It Happened on Fifth Avenue

In It Happened on Fifth Avenue, a hobo and friends take up residence in a mansion whilst the family is away on Christmas holiday.  Unknown to him, some of those friends are the millionaire and his daughter!

It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947), starring Don DeFore, Ann Harding, Charles Ruggles, Victor Moore, Gale Storm

In a very real sense, It Happened on Fifth Avenue is one of my my favorite secular Christmas movies. In other words, it doesn’t deal in any with the the birth of the Christ child, but on the annual holiday celebration. It begins with a rich, unhappy man heading south for the winter, to his mansion there. And a hobo named Aloysius moves into the mansion the following day! He considers himself not a thief, but doing the owner a favor. He maintains the place, keeps it clean, wears the man’s clothes — to keep them from getting wrinkled, of course. And eats his food, as “payment” for the hobo’s services. He’s been doing this for multiple years, in fact.

But then, a homeless GI enters the picture.

Cast

• Don DeFore (The Stork Club) … Jim Bullock. Ex-GI, who can’t find a place to live after the war. He and Aloysius get thrown together, and he gets invited to stay at the mansion, starting the entire story …
• Ann Harding (Star of Midnight) … Mary O’Connor. Michael’s ex-wife, who’s as unhappy after their divorce as Michael is.
• Charles Ruggles (The Invisible Woman) … Michael J. O’Connor. The wealthy man, who lifted himself out of poverty. But now that he’s wealthy, he’s pushed his wife away, and he’s fundamentally unhappy. Until Aloysius starts giving him advice — and hard work!
• Victor Moore (Swing Time) … Aloysius T. McKeever. The homeless man, who’s the hub of the story. He winters in the O’Connor mansion once they leave, And summers in a different mansion down south. And he has a sweet deal going, until Jim shows up. And then other people …
• Gale Storm … Trudy O’Connor. Michael & Mary’s daughter, who’s run away from school. She goes home, when Aloysius & Jim have moved in, so she pretends to be a street person. And later invites her father, hiding the fact the they’re related. Or that Michael’s the business tycoon, making it hard for the ex-GI’s to find affordable housing.
• Grant Mitchell (Blondie’s Holliday) … Farrow
• Edward Brophy (A Slight Case of Murder) … Cecil Felton
• Alan Hale Jr. (The Giant Spider Invasion, Gilligan’s Island) … Whitey Temple. Another ex-GI,, who moves in.
• Dorothea Kent (Having Wonderful Time) … Margie Temple. Whitey’s wife, who also moves in. Pretty soon, the mansion’s going to be bulging.
• Edward Ryan … Hank (as Edward Ryan Jr.)
• Cathy Carter … Alice

Product Description 

As he does every winter, hobo Aloysius T. McKeever (Victor Moore) moves in to a mansion on New York City’s 5th Avenue while its owners are away for the winter and invites all his hobo friends in from the cold. But this Christmas, Mary O’Connor (Ann Harding) comes home unexpectedly after a quarrel with her boyfriend to find her house occupied by jovial street dwellers. To make matters even worse, her father (Charles Ruggles) disguises himself as a hobo to get an invitation to stay in his own home — and keeps his identity secret in this perennial Christmas favorite about rediscovering family and the joy of being together.

Songs

• It’s a Wonderful Wonderful Feeling
  • Lyrics by Harry Revel
  • Music by Harry Revel
  • Performed by The King’s Men then
  • Performed by Gale Storm, Don DeFore and Victor Moore
• That’s What Christmas Means to Me
  • Lyrics by Harry Revel
  • Music by Harry Revel
  • Performed by Gale Storm, Don DeFore, Ann Harding, Charles Ruggles, Victor Moore, Alan Hale Jr., Dorothea Kent, Edward Ryan and Cathy Carter
  • [The housemates sing the song on Christmas Eve as Trudy plays the piano]
• Speak – My Heart
  • Lyrics by Harry Revel
  • Music by Harry Revel
  • Performed by The King’s Men
  • [Played at the music store when Mike spots Trudy]
• You’re Everywhere
  • Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
  • Music by Harry Revel
  • Lipsynched by Gale Storm then
  • Performed by The King’s Men
  • [Trudy sings the song at the music store for her audition, immediately followed by the song overlayed over the action as Trudy speaks to Jim outside the store]
• Mary’s a Grand Old Name
  • Music by George M. Cohan
  • Lyrics by George M. Cohan
  • [Played on music box]
• Auld Lang Syne
  • Traditional
  • [Sung by wordless chorus as the characters are saying goodbye at the end]