Something For The Birds (1952)

Set in the McCarthy era Washington DC, an engraver (Edmund Gwenn) uses invitations made by the firm he works for to crash exclusive Washington parties where he passes himself off as a retired Navy Admiral. But when a lobbyist (Victor Mature) and a young environmentalist (Patricia Neal) trying to preserve the habitat of the California condor enter his life, his little secret faces exposure. Directed by Robert Wise (THE SOUND OF MUSIC), this political romantic comedy has shades of Capra. Fortunately it avoids the corn prevalent in Capra at his worst but it's on the dullish side. Its barbs and arrows at Washington's political scene are mild (so as not to offend anybody?). The film could have used a lighter leading man like Dana Andrews who Victor Mature replaced. Mature is a good sport but while he might be amusing satirizing himself (as in AFTER THE FOX), he doesn't have a comic actor's touch. With Larry Keating, Joan Shawlee, Madge Blake, Archer MacDonald and Norma Varden.