In 5TH AVENUE GIRL, director Gregory La Cava seems to have anticipated Howard Hawks's HIS GIRL Friday by giving us a loose remake of MY MAN GODFREY with a key sex role reversal. A down-on-her-luck woman (Ginger Rogers) is thrust into the bosom of a bizarre wealthy family and goes a long way towards straightening them out. 5TH AVENUE GIRL presents a slightly more serious treatment, its family less eccentric and rather more mean than that of GODFREY, and the movie suffers for the changes. It was the second of three straight films that La Cava made with Ginger Rogers, and by my lights is easily the least of the three.On the plus side, the real star of the show is the fine character actor Walter Connolly, getting a rare opportunity to front a major film near the end of his life. As the put-upon manufacturer emotionally deserted by his ungrateful family, he successfully invokes the audience's sympathy and shares a pleasant chemistry with Rogers, who is in full- scale deadpan mode (to an excessive degree in my opinion). The rest of the cast is adequate with the exception of Tim Holt, a dead weight in pretty much everything in which I've seen him with the notable exception of THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRES. A major problem for 5TH AVENUE GIRL is the complete lack of development of its love interest subplot. Indeed, with the exception of Connolly's industrialist, pretty much everything in 5TH AVENUE GIRL remains undeveloped, including the character of the 5th Avenue Girl herself, which remains vague and sketchy throughout (this young lady is remarkably nonchalant about being down to her last $5. Why?). Indeed, we get far more details about the communist chauffeur and the idiot rich girl than we ever get about Rogers' 'Miss Grey'.The whole film leaves me with a shrug of the shoulders. It's overtly sociological but never goes beyond 'the rich are people, too'. It's a comedy but is never really very funny. It's not exactly bad, but not really good, either. I guess I'm a lotta help, aren't I?

It's obvious when you watch this film that it was strongly inspired by the wonderful comedy "My Man Godfrey", though it never comes close to the quality or zaniness of this earlier hit. This isn't to say I didn't like "5th Avenue Girl"--it just isn't in the same league as "Godfrey".The film begins with a rich industrialist (Walter Connelly) meeting Ginger Rogers on a park bench. It's his birthday, yet no one in his family cares or took notice. On a lark, he invites this total stranger to go out partying with him. At first, she's hesitant. However, he can afford it and she's not used to this sort of life, so she agrees.The next day, Connelly awakens with little recollection of all the details of the night before, as he had gotten quite drunk. He's surprised, however, when Rogers turns up in his home--it seems he invited her to stay in the guest room. Now you'd think this would cause a huge problem with Connelly's wife...a strange woman in the house. However, that's the crux of the problem--his family doesn't really care. So, on a lark, he decides to take this to the next step--and pay Rogers to stay and pretend to be his mistress--though there is absolutely nothing between them. He just wants to make his no-good family take notice! As for Connelly and Rogers, they are both excellent in this film. I especially love Connelly, as he was a delightful supporting actor and here he gets a chance to play the leading man--with nice results. However, after these two, the film's cast and writing really falls short. In "Godfrey", the family was kooky--filled with eccentrics and oddballs. However, here in "5th Avenue Girl", the family just seems selfish and a bit despicable--a major problem for the film. The wife and son were just selfish jerks, while the daughter, to put it bluntly, is an annoying idiot--who's in love with a really, really annoying young communist. As a result, the film rests solely on Rogers and Connelly--with no real support from anyone. If this had been worked out, the film would have been more than a pleasant comedy--it could have been something exceptional. Still, it is charming and fun to watch--plus I'd watch Connelly in anything--he's that good.By the way, listen up for a great final line by Ginger--it's a doozy.

Ginger Rogers is out of work and Walter Connolly has just the job for her in "5th Ave Girl," also starring Verree Teasdale and Tim Holt. Connolly is a pump manufacturer (not shoes, the other kind) who is filthy rich and, though he lives with his family, is estranged from them. His two brat kids pay no attention to him, and his wife is always making the gossip columns for running around - with someone and without her husband. So he hires Ginger to shake things up and make them think he's got a life without them, too. It's a cavernous, ugly house of the kind seen in "Holiday" and so many '30s films, and it's filled with malcontents. The daughter is in love with the chauffeur who spouts Communist propaganda and hates the rich, the wife panics when she sees Ginger, and the son, against his will, has to take over the family company because his father is so distracted with his new young girlfriend.Rogers plays this role in an offhanded manner, with sardonic line delivery. It works fairly well but it's a little too one-note. However, you definitely catch the character's underlying fear and vulnerability. She takes life as it comes - but when it's not what she expected, she's unnerved. Walter Connolly is excellent - I especially loved him practicing the rumba in the doorway. Verree Teasdale does a good job as the wife - attractive, imperious, and vain. Unfortunately, while Tim Holt is good as the son, he and Rogers have no chemistry, so their connection seems to come out of left field.This is an enjoyable film but somehow it lacks spark. A little variation in Rogers' performance might have helped, and more development of the relationship between Holt and Rogers.

The ridiculously rich (look at that mansion) and the perfectly groomed poor. Ginger Rogers proves that she was one of the best comedic, deadpan actresses of her time, even without dancing. The bratty kids, the wise ass chauffeur, the horse faced butler. The clothes, love that 1930-40's look. it must have been a real ego trip to be stinking rich during a time of world wide depression, which made the rich even richer. Great writing, acting and directing. As good as "It happened One Night". There were many movies made in 1939, a couple of them like GWTW and TW of Oz, get all the press but this movie is a gem. Walter Connolly and Verre Teasdale as high society husband and wife are great.