The Girl from 10th Avenue

After his girlfriend Valentine French dumps him to marry a wealthy suitor, prominent lawyer Geoffrey Sherwood (Ian Hunter) gets drunk and impulsively marries Miriam Brady (Bette Davis) whom he had just met.

This has a dash of Pygmalion with a love quadrangle. The Pygmalion part could be more acute and it would help to have Geoffrey do the teaching. The issue is that Geoffrey and Miriam need to build more chemistry in their relationship. He's a drunk and she has no reason to want him other than finances. Quite frankly, I'm fine with dumping Geoffrey with Valentine if they still want each other. I don't see the romantic connection between Geoffrey and Miriam. Any chemistry is generated by the power of Bette Davis' charisma and I question her reasoning. Otherwise, this is an emotionally flawed romance.

Based on the play "Outcast" (from 1914, no less!), The Girl From Tenth Avenue opens by showing us a wedding invitation, and two gentlemen of the wedding party driving towards the ceremony. Then we see Miriam Brady (Bette Davis) and Geoffrey Sherwood (Ian Hunter) standing on a street corner, listening to the wedding that is taking place. Sherwood is drunk, and Miriam decides to take a personal interest in getting him into a restaurant, away from the wedding scene. Although WHY she does, isn't really explained... Davis had just made "Of Human Bondage", and was about to win the Oscar for "Dangerous"... good year for her! Viewers will recognize the landlord Mrs. Martin, played by Alison Skipworth; she made FOUR films with W.C. Fields. Next thing you know, Miriam and Geoffrey are married, apparently skipping a couple of the 12 steps Sherwood SHOULD be going through. There is a lot of talking in this story, as with most plays. It starts pretty slow, but picks up about halfway through. I wonder if this would have been a little more spicy if it hadn't been made right as the Hays Code was starting to be enforced. Davis and Hunter would make five films together in the 1930s.

Knew from reading 'The Girl from Tenth Avenue's' plot synopsis to not expect too much from the story, which in feel is not much different from a lot of other films at that time. Where more often than not one had to suspend disbelief and not watch looking for sense. Bette Davis has done many fine performances and seldom less than watchable (depending on the material of course, with her being unable to do anything good with the bad material in 'Wicked Stepmother' and 'Bunny O Hare'.

Also like what (not enough) has been seen of Alfred E Green's work, prime examples being 'Baby Face' and 'Dangerous', the latter also starring Davis and earned her her first Oscar win (while extremely good in that film quite a number of her other performances were more deserving). Colin Clive's life and career were too short, but he was watchable too and still love the two 'Frankenstein' films he starred in. Seeing 'The Girl from Tenth Avenue' a while back, to me it was good fun and an inoffensive way to spend just a little over an hour but didn't fit my definition of being a great film.

'The Girl from Tenth Avenue' is not one of those films that compels from the get go. It instead takes time to settle and find its footing, starting off a little too slow and having too much of a confined and stage origins feel. Most of the characters are sketchily developed and gives some of the cast too little to do. The cast mostly do a good job though and make the most of what they have to work with, but this was very much a Davis vehicle and it does show a bit in how the characters are written and how much screen time they have. Ian Hunter however doesn't have an awful lot of presence apart from towards the end during his big scene with Davis.

Have said already about not trying to expect too much from the story, and still stand by that with some of it being predictable and quite silly. Especially in the first half. If that is something that has been a common criticism in my recent reviews it is because it was a common factor for films during this period, so reinforcing is inevitable.

Like has been said though, 'The Girl from Tenth Avenue' is not a film to switch off and dismiss prematurely. It really does get better, more gripping and one is rewarded enough when sticking with it. Davis gives a great full throttle performance and of the rest of the performances Alison Skipworth shines the most and on sparkling form. Katherine Alexander also has one of the film's best scenes and Clive brings dignity to an underused role. Green's direction is mostly smart and keeps the high emotions of the drama in the latter stages gripping.

Much of the script is snappy and thoughtfully written, not rambling too much and it doesn't get verbose. It does get over-heated at times but not in a way that's unbearable. The second half of 'The Girl from Tenth Avenue' has plenty of moments of tension and poignancy, especially towards the end with two scenes (aforementioned) that particularly blister, much of it down to Davis being so good. It is well shot and doesn't look cheap.

In summary, not a great film but passes the time more than adequately. 7/10

If you want to see Bette Davis in one of her earlier pictures this is a must-see film. As far as the film itself, it is one of the most boring and average scripts and it is very formulaic code material. There is nothing new and interesting about the story. Standard soap opera. It is predictable, boring and pretty much a waste of time. But for a true Better Davis fan, this deserves watching. Otherwise this is about as bad as it gets.

Strictly for die-hard Davis fans.

She's a shop girl from the wrong side of the tracks who meets lawyer IAN HUNTER, on a drunk bender, and decides to restore him to his better self on the spur of the moment. Once he's reformed, she has a struggle trying to keep him from former flame KATHARINE Alexander. (For some reason, my computer refuses to put "Alexander" in caps). It's not a typo.

It's a trifle, the kind of film Davis would come to detest in that it was nothing more than a routine melodrama with some comedy interludes from ALISON SKIPWORTH as a landlady who wants to spruce up Bette's ability to mix with IAN HUNTER's society friends.

Made worth a look only for Bette Davis' performance. She's trim, blonde and almost pretty with those Bette Davis eyes lined with mascara. Unfortunately, it's a weak script with a predictable ending. COLIN CLIVE has little to do but he does play a good drunk scene.

TCM is showing this as part of their Depression-era films.