IT HAPPENED ON FIFTH AVENUE (1947) ¢ ¢ ¢
D: Roy Del Ruth
Don Defore, Victor Moore, Charles Ruggles,
Gale Storm, Ann Harding, Grant Mitchell,
Edward Brophy, Alan Hale Jr., Dorothea Kent
The premise of this movie gets more timely as time goes on: A bunch of homeless people move into a Fifth Avenue mansion whose millionaire owner has left for the winter. When the owner comes back early and finds out what's going on, he moves into the house himself, posing as a panhandler. A somewhat overlooked Christmas movie that's gotten renewed attention over the years, thanks to annual screenings on TCM. Frank Capra was originally scheduled to direct, but backed out to make "It's a Wonderful Life". Storm and Defore would both find stardom on 1950s television.
