“For to be without friends is a serious form of poverty.”
I made a wise decision in taping It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947) when it aired recently on Turner Classic Movies (TCM).
(Side note: Taping movies on TCM is how I usually come across cinematic gold. Thanks, TCM.)
The film chronicles the lives of several New York City residents in the 1940s, all from extremely different walks of life.
The story begins as a hobo named Aloysius T. McKeever (Victor Moore) is moving into a Fifth Avenue mansion for his third winter – unbeknownst to the owner, of course. With his little dog in tow, McKeever takes up residence at the home of Michael J. O’Connor (Charles Ruggles), the second richest man in the world, while he is away for the winter in Virginia.
McKeever comes across a newly homeless ex-G.I. named Jim Bullock (Don DeFore) after being evicted from his apartment. The reason for the eviction? A man named Michael J. O’Connor (ring a bell?) is tearing down the apartment building in order to build a skyscraper. Before he is physically kicked out of the building, Jim stubbornly refuses to leave, even going so far as to chain himself to the bed with handcuffs. Dedication!
The video below is marked as a trailer, but it’s actually the first Jim Bullock scene:
Just after Jim moves into the O’Connor mansion, a young lady makes her way into the house. The audience is made aware that the girl in question is O’Connor’s 18 year-old daughter named Trudy (Gale Storm). Unhappy with her life, Trudy had run away from her father and returned to their Fifth Avenue home, of course unaware of the mansion’s winter guests:
When Trudy realizes that McKeever and Jim are harmless and just need a place to stay, she decides to hide her identity and take up the alias Trudy Smith in order to fit in. She even goes to the extent of nabbing a job at a music store to become an “everyday girl”.
Soon, Trudy falls for Jim. However, Jim is still unaware of Trudy’s true identity. She is determined to win Jim over without the knowledge of her wealth – something that Jim wouldn’t even take into consideration for falling in love. After she tells her father about Jim, she convinces him to meet him…but under one stipulation: He has to disguise himself as a panhandler named Mike. McKeever allows “Mike” to stay in the mansion as a servant. Funny how stuff works out.
When Trudy brings her mom (her father’s ex-wife) -portrayed so well by Ann Harding – in to the mix, things get ever so sweetly complicated…as if the situation wasn’t crazy enough before. Throw in a subplot that involves Jim and several of his ex-GI buddies living in the mansion and their plans to buy an old Army camp and make low-cost housing out of the former barracks and you’ve got one heck of a Christmas film.
It Happened on Fifth Avenue is so funny. It’s got a touch of screwball in it. It’s silly, but it tugs at the heartstrings. It was nominated for the Best Writing, Original Story Academy Award and lost to another holiday classic, Miracle on 34th Street. After going into almost total obscurity for nearly twenty years, it was released on DVD for the first time in 2008. Following suit, Turner Classic Movies aired it for the first time in 2009.
There are a couple of songs performed and nice incidental music in It Happened on Fifth Avenue. This is my personal top pick:
This just may be my new favorite Christmas movie.
It Happened on Fifth Avenue will air on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) on Christmas Eve at 12:30 PM (EST).
Happy watching. ♡
-Meredith
vitaphonedreamer.wordpress.com 
So embarrassed to say I’ve never watched this but your review has me determined to do so. I don’t think I can wait till Christmas though! Thanks for the recommendation and look forward to watching!
I’m so glad that this has inspired you to watch it! Please do and if you remember, let me know what you think. It really is one of my favorite films now. 🙂