GazerRise Fantastic!

Whitech It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

bkoganbing Fifth Avenue Girl is yet another film about a harried father beset with business woes and a spoiled family just like Gregory LaCava's other classic film, My Man Godfrey. And the star of yet another LaCava classic Stage Door, Ginger Rogers takes the lead here as a working class girl who gets hired by Fifth Avenue millionaire Walter Connolly to pose as his mistress to shake up his complacent and stupid family. Kind of like asking Rogers to pose as his Marion Davies to his William Randolph Hearst.Ginger has her hands full with wife Verree Teasdale who is playing a part much like Alice Brady in My Man Godfrey. Imagine Brady in that film confronted with Eugene Palette stepping out and you have some idea of her performance. Connolly and Teasdale have children Tim Holt who before he went full time into westerns played a lot of callow youths like he is here. He's big time into polo and not really into helping dad at the office. As for daughter Kathryn Adams, she's all about her debut as a débutante, she kind of likes the family chauffeur James Ellison, but he's spouting all kinds of Marxist dogma without really understanding it. And there's that class distinction.Fifth Avenue though along the same lines as My Man Godfrey falls a bit flat in the execution. Tim Holt does too good a job as the snobbish upper class youth, so much so you can't see Rogers giving him any kind of consideration. In fact there is a brief scene where Holt gets into it with a sailor played by Jack Carson and it ends disappointingly because you so wanted to see Carson flatten him. Ellison too turns out to be more of a phony than you would like.Connolly and Rogers however work very well together, their scenes are the highlight of Fifth Avenue Girl. And Franklin Pangborn as the butler is restrained a bit, but still very good. Ginger Rogers's legion of fans should like the film, but it's far from her best.

krdement 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."

raskimono Ginger Rogers was good at doing this kind of roles and this is one of her best performances. The plot,an attack on the social strata of society; both the rich and the poor and the consequences that bereave who they are. Without a doubt, the star of the movie is the script. It's so good, it's basically impossible to muck up. Gregory La Cava, that serious and more respected directors of his time who is much forgotten today shoots and directs so wonderfully emphasizing every nuance of the script with style and wit improves on his NY critics winning direction in Stage door. Just a wondeful movie.

Arthur Hausner Ginger Rogers seemed to mumble listlessly through a part she didn't like. Tim Holt seemed too immature for the romantic lead and has no chemistry with Ginger. These items detracted from the good screenplay, which has Ginger hired by millionaire Walter Connolly to stay at his house and sort of straighten out his family. It was almost like "My Man Godfrey" (also directed by Gregory La Cava) with the sex roles interchanged, but it was not nearly as good, and certainly did not come close to the pairing of William Powell and Carole Lombard.Preview comments played a big part in studio decisions in those days. The ending in the film was changed to the one you see after preview audiences panned the original, less happy ending.