Movie Short Review: ‘The Girl With The Rivet Gun’

Review by David Ferguson

Greetings again from the darkness. The image most associated with “Rosie the Riveter” is the iconic poster featuring a woman wearing a headband, and flexing her bicep exposed by a rolled-up work sleeve. The phrase on the poster reads “We can do it!”, and it’s now viewed as a tribute to the many women who took jobs in factories as men were called to military duty when WWII escalated. Co-directors Anne de Marie and Kirsten Kelly previously collaborated on documentaries, including THE HOMESTRETCH (2014) and ASPARAGUS! STALKING THE AMERICAN LIFE (2008), and here they allow three surviving “Rosies” to tell a bit of their own stories.

After opening with an excerpt of an Eleanor Roosevelt speech, the film introduces us to Esther Horne, Susan Taylor King, and Mildred “Millie” Crow Sargent. The women are from quite different backgrounds and provide their own perspectives on what they experienced Rosie the Riveter. We see a photo of Gussack Machine Shop in Long Island City where, during her first year of marriage, Esther recalled doing the job “for the war” – in other words, as her patriotic duty. Susan, a woman of color, explains how she attended Defense Training School and worked at the Chevy plant in Baltimore. At the time, her dream was to own more than two pair of shoes. Southern lady Millie recounts how, up to that point, “nice girls didn’t wear pants”, and how that changed when she went to work building Helldivers.

The filmmakers use stop-motion animation in lieu of archival footage to present the women working in factories, but these segments actually distract from the best parts: watching these women tell their own stories so many years later. We can’t help but be fascinated as Esther acknowledges the pranks she endured being sent to the tool shop for “a left-handed hammer”, and Millie admits her initial reticence at working next to black people. We also cringe at the modern-day symmetry as Millie discusses the unfairness of being paid 40 cents an hour, while her male co-workers made 75 cents.

We learn of the 2010 “Rosie the Riveter” reunion, and hear the comparison of these women to the first woman in space. Although the numbers vary depending on the data source, the filmmakers say 6 million women were added to the workforce during WWII. One thing that doesn’t vary … Ester, Susan, and Millie are proud of their contributions, as they rightly should be. Kudos to the filmmakers for keeping the story of “Rosie” alive.

***NOTE: the familiar poster noted above was actually created in 1942 as a motivational poster for Westinghouse, not as a U.S. recruiting tool.