A Indiscreta

When I began watching WASHINGTON STORY, I really had no idea what the film was about and I have never been a particular fan of the leads, Van Johnson and Patricia Neal. Because of this and the score on IMDb, I was prepared to be unimpressed. However, the film took me completely by surprise as it turned out to be a darn good film--better than the mediocre score on IMDb would indicate.

The film is an interesting lesson on 1950s politics and the press. The film begins with Philip Ober and his employee, Patricia Neal, talking about her new press assignment at the US Capitol. Exactly what her story will be she isn't sure, but it is interesting how Ober slowly guides her to a story idea--one, it turns out, he had in mind for her all along and one that she now thinks is just spur of the moment. She is to try to get a young Congressman (Johnson) to agree to let her watch him for one week and write an exposé on him. She is to try to get the usually press-shy Johnson to allow her access in order to do a "hatchet job"--i.e., tear him to pieces regardless of what he says or does. It takes a lot of work for her to get Johnson to let down his guard and agree to the story. He does so only after she lies and convinces him it's a human interest story for a women's magazine--sort of like "Ladies Home Journal".

The problem is that the more Neal follows Johnson as he works, the more she realizes he's a pretty decent and hard working guy. Now this isn't saying that the Congressmen are all angels--far from it! However, she's amazed to see a politician who is more concerned with doing what's best for the country instead of what will get him re-elected--something politicians these days could really stand to learn.

The film gets very high marks for solid acting--not just with the leads but with the excellent supporting actors (particularly Louis Calhern). In addition, the script is a big star because it is very engaging and manages to tell a MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINTON style story while still avoiding the schmaltz. The characters aren't all black and white in style and even the nice Johnson is a flawed man. I am a rather cynical person yet I didn't find myself laughing at the way these people were portrayed. Overall, a very good and highly underrated film that deserves a look.

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.

During the Second (2nd) Inauguration of President George Bush, this particular film was shown on American Movie Channel and since I had never viewed this film, it was a great opportunity. Patricia Neal, (Alice Kingsley),"The Fountainhead",'49, was very beautiful and young in this 1952 film and played a good girl and also a bad girl newspaper reporter who was after Van Johnson,(Joseph T. Gresham),"Clowning Around",'92, who was a young innocent Senator to the Washington circle. Alice Kingsley's main interest was to find some bad past history in his life in order to discredit him politically. There was a very romantic scene where Alice and Joseph have dinner and dance on an old Pirate Ship and seem to be falling in love. Louis Calhern,(Charles W. Birch),"The Asphalt Jungle"'50 along with Sidney Blackmer,(Philip Emery),"Rosemary's Baby",'68 gave great supporting roles to this film and were able to portray the tricky methods that are used by the old time politicians working behind the scenes. If you like Patricia Neal and Van Johnson from their past great films, then this is a good film to sit back and ENJOY.

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.

I've always been drawn to Van Johnson. I think he is a highly underrated actor. In Washington Story he shares double duty with Patricia Neal in making the flick work. It's an absorbing story concerning the machinations of the press and cynicism about Washington. An added plus is the fine work of character actor Louis Calhern, and also the choice to use Washington D. C. venues as the site for actual filming, giving it a "you are there" feeling. The script is very well written and maintains one's interest throughout. A nice touch is the cinematic bookends of the tour bus at the beginning and at the end. Not at the level of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," but a more than decent runner up.