MMC It Happened on Fifth Avenue
- Thread starter Jeff Westover
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MerryCarey
A Voice from the North
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Santa's Elf
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Sidelight on Victor Moore: He was instrumental in organizing Christmas in July in the early 1900s (perhaps the original Christmas in July) for vaudevillians who were on the road entertaining---and often doing extra shows---on Christmas Day. With his help, the LIGHTS (Long Island Good-Hearted Thespian Society) organized an annual Christmas in July on Long Island. Entertainers would often arrive in winter garb to celebrate around a big Christmas tree---and Moore often played Santa himself.
How did I know YOU were going to speak up on this one? You're money in the bank.
MerryCarey
A Voice from the North
MMC Lifer
MMC Donor
Christmas Crew
Louann Jeffries Award
Santa's Elf
Kringle Radio DJ
Vic Moore should have been in more Christmas movies! He would have been so good as Clarence in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” or Mr. Bogardus in “The Bells of St. Mary’s” … I’d love to go back in time and see him play Santa for the LIGHTS.
I'd love to go back in time and see him in a lot of things. His filmography is impressive, especially since he spanned the eras, so to speak. I enjoyed him in this and thought he was ideally cast.
I can't believe I totally forgot about this movie! I haven't seen it since I was a little kid. I hope TCM airs it this year. I'd love it even more if I could get it on DVD. I just don't go for all that streaming stuff, lol. TCM just "refreshed" on September 1, so I don't know what to expect from them this season. They are playing more and more recent movies - even from the 2010's! Oh, how I will be looking for this one! Thanks for the awesome reminder of an old favorite, Jeff!
I love any Christmas film that shines a light on NYC. This one is no exception. It's an unrated classic and has had a place in our Holiday movie viewing for awhile! Great write up!
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MerryCarey
A Voice from the North
MMC Lifer
MMC Donor
Christmas Crew
Louann Jeffries Award
Santa's Elf
Kringle Radio DJ
The movie is available on DVD and Blu-ray---I hope you can get ahold of a copy!I can't believe I totally forgot about this movie! I haven't seen it since I was a little kid. I hope TCM airs it this year. I'd love it even more if I could get it on DVD. I just don't go for all that streaming stuff, lol. TCM just "refreshed" on September 1, so I don't know what to expect from them this season. They are playing more and more recent movies - even from the 2010's! Oh, how I will be looking for this one! Thanks for the awesome reminder of an old favorite, Jeff!
MerryCarey
A Voice from the North
MMC Lifer
MMC Donor
Christmas Crew
Louann Jeffries Award
Santa's Elf
Kringle Radio DJ
It's great to see so much love for such a sweet old movie!
MerryCarey
A Voice from the North
MMC Lifer
MMC Donor
Christmas Crew
Louann Jeffries Award
Santa's Elf
Kringle Radio DJ
You need to see "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" (1984) starring Scott Grimes and Mickey Rooney. It's all about a retired police detective (Rooney) who wants to show his Californian grandson what Christmas in New York is like---only the city is missing it's annual Christmas cheer, and the angel who was supposed to spread the Christmas cheer is missing somewhere in the city. The former detective and his grandson set out to find the missing angel and restore Christmas cheer to New York City before it's too late. Plenty of location shooting!
It was made for TV in 1984, later issued on VHS, but never issued on DVD, for some reason. It's a charming film. I was lucky enough to score one of the VHS copies, and Mr. actually found a 16mm broadcast film print.
I'll have to look for it. Thanks for the recommendation!!
MerryCarey
A Voice from the North
MMC Lifer
MMC Donor
Christmas Crew
Louann Jeffries Award
Santa's Elf
Kringle Radio DJ
If you can't find one, send me a PM. I may be able to locate a copy.
It's funny that I ran into this article tonight because I literally finished watching this movie for the first time not more than an hour ago. I had never even heard of it but ran across it on HBO Max and decided to give it a look. I thought it was surprisingly good, with an excellent cast and performances.
It is both interesting and strange to me that they released the film in April. Seems like it would obviously be either a November or December release.
That's interesting about Frank Capra being handed the movie but passing it off to another director. As I was watching the film I thought there were vague thematic similarities to It's a Wonderful Life. It would be interesting to see what Capra's version would've looked like, but I think that Ruth did an excellent job.
It is both interesting and strange to me that they released the film in April. Seems like it would obviously be either a November or December release.
That's interesting about Frank Capra being handed the movie but passing it off to another director. As I was watching the film I thought there were vague thematic similarities to It's a Wonderful Life. It would be interesting to see what Capra's version would've looked like, but I think that Ruth did an excellent job.
If you haven't seen it and want to see another classic that is at least sort of related to Christmas--the holiday doesn't play a big role but the story does culminate on Christmas Eve--then go watch The Shop Around the Corner with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan. I watched it a few nights ago for the first time and thought it was excellent.
MerryCarey
A Voice from the North
MMC Lifer
MMC Donor
Christmas Crew
Louann Jeffries Award
Santa's Elf
Kringle Radio DJ
I have a partial answer to that ... spring and summer were the seasons that saw the heaviest movie attendance, so studios often released their biggest productions during that time for maximum box-office return. For example, "Miracle on 34th Street" was released in the summer (you'll notice that the posters and other publicity hid the Christmas setting). By the time the films reached the "neighborhood houses," it was closer to Christmas.
MerryCarey
A Voice from the North
MMC Lifer
MMC Donor
Christmas Crew
Louann Jeffries Award
Santa's Elf
Kringle Radio DJ
Yes! This is one of my all-time favorite movies. Actually, the last two or three reels take place during the Christmas season. A Blu-ray with a beautiful new transfer came out last year, replacing the DVD transfer that had at least one slightly rickety reel.
Nothing beats the scene where Frank Morgan (as the store owner, Mr. Matuschek) is hinting to his employees as they leave for an invitation to Christmas dinner. He winds up taking the delivery boy, who he discovers is living away from his family and alone in the city, out to dinner. A really heartwarming scene.
Thanks for the info. That's interesting. It seemed that I had heard something before about movies set during Christmas being released out-of-season.
Today if a studio released a Christmas film in the middle of the summer it would be viewed as distinctly odd and I have no doubt that the box office would suffer for it.
Glad to find someone else who appreciates this film! I just ran across it randomly the other night in HBO Max's holiday section and was like, "Oh, Jimmy Stewart. . . Guess I'll check it out." I had never heard of it before, but I enjoyed it immensely and then recommended it to my dad and rewatched it with a friend of mine.
I had also never heard of Margaret Sullavan. I looked her up on IMDB and her filmography, especially in comparison with her contemporaries, is quite bare. Not sure if it's because she just wasn't offered the roles or if she didn't enjoy working that much. I thought she was good in this film, though. In fact, the whole cast is great.
And yes, that scene with Matuschek and the and the new delivery boy is a good scene. Matuschek was actually a great character who was brought to life masterfully by Morgan.
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