Che donna!

This mildly preposterous riff on the by now standard Rosalind Russell comedy -- high powered woman executive meets easy-going, mildly contemptuous bohemian and falls into frilly love by the end of the fifth reel -- winds along its well-greased way in a mildly bemused fashion. Long-time pro, Irving Cummings directs this well enough, but only Miss Russell puts any oomph into her role and the visuals mainly seem concerned with her head, making sure that she has an odd looking hat or hairdo that seems to change with every scene. She wears some dynamite dresses also; credit Travis Banton for the dresses. He seems to have specialized in gowning Carole Lombard in her movies.

Everyone seems to be giving it the old college try, but by now the formula had grown pretty tired, sustained only by war time movie attendance and some hope that all those Rosies out there, busy riveting together planes and battleships would be able to spend their times in silly hats once the war was over and men like Brian Aherne would be free of the restrictions of bow ties.

The title is highly misleading although it aptly describes the glamorous Miss Russell in the sort of nonsense Doris Day was making her own by the end of the next decade.

Playing an East Coast career girl wearing a succession of killer outfits with enormous shoulders and smoking endless cigarettes (it's no surprise that Rosalind eventually succumbed to cancer), we first see her secretary fielding calls from Walter Winchell, and like the fifties Doris is gratifyingly older than love interest Willard Parker (who's actually quite good as Hollywood's idea of a scholar of Elizabethan history who gets more full of himself as the film goes on).

Typically we never actually see the film that all the fuss is about, just as Brian Aherne as the cynical reporter is never seen at a typewriter, simply confining himself to constantly arriving unannounced looking pleased with himself.

seductive against the air of period. Rosalind Russell as axis of a nice comedy about success , a project and love in a mixture who respects classic rules of romantic comedy. that could be all. but it has a special dose of charm and that does it interesting in not ordinary manner. the strong woman, the charming , wise, sarcastic reporter and the innocent Prince Charming, the chaos and the silence, the feelings and the duty as ingredients of a story, like many others, about the metamorphose and real happiness. the mark of period, the brilliant Russell, the splendid performance of Brian Aherne are pillars of a film who , far to be memorable is an inspired choice for remind the flavor of a lost time.

W.A.W. opens up in a magazine publishing office, where they are discussing how to interview the latest best-selling author, who no-one has ever met. Flash to Carol Ainsley (R. Russell, nominated for four Oscars), who is the agent for the un-seen author. She is determined to track down the author (played by Willard Parker), and doesn't realize the can of worms that revealing him may open... Brian Aherne is "Pepper", a magazine editor who is writing a story on Ainsley, and keeps popping up where-ever Ainsley goes. For most of the film, he is sitting in chairs, waiting for Ainsley to go through the doorway, or come back from where-ever she has been.

Keep an eye out for some fun supporting characters - Carol's assistant is played by Grady Sutton is a few years after making those hilarious W.C. Fields films. The office secretary is played by Norma Varden, who was so great as Lady Beekman in "Gentlemen Prefer Blonds". The mens dormitory clerk is Chester Clute, who looks and sounds just like Mel Blanc. Unfortunately, all these actors have very few lines; given a few more lines, they could have spiced the film up a bit. Russell does a great job, and carries the film well. It's a lot of fun to watch, although it's more plain and simple than I was expecting; after seeing her in "Friday", I was hoping for more plot twists. She has the same, strong, fast-talking personality that she had in "His Girl Friday". It was refreshing to watch an upbeat, war-time movie without a single mention of the war. Directed by Irving Cummings, who had directed Shirley Temple in four films in the 1930s. I hope Turner Classics starts showing this more often.

The '30s, women wore feminine, flowing dresses. They had boyfriends, some of whom were live in, and they flirted.

Then the Code hit, followed by the war, when women entered the workforce. So now it's the '40s, and the women are all business. They wear tailored suits, are unmarried, and apparently don't need a man.

Aha! But they really do. Women in the '40s learn that without a man, their great career has no meaning.

This brings us to What a Woman! Starring Rosalind Russell and Brian Aherne. She's a top agent handling a million book bestseller, Whirlwind.

In order for the film version to get off the ground, the perfect leading man must be found. The author (Willard Parker) is using a fake name. Russell tracks him down, and it turns out he's perfect for the role himself. She brings him to New York to prepare him.

Meanwhile, every time she turns around, she is being hounded by a journalist (Aherne) doing a profile of her. He knows Parker is falling for her and, interested in Russell himself, watches her discomfort with great amusement.

Russell is terrific in a role that was perfect for her '40s image: a strong beauty who talks a mile a minute and is very efficient ordering people around.

Aherne and Parker give good support, but this is Russell's show. After all, it's the '40s, and women ruled. Or thought they did.