The Girl Said No

1937

1h 16m

IMDb RATING

5.5/10

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Jimmie Allen, a shady bookie, is in love with Pearl Proctor, a greedy dance hall girl. He schemes to get her back after she rejects him; and along the way, he revives a failing Gilbert and Sullivan troupe.

Directors

Andrew L. Stone

Writers

Betty Laidlaw(writer by)

Robert Lively(writer by)

Stars

Robert Armstrong

Irene Hervey

Paula Stone

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Top cast

Jimmie Allen

Pearl Proctor …

Mabel

Pick

Howard Hathaway …

Beatrice Hathaway …

Charles Dillon (scenes deleted)

Charles Dillon

Chuck Fairfax

Gretchen Holman

Jonesy

Sugar Plum

Joe

Beatrice …

Directors

Andrew L. Stone

Writers

Betty Laidlaw(writer by)

Robert Lively(writer by)

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Review

Featured review

6/10

This is another one of those films that is really only part drama and part stage show. This one sees poor old bookie “Jimmie” (Robert Armstrong) get fleeced by aspiring chanteuse “Pearl” (Irene Harvey) before being dumped, broke, from a great height. Having licked his wounds, he decides that vengeance can be sweet as he engages an out of work Gilbert and Sullivan company to lure her back to the stage. Of course, he thinks it will all go suitably pear-shaped, but it actually transpires that just about anything but occurs. Whilst Hervey does fine here, it’s really the blandness of Armstrong that lets this down. He has some of the looks of a Clark Gable but none of the charisma, and even at it’s daftest there just isn’t much chemistry between them, or indeed anyone, as this lumbers along. The last twenty minutes sees some life breathed into some of the “Mikado”, “Pirates of Penz-aunts” and "HMS Pinafore" so if you are a fan of G&S then the lined up bobbies and neatly attired kimono-clad singers do remind us not just of how quirky their works were, but also of just how popular they were with audiences of ordinary theatre goers. No, there’s not much jeopardy from the plot here, but as it moves along gently pointing out the dangers of practical joking it provides us with an amiable enough hour or so.

Geronimo196710 Jan, 2026