Washington Story, (Target for Scandal) (1952)

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Washington Story stars Van Johnson as mildly liberal congressman Joseph T. Gresham. For reasons that he can't fathom, Gresham has been targeted for abuse by powerful columnist Gilbert Nunnaly (Philip Ober). Working in cahoots with Nunnaly is journalist Alice Kingsley (Patricia Neal), who pretends to… More Washington Story stars Van Johnson as mildly liberal congressman Joseph T. Gresham. For reasons that he can't fathom, Gresham has been targeted for abuse by powerful columnist Gilbert Nunnaly (Philip Ober). Working in cahoots with Nunnaly is journalist Alice Kingsley (Patricia Neal), who pretends to be working on a favorable magazine article about Gresham, but who is actually digging up dirt for Nunnaly's benefit. Ultimately, Alice falls in love with the honest Gresham, standing by him during a moment of profound political crisis. The major selling card of Washington Story was producer Dore Schary's decision to lens the film on location in Washington, offering viewers glimpses of the real-life Congress and Senate in action. Remarkably, the film offers a slightly left-of-center hero at a time when McCarthyism was at its height. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 21 min.
Directed By: Robert Pirosh
Genres: Drama, Romance

In Theaters: Jul 18, 1952 Wide

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Veronique K

"washington story" was one of the patricia neal movies tcm played on her birthday this day, before then i wasn't aware what a striking, idosyncraticly talented she had been..."washington story" is that sort of pleasant comedy of congressman falling in love… More
"washington story" was one of the patricia neal movies tcm played on her birthday this day, before then i wasn't aware what a striking, idosyncraticly talented she had been..."washington story" is that sort of pleasant comedy of congressman falling in love with a female journalist who is sent to hachet some inside story of him..along the course of getting acquinted with the congressman, she discovers he's straight-to-the-arrow decent man america needs...so she's swooned by his integrity as he's infatuated by the touch of class in her....the movie could have been pulled off with more bit of edge and dynamite...van johnson is typecasted as that sort of homely honest goodie-goodie for ladies who admire good wholesome americanistic qualities...anyway. no. the only thing worth watching here is patricia neal who was so damned beautiful and elegant with her deep sexy voice. how come i never noticed before? "washington story" has the framebone of "his girl friday" and "meet john doe", and patricia neal seems to have the capacity to manage that sort of roles which barbara stanwyck and rosalind russell did more than a decade ago...but unfortunately it features a mediocre backset as well as an average leading man (watching van johnson is one of the not so exciting experiences on screen), it's at best a mild slow-paced romantic comedy instead of a smashing classic.