Tenth Avenue Angel (1948)

Tenth Avenue Angel: Directed by Roy Rowland. With Margaret O’Brien, Angela Lansbury, George Murphy, Phyllis Thaxter. While a man was in prison, a little girl who is very close to him was told that he was traveling the world. What will happen if she discovers the truth?

“Warm film with the usual top MGM production values, strong cast.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhen I finally saw this film I was surprised it was described as a u0026quot;bombu0026quot; by Leonard Maltin. While itu0026#39;s not the greatest movie ever made, itu0026#39;s hardly a bomb, despite the problematic production history. Because retakes took so long, Margaret Ou0026#39;Brien is noticeably taller and older in some scenes than in others. The characteru0026#39;s belief in fairy tales strains credulity in the scenes where little Margaret seems to be aging rapidly.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOne could argue, as well, that, despite the hardships supposedly being endured by the characters in their poor New York neighborhood, at the height of the Great Depression, they seem reasonably well fed, dressed, and housed. The apartment where Flavia (Ou0026#39;Brien) lives is quite large, for example.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut there are some very true things in the film, the experience of being an only child, living among adults; the realities of readjustment for an ex-con (George Murphy). Many of the realities are not in the scenes or the lines, but in Margaretu0026#39;s and George Murphyu0026#39;s faces.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe cast is great and thereu0026#39;s a nice Christmas atmosphere in the scenes that wrap up the story.”