Washington Story

Van Johnson is the congressman ("Gresham") content to toe the party line and play the political game in Washington DC. It's only when a bill is drafted that will impact on ship-building facilities in his Massachusetts constituency that he might have to take a stance! Meantime, a tabloid employs the services of investigative journalist "Alice" (Patricia Neal) to get to the bottom of this ostensibly decent man's true personality. Unawares of her real agenda, he agrees to allow her to follow his day-to-day life but as the decisive vote looms, she reaches her conclusion about him just as he, well.... Though Johnson and Neal take top billing, the film really belongs to Louis Calhern's savvy and wily "Birch" who sees something in "Gresham" that isn't entirely obvious to everyone else. Auteur Robert Pirosh certainly gives him the best witty and telling dialogue to deliver, and he does it well. The other two here rather go through the motions and though initially I thought it a bit like "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939) that similarity wained rather quickly. Still, it's a watchable look at just how the US Capitol might work: scheming, indifference, self preservation and keeping your head down; is largely devoid of romantic clutter and is just about worth eighty minutes of your time.

Alice Kingsley (Patricia Neal) is a reporter newly arrived in DC. Her job is to get sensational stories anyway she can. Joseph T. "No Comment Joe" Gresham (Van Johnson) is a sincere hard-working congressman from Massachusetts. Alice is directed to target honest public servant Joe to uncover the corrupt politician underneath.

This is trying to do the Mr. Smith goes to Washington premise adjacent. It hits the fake news idea very hard. I can see the cynicism not selling to the public during its run. It stays in Washington a bit too long. The real legislative process is mind-numbing and that infects this movie. Van Johnson is a solid choice for this role. Normally, the reporter would be a fast-talking character. Patricia Neal has never played one and she seems a little unusual for the role. I do like the general story.

A young generation of American movie viewers cannot possibly appreciate the significance of Washington Story and the performance of Philip Ober as a Drew Pearson type columnist. But back when I was a lad, his was a name that struck fear in the hearts of many Washington politicians, mostly those of the conservative bent. His column from the capital was a weekly expose of all the crooked wheeling and dealing going on there, written in a Walter Winchell like vein. Like Philip Ober in this story, Pearson was a man both feared and despised in many quarters.

A lot of people thought Pearson was a crusading hero, but Washington Story doesn't make Ober anything like that. He's a raker of tabloid mud who's currently drawing a bead on young Congressman Van Johnson from Massachusetts. To do his dirty work Ober gets young Patricia Neal, an ambitious reporter herself, to get close to Johnson and dig up the top soil.

Of course as what usually happens in films like these Johnson and Neal fall for each other with unforeseen consequences for Ober. Louis Calhern is in the film as a wise older Congressman from the other party who befriends Johnson and helps steer him through the crisis. And Sidney Blackmer does a nice job as a lobbyist for the shipping industry whose pet bill is giving Johnson a lot of grief.

If you think Johnson and Neal sound a lot like James Stewart and Jean Arthur you'd be right. MGM filmed Washington Story inside the environs of the real Capitol Hill. It's not Mr. Smith with Jimmy Stewart fighting against a blind establishment, blind to the corruption in Stewart's state. Here the establishment is given a nice coat of whitewash. Remember this was the beginning of the Cold War when we were putting our best foot forward at all times. The villain here in fact is our press.

Or at least a part of it as represented by columnists like Drew Pearson. I have a funny feeling that the genesis of Washington Story came from someone at MGM running afoul of Pearson and getting back at him cinematically speaking.

Joe Gresham is a hardworking but taciturn congressman from Massachusetts. Reporter Alice Kingsley arrived in Washington, DC and was hired by Gilbert Nunnally, a tabloid columnist and cynic, who wanted Alice to expose a mature political scandal. Their goal was "No Comment Joe" Gresham, and she began to make up a story about him, telling him it would be a benign "personal profile." Gresham is struggling with real legislative dilemmas, weighing funding for shipbuilding facilities, which will benefit his own region and broader defense requirements. In order to get to know him better and dig up some appropriate dirt, Alice agrees to go to his hometown with Joe, where she meets his mother and observes him in his local situation. She finds that Gresham's healthy image does not seem to have any pretense, and is in a dilemma between her commission to write an "almighty" story and her growing appeal to Joe.

Reporter Alice Kingsley (Patricia Neal) comes to Washington to do a story about the professional life of a congressman and is steered toward Congressman Gresham (Van Johnson) in Washington Story from 1952.

In actuality, Kingsley works for a tabloid, and she wants something juicy. Her attitude changes when he impresses her with his commitment and honesty.

Gresham is dealing with a problem- the constructive of a ship building facility, great for his constituents but with negative national implications. Voting against it will cost him the election.

Both Johnson and Neal are very good, Johnson with that great all-American boy presence and charm, and Neal, a wonderful actress with an earthy sexiness.

Entertaining and at least nowadays, total fiction.