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Film Perfection

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

After a stressful business meeting, "Amalgamated Pump" millionaire Walter Connolly (as Timothy Borden) returns to his upper fifth avenue Manhattan mansion expecting to receive some "Happy Birthday" wishes. His spoiled, disinterested family has forgotten Mr. Connolly's birthday, however. Connolly goes to Central Park alone and meets sullen, disinterested Ginger Rogers (as Mary Grey). He learns the beautiful apple-chomping woman is homeless and invites Ms. Rogers to dinner. When she spends the night in his guest room, Connolly's family suddenly become interested in the old provider. Connolly invites Rogers to stay and shake up the household...Produced and directed by Gregory La Cava, this story is similar to his "My Man Godfrey" (1936). When Connolly goes to the park, you know he's either going to be mistaken or a bum or find one; after which, we might poke fun at the idle rich and admire the hard-working poor. For good measure, handsome family chauffeur James Ellison (as Michael "Mike" Farnsbother) dabbles in Communism...This is a good film, but it should be much better. The production looks great, the situation is fun and several one-liners work. Sadly, the top-billed cast doesn't really click. Rogers appears too elegant and serious; also, she displays little chemistry with her supporting cast, especially leading men Connolly and Tim Holt (as "Tim" Borden). La Cava should have re-cut Rogers' "kitchen knife scene" and added some romance. Rogers should have toned down her movie star looks and added more playfulness to her homeless character.***** 5th Ave Girl (8/25/39) Gregory La Cava ~ Ginger Rogers, Walter Connolly, Tim Holt, James Ellison

Whether you regard this movie as a "flawed gem" or a "near miss" depends primarily upon your attitude toward Ginger Rogers, Walter Connolly and Tim Holt. I personally endorse any film starring Ginger Rogers. It is probably a sad truism that most people outside Miss Rogers' fan base think of her primarily as Fred Astaire's dancing partner and co-star and do not know that she was a huge and very versatile star in her own right. This is not one of her best roles, nor is it one of her worst. However, even in this role, she mesmerizes me with her mere presence. For me, her beauty and charm always radiate from the screen.In the thirties and forties, Hollywood embraced a number of actors with incredibly distinctive voices - Walter Brennan, Andy Devine, Wallace Beery, Eugene Palette, AND Walter Connolly, to name a few. I always enjoy seeing these actors for their unique vocal qualities alone. Here, Connolly is a treat not just for his vocal quality, but for his portrayal of a simple man elevated to an unanticipated level of affluence who is threatened with the complete loss of control of both his business and his family. He is simple, but not stupid. When he encounters Ginger Rogers in the park, he hits upon a scheme to salvage his family that ends up salvaging his business, as well. The film's plot revolves around this plan, and it is a great concept for a comedy movie.Tim Holt enjoyed two great roles in his career - the spoiled son, George, in The Magnificent Ambersons; and Bogey's sidekick, Curtin, in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Both stories are dramas, and he has serious, uncomplicated dramatic roles in both. To me, he was ill-suited to a comedy such as 5th Avenue Girl. Due to either the direction or his own initiative, he portrays a character that is not very clearly projected or very sympathetic. He never convinces me that he is actually "falling" for Ginger. He is her primary antagonist for most of the film, and he constantly rags on her. I suspect that Tim Holt is not capable of the nuanced performance necessary to convey his gradually increasing emotional involvement with Ginger or to create a more sympathetic character.In two key scenes, Holt abruptly attempts to plant a big kiss on Ginger. Both scenes are extremely awkward and detract from the film. The first attempt is on a park bench, without any indication that Holt has begun to soften his stance against Ginger. In an earlier scene, he grudgingly admits that she looks pretty in a new dress.The second scene is on the front porch of the family home. We haven't seen any build-up because the cut from the previous scene is so abrupt. All we see is Ginger shoving him and his unwanted kiss away from her - as she would any cad. If the movie had shown some growing tenderness and affection and warming dialog in the front porch scene, we would know that he is not just trying to jump her bones. But even in the few lines he has that are not critical of Ginger, his tone is harsh and accusatory. Thus, for me the lack of a sense of chemistry between Holt and Rogers is what keeps this film from being a classic comedy. It is still very enjoyable, whether you regard it as a "flawed gem" or a "near miss."

Too much social commentary (and not too subtle, at that), combined with an unusually low-key performance from GINGER ROGERS (was she bored with her role?), make FIFTH AVENUE GIRL a less than satisfying spoof on the manners and mores of '39 among the idle rich.As usual, the formulaic story is concerned with an unhappy millionaire (WALTER CONNOLLY who seemed to specialize in these sort of roles), a man so ignored by his family that he decides to shake them up by hiring a girl (GINGER ROGERS) to pose as his steady girlfriend. Improbably, Rogers agrees after a chance meeting in a NYC park, thus setting the plot in motion.The family is composed of characters that are standard for comedies of this genre. There's the feather-brained wife (VERREE TEASDALE), the outspoken butler (FRANKLIN PANGBORN), the Marxist chauffeur (JAMES ELLISON), and the stuffy son (TIM HOLT) who has to be taken down a peg by Ginger. Unfortunately, there's virtually no chemistry between Holt and Rogers. Ginger's detached air and throwaway delivery of lines may be responsible for this, but Holt seems stiff and uncomfortable in his role. The ending seems a bit contrived and foolish.Summing up: Passable fare if you're not particular about your screwball comedies or happen to be a fan of Ginger Rogers, although she's certainly off her mark here. Oddly unsatisfactory script.

For some reason, this doesn't really work. It has a sensational cast. It's part fairy tale, part socio-political commentary, and mostly a romantic comedy.The romance comes late, though, and seems slightly tacked on/.Out-of-work Ginger Rogers meets mogul Walter Connolly In Central Park. He's gone there to look at the seals with his butler Franklin Pangborn; and right here something seems a little forced and improbable.Rogers is a sort of tabula rasa who helps Connolly get back together with his wife -- amusingly played by Veree Teasdale. She also heaps his uninterestingly played daughter break down social barriers to get together with family chauffeur and would-be Socialist, hunky James Ellison. And she helps his son Tim Holt settle down and, as we of course knew she would, gets together with him at the end.She is like the Terence Stamp character in Pasolini's fascinating "Teorema" almost 30 years later and like Michael York in the thoroughly disagreeable, arch "Something For Everyone" of approximately that same time. Both those characters are overtly sexual, though Rogers is decently not so here, beginning and ending the movie eating an apple. (Eve she is not. More like her Sue-Sue character from "The Major and The Minor.") It's kind of funny and kind of not very funny.When she and Holt revisit the park bench where she met his father, Jack Carson, playing a Navy man on leave, sits beside them with his lady friend and sings a delightful chanty about temptresses. It's the best I've ever seen him and it's a breath of fresh air and believability for this movie.