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.
