repeatedly lecturing Miss Lane about her "idiotic" attempts to help the local yokels. (Today, most of Mitchum's dialogue would be decried as "man-splaining.") Dr. Sellers comes across as smug and condescending. Yet, he has no problem attracting seemingly every good looking young women in the vicinity including Miss Lane.This was supposed to be a frothy romantic comedy. The comedy was to be provided by Ms. Simmons playing a fish-out-of-water and by showing the "humorous" consequences of her misguided attempts to be generous, but instead they only garner maybe a few tepid chuckles. Meanwhile, her scenes with Mitchum were supposed to generate the romance, but instead Dr. Sellers' constant lecturing her as to her "idiocy" makes one wonder why she didn't just tell him off.The ONLY reason to watch this utterly forgettable film is Jean Simmons. Essentially, it's a little over 90 minutes of her looking absolutely adorable which she does extremely well. Anytime she's not in a scene, the film just dies and unfortunately there are too many scenes without her. (I think she looks unbelievably cute with short hair, but clearly the producers of "Angel Face" did not which is why she wore an ill-fitting wig for that film.)In sum: Jean Simmons' beauty can overcome a lot of faults, but it cannot overcome this film's throwaway, feather-light plot and Mitchum's miscasting. I gave it an extra star because Ms. Simmons was just so incredibly cute.

edwagreen Jean Simmons is as serious minded as can be in this comedy. Wanting to thank a town for saving her life by paying for an operation, Simmons returns years later and literally gives money away.She comes back to the small town in Arkansas that saved her. There she meets the town doctor, a terribly miscast Robert Mitchum. Nothing much is doing in this rural town, but that is basically true for the entire picture.The town has some notable people such as Edgar Buchanan and Arthur Hunnicutt, who had won a supporting Oscar nomination 2 years before this film for "The Big Sky."The film shows that when money is misdirected, problems may result.Trouble with the film is its writing and that the characters depicted are boring.

David (Handlinghandel) Jean Simmons and Robert Mitchum both lend star quality to this unassuming endeavor. It doesn't seem that they're lending it together. Mitchum was still playing characters, albeit here a country doctor, who'd have sex with anything in a skirt. Simmons seems less interested.It's a sweet story. She seeks out a small town whose citizens had helped her when she was a sick child. Now, therein lies the single greatest flaw of this movie: Maybe the print I saw had been cut. However, exactly what this little town did to help a child of privilege is never made clear. And that kinds of eats away at the ore of the movie.Still, her well meaning but ill thought-out good deeds make for a touching little story.And the sequence in which people from all over the country drive up, trailers pulled behind their cars, hoping to benefit from her largess, sure is reminiscent of "Ace In The Hole"! That's an infinitely more cynical movie but these scenes have a dark quality too.The other mystery is Simmons's clothes, especially in the first half. I am not one to pay much attention to ladies' fashions but she sure does appear to be pregnant hen she arrives in town.She did have a baby not long after this. Maybe the movie was shot completely out of sequence; because in later scenes, she seems trim and chic. (She is chic in the maternity-style clothes, too, but they are hardly flattering to her.)

The-Lonely-Londoner One of three films where Mitchum is paired up alongside the young Jean Simmons. She really does like the spitting image of Vivien Leigh. Her dark, mysterious features make her photogenic and interesting to watch. Mitchum is just the tall, broad shouldered protagonist as usual.