Roy Del Ruth – It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947)
It was remade in Bollywood twice… Pugree (1948) and Dil Daulat Duniya (1972).
It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947) is a motion picture comedy, directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Victor Moore, Ann Harding, Don DeFore, Charles Ruggles and Gale Storm. Herbert Clyde Lewis and Frederick Stephani were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Story, losing to Valentine Davies for another Christmas-themed story, Miracle on 34th Street.
PLOT:
Aloysius T. McKeever (Victor Moore), a hobo, makes his home in a seasonally boarded-up Fifth Avenue mansion, each time its owner—Michael J. O’Connor (Charles Ruggles), the second richest man in the world—winters at his Virginia estate. McKeever winds up taking in ex-G.I. Jim Bullock (Don DeFore), who has been evicted from an apartment building O’Connor is tearing down for a new skyscraper, and later 18-year-old Trudy “Smith” (Gale Storm), who is actually O’Connor’s runaway daughter. Jim soon invites war buddies Whitey (Alan Hale, Jr.), Hank (Edward Ryan) and their families to share the vast mansion when they are unable to find homes of their own.
When Trudy encounters her father, she tells him she is in love with Jim. She has not told Jim who she really is because she wants to win his love without her wealth. She then persuades her father to pretend to be a homeless man named “Mike”. McKeever reluctantly takes Mike in, but treats him like a servant. When Mike becomes fed up, he gives Trudy 24 hours to get the squatters out. Trudy calls Palm Beach and seeks help from her mother Mary (Ann Harding), who is divorced from Michael. Mary comes to New York and pretends to be another homeless person to join the other squatters. McKeever, sensing Mary and Mike have feelings for each other, nudges them together. Eventually, Mike tells Mary he is a changed man and proposes. Mary accepts.
Jim comes up with an idea to convert unused post-war Army barracks into much-needed housing. McKeever persuades him to bid for an Army camp on the outskirts of New York City. Jim and his friends raise money from hundreds of other ex-G.I.’s in the same predicament. O’Connor also wants the property, and a bidding war ensues before O’Connor finds out who his competitor is. To try to get rid of his daughter’s suitor, he sees to it that the construction company Jim approaches about his conversion plan rejects it and instead offers him a well-paying job in Bolivia, on the condition that he be single.
Celebrating Christmas Eve together, the residents are caught by two patrolmen, but McKeever convinces them to let the families stay until after the New Year. Jim then reveals that the camp has been sold to O’Connor, and he is considering the job offer in Bolivia, resulting in Trudy breaking up with him. When Mary and Trudy find out how Mike has manipulated the situation, Mary thinks he has not changed after all, and that she and Trudy will leave for Florida. Ashamed, Mike arranges a meeting with “O’Connor” for Jim and his partners, who are dubious but accept. At the meeting, Mike reveals his true identity and transfers ownership of the camp to them, provided that they not reveal his identity to McKeever.
That night, everyone shares a New Year’s dinner before restoring the house just as they found it. Mike, Mary, Trudy and Jim bid farewell to McKeever as he heads off to O’Connor’s estate in Virginia, still unaware of the truth. Mike tells Mary to remind him to nail up the board in the back fence through which McKeever gets onto his property, intending to have McKeever come through the front door next winter.
It.Happened.on.Fifth.Avenue.1947.576p.BluRay.AAC.x264-HANDJOB.mkv
General
Container: Matroska
Runtime: 1h 54mn
Size: 3.13 GiB
DXVA: Compatible
Minimum settings: Met
Video
Codec: x264
Resolution: 790x576
Aspect ratio: 1.372
Frame rate: 23.976 fps
Bit rate: 3 672 kb/s
Audio
English 2.0ch AAC LC @ 224 kb/s
Language(s):English
Subtitles:English
Thanks so much for bringing this film here! I am looking forward to watching it again. Merci!