Government Girl

De Havilland found herself obligated to do GOVERNMENT GIRL when David O. Selznick borrowed her from Warner Bros. (he lent them Ingrid Bergman) and then sold her services to RKO for one picture. She didn't like the script and it looks as though she got her revenge by overacting the title role, which would have been okay if the material itself was funny. But this lame wartime comedy about overcrowded Washington never quite gets off the ground.

Sonny Tufts does what he can with a thankless role as a bungling, naive politician who has to learn the ropes from his pretty secretary. Agnes Moorehead gets in a couple of good quips as a snobbish Washington matron and Jess Barker is likable enough in a secondary romantic lead.

James Dunne and Ann Shirley tend to overplay their roles as a couple of lovestruck newlyweds eager to find lodgings. Despite its obvious flaws, the film was a moderate success for RKO at the box-office and wartime audiences seemed to go for it. De Havilland fans aren't likely to rate this among her best comedies.

For those who could never imagine Olivia de Havilland in a totally madcap comedy but would like to, I would highly recommend this movie to you!!

The story is set in Washington, D.C. in the middle of WW II, when all the hotels in town are full of important people doing business, mostly to help support the war effort. In this way, this movie is highly similar to The More the Merrier (1943) which was made in the same time period with a similar theme.

However, this movie is more about getting things done quickly rather than taking shortcuts through the housing shortage. Here, de Havilland serves as sort of an activity coordinator, trying to guide people to the right place and keep the herd of visitors moving with the least possible disruption. However, she is not ready for the likes of Ed Brown (Sonny Tufts) who is knowledgeable about manufacturing the huge number of aircraft needed quickly for the war.

Ed will do anything to make airplanes and put them into service quickly. To do this, he takes shortcuts to get through the red tape of Washington, and Elizabeth Allard (Olivia de Havilland) can do nothing but go along with him on his wild ride through the bureaucracy, always about five steps in front of any roadblock that may get in his way.

De Havilland often plays the clown to Tufts character, but is soon brought on board his madhouse tactics when she sees hundreds of new warplanes being launched and deployed, thanks to him.

I only saw this movie once on AMC (before they started showing recent "classics". I loved it. Sure, it is a war propaganda film, loaded with patriotism. Sure it is written to the largely female audiences of the time. Sure, it is a pale imitation of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and "His Girl Friday". It is still a fun, witty, movie.

It is also possibly the best use of Washington, DC as a location. They get the geography right. "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (one of my favorites) has people going in every direction. "Government Girl" keeps everything in its place. Also, it provides an historic look at wartime DC.

Tell me where I can find this movie, as I would love to see it again.

If you're looking for laughs, this comedy may disappoint. Surprisingly, the usually restrained De Havilland over-acts egregiously, just about chewing up the scenery in the process. As Smokey, the government girl, it's like she's trying much too hard. On the other hand, the much derided Sonny Tufts comes off best in a slyly bemused performance as the can-do industrialist. At a comedy level, the movie's uneven, at best.

As a glimpse of wartime Washington, however, the movie delivers in revealing ways. Note the unusually crowded scenes in the early part. Newly arriving office workers mix with service men and women, all flocking to staff the explosion of paper work. Naturally, the sudden influx creates a room shortage, which the movie amusingly illustrates with the frustrated newly-weds. There's also the gossipy intrigue of the high-class salons and drawing rooms, where careers can be made or broken. Then there's Brown's (Tufts) tussle with red tape, while trying to get his bomber production up and running. And, of course, the year being 1943, it all ends with a patriotic flyover presaging the Allied victory to come.

Not many wartime films deal with the administrative phase of the war effort. This, I believe, is one of the few, and from that standpoint the movie remains an interesting, if rather frantic, curiosity.

For over a decade, I have been favorably impressed by the work of Olivia de Havilland. That said, I had no high hopes for this film; I wanted to watch this film just to say I had, and to see de Havilland in a comedic role. I was pleasantly surprised, and I found myself rather taken in by the humor. Having seen Miss de Havilland in her Academy Award winning performances and many other dramatic roles, I was impressed by her comedic timing, facial expressions, and sharp sarcasm, which is also very prominent in her portrayal of Amy Lind in THE STRAWBERRY BLONDE. I by no means consider this film one of Hollywood's best, but it isn't all that bad and is definitely worth a watch - particularly if you want to see de Havilland in a different kind of role.