![]() The modern fable the screenplay by Everett Freeman tells, based on an original by Herbert Clyde Lewis and Frederick Stephani, with additional dialogue by Vick Knight, is, in a word, brilliant entertainment. Two other bits are included which are literally howls - the tailor routine by Abe Reynolds and the waiter moment by Pat Goldin.There is more to celebrate than there is to criticize in It Happened on 5th Avenue. Grant Mitchell has a brief part as a big-time secretary, Edward Brophy and Arthur Hohl do a riotous bit as patrolmen guarding the boarded-up mansion. Dorothea Kent gayly plays one of the wives, and Cathy Carter is the other. The other army buddies are ably portrayed by Alan Hale, Jr., who will bear watching, and Edward Ryan, Jr., of Sullivans fame. Gale Storm is very lovely as the O’Connor daughter, and the ex-service man who takes her eye gains substance through the presence of Don DeFore. Miss Harding comes into the picture quite late, then proceeds to dominate her every scene with the exquisite perfection of her playing. And speaking of personality, Ann Harding brings superb craftsmanship to her portrait of the divorced wife. This is a Ruggles who has dropped all of the tricks of his delivery to create an honest, believable personality. He misses none of its joy, and is matched in every respect by what Charlie Ruggles makes Michael O’Connor mean. ![]() Victor Moore has one of his most priceless roles as the jolly tramp, Mac. There are moments of reaching that could have been more tightly edited, but Del Ruth’s direction of the central characters brings out some superlative performances. The situation puts into play the development of both young and old romance.ĭel Ruth leaves nothing out in his handling of a funny idea that he makes even funnier. Then she works the same routine upon her mother, who some years before divorced father. ![]() So she sells him the idea of returning to his own residence in the guise of a tramp. When these fellows get started on a promotion to house returning service men in converted army camps, the O’Connor daughter thinks it is time her father took a hand. The next to be invited are a couple of Army buddies with their wives and children. She finds the tramp an old darling and is more than passingly attracted to the discharged vet. Thought to be stealing by the two “residents,” she is reproached for her “theft” of something that is not a necessity. The third to arrive is the O’Connor daughter who drops by to pick up a fur coat from her own closets. He is quickly invited to share the bounty of a mansion temporarily deserted for the winter months. This uninvited guest later encounters an ex-service man sleeping in Central Park. Both subsequently enter the house and make themselves charmingly at home, the tramp availing himself of O’Connor’s sumptuous wardrobe, eating his choice food, drinking his vintage liquors and smoking his private stock cigars. As the bus passes, a happy bum and his dog are picked up entering the grounds through a loose board in the back fence. The action begins as an announcer on a 5th Avenue bus points out the boarded-up home of Michael O’Connor, reported to be the second richest main in the world. But the basic worth of this yarn is consistently far superior to the carping that can be leveled against it. There will be voices raised against the corn in which the topping gags frequently indulge. There can be many who will wish that the picture were shorter than its five minutes less than two hours running time. There is more to celebrate than there is to criticize in It Happened on 5th Avenue.
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