ifyougnufilms Review of It Happened on Fifth Avenue

It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947)

Not in the A-list of Christmas Films But Has a Cute Mutt

[5/10 · 7 December 2012]

This is in every sense of the word a B- picture and is certainly not worthy of being listed among classic Christmas films of the same period, films such as Miracle on 34th Street and Christmas in Connecticut. The charm is potential in the comic plot idea, which is clever, but the execution may leave a viewer wishing for better acting, better directing, and less embarrassing shtick inserts. The vaudeville segments, i.e. the goofy ethnic tailor and the mugging restaurant owner trying repeatedly (eternally it feels like)to straighten the table, might have been handled with comic finesse by a director like Preston Sturges, but here they are just annoying, overlong plot breaks. Maybe director Roy del Ruth was giving his old, washed-up buddies from the Mack Sennett days a last gig. But this is not the only reason his directorial wisdom may be called into question. With a few exceptions, the casting is weak. Don DeFore was better playing comic sidekicks than romantic leads, and the redundantly named Gale Storm is a beauty but delivers her (admittedly badly written)lines unconvincingly. Both the romantic leads seemed made for the small screen where they comfortably ended up. Victor Moore, surprisingly, is ineffective as the supposedly charismatic rascal around whom all the action swirls. There were a dozen character actors around Hollywood at the time who could have done a better job. Of course, Moore had to contend with uttering some of the most feeble bits of pseudo-philosophical fluff ever offered in a film. He just prattles on and on in his equally feeble voice until it is a relief to see him toddle on down the Avenue toward the credits on his way to squat in another rich man's mansion. Charles Ruggles would have been much better in the McKeever part. The scenes between him and Ann Harding put all the other actors to shame (except maybe the dog). Thanks to the fine directing, acting, and other artistic talents available to the Hollywood studios at the time, some excellent B movies were produced. This is not one of them. The addition of heavy-handed populist political messages doesn't help--even though watching tomatoes being thrown at business executives may make us regular guys feel swell. The raggy little dog was cute, though, and it out-acted most of the two-legged cast members.