Fifth Avenue Girl

Gregory La Cava's 1939 American film follows a wealthy businessman entirely ignored by his family. When nobody remembers his birthday he offers money to an unemployed young woman he meets in the park: she will play his mistress and his family, out of jealousy, will pay attention to him. The comedy comes from the plan working. The family really is thrown into alarm, but the cause is reputation and money rather than love. The narrative does not say so outright and keeps it funny. The class difference of the post-Depression period stays visible in the background. Ginger Rogers leads and plays her character as uncalculating rather than naive. La Cava was known for a working method open to improvisation, and the fluency of the dialogue shows it. Who it's for: those who like classic Hollywood comedy and thirties cinema. Who it's not for: viewers expecting the social criticism carried through; the film endorses the order in the end.