Olivia deHavilland plays a wacky woman with good intentions. The foundation of this comedy has to do with people that don't listen to one another. If things had been allowed to calm down for a moment, there wouldn't be all this trouble. They also make speeches, ignoring the situation. It is filled with sight gags and lost documents and deadlines missed and rooms unavailable. Of course, we know that those who become the most combative are bound to eventually hook up. But the path to this is filled with pratfalls and silly dialogue that isn't particular funny. DeHavilland does lots of screeching and accusing and everything is totally predictable. I suppose in 1943, a vacuous comedy would have been met positively. Not horrible but nothing to write home about.

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.

Olivia de Havilland is Smokey, a "Government Girl" in this 1943 look at wartime Washington. We clearly see the role of the working woman, the housing crisis, the problems getting a hotel room, and the bureaucracy. de Havilland plays a young woman with no plans to get married, because she has her career - a prevailing attitude in those days.While at a wedding of her friend/roommate May (Ann Shirley) and her soon to be husband (James Dunn) in the lobby of a Washington hotel because their suite was given away, she encounters one Mr. Ed Browne (Sonny Tufts). He has the aforementioned suite, and Smokey can't get it away from him. Later she finds out that he's her new boss. As unpleasantly as their relationship started, she sees that he knows how to cut corners to get bombers built and get things done.This is a forced comedy which proves that even the remarkable acting and presence of Olivia de Havilland can't save the sinking ship named Sonny Tufts. If it hadn't been for the war, this man would never have landed in front of a camera, but let's face it, Hollywood was desperate! And he's proof of it.The rest of the cast is very good, and "Government Girl" certainly gives us an interesting look of the U.S. in wartime. De Havilland works hard, perhaps too hard, overcoming the deficiencies in the production. Or perhaps I should say, the deficiency.

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.