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.
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.