Yes she could have

TCM is running a bunch of Robert Mitchum films tomorrow (April 20) morning and afternoon even though it isn't his birthday. I have two of the films on that schedule on the DVR that I want to blog about, so we're getting one Mitchum movie today and another tomorrow. First up is She Couldn't Say No, airing at noon tomorrow.

Now, an eagle-eyed viewer might be able to guess that Mitchum is not playing the "She" in the movie's title. The "She" is instead played by Jean Simmons, as a character named Corby Lane. She's rich enough that she was able to spend a lot of time in England an buy a car in cash now that she's back in America, hoping that the dealer can move the steering wheel over to the right-hand side, just because she's more used to it. It's a relative throwaway scene other than to show just how idle rich Corby is.

But Corby has a plan for the car, and for her wealth. She heads down to the small town of Progress, Arkansas, with a population of about 200 people and the sort of small southern town that led Variety to write the famous 1935 headline "Stix Nix Hick Picks". It's full of stereotypes, starting with the lovable town drunk, Odie Chalmers (Arthur Hunnicutt) who spends his time at the general store/post office, presumably waiting for a relief check. But Corby isn't so interested in him; she's looking for Dr. Sellers.

Corby gets directions to Dr. Sellers' house, but he isn't there, so she rings the emergency bell even tough what she wants to talk about isn't an emergency, and Dr. Sellers (that's Robert Mitchum as if you couldn't tell) thinks it's more likely to be something like the pregnant Mrs. Jordan about to give birth. And Corby isn't exactly pleased to see this Dr. Robert Sellers, as she was expecting somebody much older. In fact, she was expecting Robert Sr., but he's dead and the son took over the practice because Progress needs a doctor.

Dr. Sellers and Corby, using the pseudonym Corby Johnson, go out for a drink, or enough drinks to get Corby incredibly drunk since Sellers is clearly trying to pump her for information about why she's here. That should become clear the next day, after Mrs. Jordan gives birth. Some anonymous donor decided to buy a whole bunch of baby supplies for the Jordans. Too much, in fact, as the Jordans don't have space for it all.

Dr. Sellers, having seen that Corby's luggage is monogrammed "CL", is able to put two and two together. Corby was one of his father's patients a long time ago, when she was just a kid. Her father was working in the oil fields, traveling wherever there was work, and stopped in Progress for a while. But he was a bit down on his luck as Corby fell ill and needed some sort of operation that she couldn't get in Progress. So the townsfolk took up a collection for her to send her to St. Louis (why not Little Rock??) to get that operation. Corby's father eventually made good in the oil industry, and Corby wants to pay back the townsfolk of Progress, albeit anonymously.

The problem is, every way she tries to pay somebody back only backfires. She buys fine alcohol for Odie, only to learn that he being an alcoholic, the bartender has been surreptitiously watering his liquor. Buying the veterinarian a new car leads him to want to leave town. And when she just says the heck with it and anonymously sends everyone in town cash, that makes the news and gets a bunch of greedy little shits from the rest of the country to come to Progress stupidly thinking they could get some money themselves.

She Couldn't Say No is the sort of movie that, 15 years earlier before World War II, would have made a silly little programmer for any studio picking up the story and providing it to two of its contract players. But by the mid-1950s, it feels dated and a bit beneath both Mitchum and Simmons. Not that the two of them are bad; they both give a professional effort and do the best they can with the material. It's more that the material does everybody in. It doesn't help that this being RKO, the movie looks like it was done on a discount.

Still, if you want some pleasant enough fun hearkening back to a different era, you could do a lot worse than to watch something like She Couldn't Say No.