She Had to Say Yes (1933)
Florence Denny is Tommy Nelson's girlfriend and secretary at a clothing manufacturer during the Great Depression. In order to boost sales they have been using professional female entertainers to keep their clients very happy, but the clients are getting bored of them. Tommy convinces management to replace the professionals with "volunteers" from the pool of stenographers. Inevitably some clients expectations are greater than their "dates", boyfriends become unhappy, and the "voluntary" duty becomes less so over time. At first, Tommy prevents Florence from being a volunteer, but eventually the prospect of a bonus becomes too great and he encourages her to volunteer. Afterwards, Tommy considers Florence a loose woman.
- Busby Berkeley
- George Amy
- Don Mullaly
- Rian James
- John Francis Larkin
Rating: 5.8/10 by 8 users
Alternative Title:
Country:
United States of America
Language:
English
Runtime: 01 hour 05 minutes
Budget: $0
Revenue: $0
Plot Keyword: new york city, great depression, engagement, sexual harassment, pre-code, male domination, sexual exploitation
An excellent pre-code era film that illustrates the pressure for women to use their sex to help their boss, but becoming a "bad woman" by doing so. In addition, it illustrates that men are expected to be promiscuous while women are expected to be virgins. The greatest shortcoming of the film is imposed of the norms of the period: Loretta, like every woman, has to forgive any outrageous and even violent behaviour by a sexually aggressive male and to assume that it is really her fault.
