The Girl Said No (aka With Words and Music) is a 1937 American musical comedy film produced by Andrew L. Stone and Edward L. Alperson for Grand National Pictures and directed by Andrew L. Stone. The screenplay was written by Betty Laidlaw, Robert Lively and Andrew L. Stone. The film stars Robert Armstrong, Irene Hervey and Paula Stone. It uses musical numbers from Gilbert and Sullivan operas, and the story is about a shady bookie who is in love with a greedy dance hall girl and schemes to get her back after she rejects him. Along the way, he revives a failing Gilbert and Sullivan troupe.
Contents
Plot
Jimmie, a shady bookie, meets Pearl, a taxi dance hall girl. He takes her out on several dates, pretending to be a high profile producer. She is happy to spend his money extravagantly but refuses to be his girlfriend. To get revenge, Jimmie promises to make her a Broadway star and becomes her manager. He takes her to expensive dinners and meetings with people in the top entertainment circles.
Jimmie tricks Pearl into signing a contract under which most of her earnings go to him. He persuades a defunct Gilbert and Sullivan troupe to re-form, obtains an empty theatre for a night, and fills it by blackmail. They play The Mikado, which is deservedly a hit. Overwhelmed with regret over his deceit, he proposes, and she, overwhelmed with gratitude over his support, accepts.
Production
Grand National Pictures obtained a license from the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company for the copyrights to use the Gilbert and Sullivan words and music in the film for distribution in the United States. It was stipulated, however, that if the film was to be distributed in the British Isles and elsewhere, then music from American operettas was to be used instead, because the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was still touring the Gilbert and Sullivan operas at that time.
Awards
The film was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Sound (A. E. Kaye).