Tenth Avenue Angel might remind you somewhat of A Tree Grows In Brooklyn - the apartment seemed similar, the mother becomes pregnant, there's a family member who has to overcome a stigma,an economically challenged household, the coming-of-age of the daughter. However, all of it is without emotional resonance, to say the least. And although I'm usually not fans of these kinds of films I DID love "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn".

So what's missing? Despite the evocative lower Manhattan sets, the genuinely warm and believable performance of Phyllis Thaxter as the mother, Rhys Williams as a blind newspaper vendor and (occasionally) Margaret O'Brien (when she's ruling the roost of her neighborhood in a precociously cynical way; not when she's required to do The Crying and saying lines like "How do cows know it's Christmas?") the movie doesn't work for me at all. This is one of those "we-don't-know-what-to-do-with-her" parts for the supremely talented Angela Lansbury, here completely wasted as O'Brien's young aunt, in love with the equally miscast George Murphy (he does his best, though the script just sinks him). Rhys Wiliiams was so much better served in How Green Was My Valley in much the same type of character (albeit more pugilistic).

Margaret gives a patriotic speech at a Fourth of July block party which it's safe to surmise (since the film was made in 1946, only one year after FDR died though released in 1948) is a double tribute to him and his principles (they even show his picture); convenient dovetailing as the story takes place in Depression era 1936.

Apparently mice are so common in their household that the one O'Brien sees doesn't phase the family one bit; nobody bats an eyelash. Also, when pregnant women fall down stairs, they are not taken to the hospital.Also, bovine miracles will astound you. I was underwhelmed throughout.

I'd say it's a take it or leave it proposition, probably a 4.5, but I'll be kind given the season and round up to five.

This picture takes place during the depression in New York City's Hell Kitchen which ran along 10th Avenue and the living condition were not favorable during this period of time in the 1930's. Margaret O'Brien plays the role as Flavia Mills a little girl about the age of eight years old and is a very happy little girl who lives in a world of her own and is a great joy to all the people in the neighborhood. Angela Lansbury, (Susan Bratten) is Flavia's aunt and she plans to get married to Steve Abbutt, (George Murphy). However, Steve has been away in prison for eighteen months and has kept it a secret from Flavia, who believes he went around the world. Flavia's make believe world starts crumbing as she gets older and she becomes very disillusion about what her family tells her. Margaret O'Brien gave an outstanding performance and her great acting abilities will make you reach for a box of tissues. This is another Christmas story which was great entertainment in 1948 and is a great film you don't want to miss.

Tenth Avenue Angel is a film about growing up and also about the disadvantages of same. It's never easy to discover that family and friends are sometimes all too human.

Which is what happens to Margaret O'Brien as a little world she's created in her own mind. The biggest bit of disillusionment comes from George Murphy who is the fiancé of her aunt Angela Lansbury. True to the code of the street Murphy whose cab was used by holdup men clammed up and did nine months as an accessory. But young O'Brien has been told he's been on a trip around the world.

It's not easy with her parents either. Her father Warner Anderson is an out of work musician and her mother Phyllis Thaxter is having one difficult pregnancy. On Christmas as Thaxter is in labor, Margaret may have to face the possibility of losing her. That's never easy at any age.

Although at times Margaret O'Brien can be cloying and a bit much, in Tenth Avenue Angel she hits the mark of your heart strings. She put just the right amount of sentiment into her performance and face it, the film rises and falls on what she does on the screen and how you accept her.

Tenth Avenue Angel is a wonderful family film about a little girl's Christmas in the Hell's Kitchen area of New York. And it holds up well for today.