The Lady Says No

Bill Shelby is assigned by Life magazine to photograph Dorinda Hatch for a feature. He travels to meet her expecting a dour spinster, but finds a striking, charming author who challenges his preconceptions. The assignment sets up a clash between professional curiosity and personal attraction.

Bill meets Dorinda and is taken by her charm, contrary to his expectation of a dour spinster. Their conversations spark a clash of ideas about gender and love. Dorinda begins to question the feminist theories she has built around romantic detachment.

Dorinda experiences a dream sequence where her repressed desires intrude on her rational stance. The dream blurs the line between attraction and aversion, foreshadowing the ongoing 'yes' vs 'no' struggle. The scene underlines the film's theme of the id clashing with the ego.

Dorinda's aunt's household is disrupted when her errant uncle returns, pulling them into the town's colorful, reckless characters. The upheaval accelerates the social farce that threads through the film. The sudden disruption pushes Dorinda and Bill further into their evolving dynamic.

Dorinda's attempts to seduce Bill lead to a barroom brawl. Bill rebuffs her advances, while Dorinda flirts with the other single men in the room. Potsie becomes one of the targets of the attention, intensifying the comic chaos.

Goldie confronts Dorinda about Potsie and her manipulations. Dorinda talks her out of fighting and instead questions Potsie's value, suggesting she might be better off with him gone. Goldie contemplates Dorinda's view as the tension between couples remains unresolved.

A time jump reveals Goldie has left Potsie, and Potsie has moved into Bill's trailer. The living arrangement heightens the tension between Dorinda and Bill, now with Potsie in their proximity. Dorinda's perspective on romance shifts as the domestic scene unfolds.

Dorinda and Goldie go to round up the absent men, but they refuse to come out. In a bold move, Dorinda steals Bill's car and drags the trailer into a military base, triggering a high-speed police pursuit. The chaos forces the pair to confront the consequences of the ensuing publicity.

A misunderstanding brings the General to the trailer scene, where Potsie is ordered to exit and talk to his wife. Dorinda's blunt rejection of the book's ideas shifts the mood toward reconciliation between Potsie and Goldie. The episode underscores how personal relationships ultimately prevail over theoretical arguments.

Dorinda packs her bags and leaves her aunt's home, where the adults have reconciled. She drives off in search of Bill to confess her true feelings. The moment marks a shift from social farce to an intimate pursuit of emotional truth.

Bill challenges the premise that love is an autonomic function, suggesting that Dorinda's views stem from repression rather than reason. He argues that romance involves more than ideological control. The conversation pushes Dorinda toward a more nuanced view of love.

Dorinda throws Goldie's copy of The Lady Says 'No' into the ocean, symbolically rejecting the book's premise. She resolves to write a new work titled 27 Ways to Say Yes, embracing a more affirmative approach to love. The ending points to a changed outlook on romance and agency.