one of my absolute favorites!

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Songs: "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm" (Powell, Faye ); "Slumming on Park Avenue" (Faye, Ritz Brothers, chorus); "He Ain't Got Rhythm" (Faye, Ritz Brothers, chorus); "You're Laughing At Me" (Powell); "The Girl on the Police Gazette" (Powell, Faye, chorus); "This Year's Kisses" (Faye); - all music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. "O Chi Chornia" (Ritz Brothers). Deleted songs: "On the Avenue", "Swing Sister", "On the Steps of Grant's Tomb". Western Electric Sound System. Associate producer: Gene Markey.Copyright 4 February 1937 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Radio City Music Hall: 4 February 1937. U.S. release: 12 February 1937. U.K. release: 29 July 1937. Australian release: December 1937. 7,950 feet. 88 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Famed as the movie that deleted its title song, what's left is the story of a beautiful heiress and her pompous father, who senselessly object to a satirical sketch of themselves in a Broadway show (thus giving the annoying show reams of free publicity).COMMENT: "On the Avenue" has a large number of good things going for it: Alice Faye, Madeleine Carroll, Dick Powell, George Barbier, Alan Mowbray, Sig Rumann, Billy Gilbert; Irving Berlin songs; a reasonably amusing story; 20th Century-Fox production values.On the other hand, it manages a number of big disappointments as well: Alice Faye, the Ritz Brothers, Stepin Fetchit; not enough Irving Berlin songs; a story that gets in the way; mediocre direction and (aside from the beautiful photography) lackluster technical credits.To take these problems one by one. I was disappointed that Alice Faye has so little to do in the story. In fact she disappears from the action completely for a long stretch. Even in her musical numbers she tends to play second fiddle to either Dick Powell or the Ritz Brothers. She's treated as a second cousin by the photographer and the director as well. It is Powell and Carroll who share the romantic limelight, whilst Powell has the best of the songs, including most of the budget and the most imaginative examples of the staging. It's clear that he was treated as number one by the studio (which is what we might expect, as he was loaned by Warners) with Miss Carroll coming in second, and Alice a distant third. What's more, she just isn't believable in an "other woman" role. No man in his right senses would pass up a genuine Faye for a synthetic Carroll. Not me, that's for sure! The Ritz Brothers are another of my pet hates. Yes, I know there are three of them: Al, Jim and Harry. But they're impossible to tell apart. That's one of the things I don't like about them, though my main objection is just the plain fact that they're just not funny. Hammy, yes. Funny, no. Stepin Fetchit. Although his character name is supposed to be Herman, Powell actually calls him "Step" on camera. A mistake typical of Roy Del Ruth's sloppy direction. Anyway I never was able to stand Mr. Fetchit, not even in the days before it became fashionable to object to his gross racism. Not enough songs. Too much story. Fortunately the songs we do have are pretty good. Or at least Powell's are. Though there is a neat fade- out reprise of "Slumming on Park Avenue" with all the leads (except for Barbier who is present but doesn't actually sing) joining in, including delightfully Sig Rumann. Still, for all the movie's disappointments, "The Girl on the Police Gazette" production number is such a wow, its stylish, no-expense- spared vivacity makes up for a lot. The hit song, "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm", is entertaining too. OTHER VIEWS: Saddled with those obnoxiously raucous, hammily amorphous "comedians", the Ritz Brothers, who dare to lampoon Alice Faye of all people, "On the Avenue" is something less than the first-class Faye vehicle the credits promise. Alice is often pushed aside not only by the demands of the straight story in which plays little part but even by her singing co-star Dick Powell. All told, Miss Faye has a thankless role in which she of is given only a few opportunities to shine. Billy Gilbert makes more of an impression. So does Dewey Robinson. While we don't wish to take any glory away from these talented character players, we do wish the writers, the director and the producers had made more openings for Alice.

There are so many things to recommend this delightful film. The cast is top notch (Alice Faye is outstanding in her numbers and she brings real pathos to her role as the ignored but adoring admirer of Dick Powell), the story silly and witty in that charming mid 1930s screwball comedy style and the score by Irving Berlin is one of his very best. There isn't one dud song here and all were written to order for the film - astonishing facility. However, I really rate this musical because of the way the numbers are filmed. One actually feels like one has been to the theatre to see a show and the staging is often remarkably elaborate. For example, "The Girl on the Police Gazette" makes use of an amazing continuous revolving set (the soundstage must have been huge to accommodate this) and appears to have been filmed in almost a continuous take. Think of the rehearsal that must have taken! The other reason to see it is the Ritz Brothers. I know that these zany comedians are an acquired taste and are often grating and irritating for modern audiences, but this is possibly their best vehicle and the closest we can get to seeing what they were really like in the theatre. Often referred to as a poor second rate alternative to the Marx Brothers, they were quite different in style and were really fabulous comedy dancers. The movies did them no favours at all in grounding their routines, forcing them to fit in with the plots of the films in which they appeared (consider their contributions to The Goldwyn Follies in 1938.....YUK!) Here, however, they are purely a speciality and their musical contributions are terrific. The parody they do on "Let's Go Slumming" with Harry Ritz in drag, dressed in the identical outfit worn by Alice Faye only moments before, is just priceless. I wish the print were in better shape but Fox has done the best it could with the surviving elements for the DVD release. Perhaps a Blu ray might improve definition further? I also miss the trailer which appears to be lost. However I have an acetate of the very entertaining radio promotional trailer (12 minutes long), should the folks at Fox wish to include it on any future release. Recommended viewing!

On the Avenue has a simple musical comedy plot. Dick Powell plays the lead actor and creator of a musical comedy on Broadway. When the wealthiest man in America and his daughter go to see it, they are annoyed to discover that a portion of the play is dedicated to mocking them. The girl (Madelein Carroll) gets steamed up, goes backstage, slaps Powell around, and then . . . they fall in love. He promises to change the play so it is less offensive to her, but the lead actress (Alice Faye) is in love with him and she manages to make it even more offensive when Carroll and her family come back to the theater to see it again. Carroll then gets revenge by buying the musical from its producers and sabotaging Powell's performance.It's a promising little plot, but the attempts at comedy they hang on it often misfire terribly. There are no three people more annoying than the Ritz Brothers, who seem to think that going cross-eyed is the height of comedy. And there is a scene where Powell and Carroll go to a diner and then laugh at the accent of its Greek owner . . . whoo-hooo hilarious. There is a laugh or two wedged in here and there, and some of the musical numbers are entertaining, but on the whole this thing is a bust.

This is one of the weakest musicals in the golden age of films. The script is absolutely leaden. The music is very mediocre. The dancing (Michael Kidd was apparently still learning his craft)is only so-so. The comedy is practically non-existent. A scene in a small diner, featuring Billy Gilbert, Madeleine Carroll, and Dick Powell, is one of the most embarrassing comedy bits of the era. Cora Witherspoon, playing the Charlotte Greenwood stereotype, adds not a single laugh to this labored musical. Dick Powell does his best, but the plot keeps him from doing anything more than he did in Dames and the other Warner Brothers musicals of the time. Alice Faye isn't given much to do but pout and sing some forgettable songs. The Ritz Brothers are simply pathetic. Yes, they can dance a bit, but they fail, as ever, to be even remotely comical. All in all, this film does not contribute to Zanuck's reputation. The DVD version, by the way, is fine. Now if only the movie was enjoyable.