Written by Hollowman - February 18th, 2005
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Starring: Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, Gene Lockhart, Natalie Wood, Porter Hall
Director: George Seaton
Rated: G
Rating: * * * *
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The original Miracle on 34th Street remains as one of the most famous Christmas movie of all time. It’s right up there with “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “A Christmas Story”. One of the reasons that this is so is its theme of faith and pure, good deeds out doing the superficial things like consumerism and no nonsense attitudes. “Miracle on 34th Street” expresses what many of us capitol based Americans lose track of during the Christmas season. More specifically, it reminds us that this special holiday is not about shelling out the big bucks for gifts and extravagant decorations and such, but its about having faith in the things that are the most unlikely, but that are the dearest to our hearts.
As the film opens, Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) has taken a leave of absence from the North Pole to visit the annual Macy’s Department Store Thanksgiving Parade. There is a terrific little scene in this sequence that illustrates Kris’s sincere belief of Christmas and himself. He tells a store manager that the Santa and reindeer display in the window is wrong. Donner and Blitzen are mized up and Cupid’s antlers have too many points. It’s little things like this that makes “Miracle…” succeed as a superb Christmas film.
As he continues down the parade, Kris notices that the actor for the Santa Claus part is drunk. He pulls him off and complains to the parade director, Doris (Maureen O’hara). Now, out of a Santa, she convinces Kris to play the part of himself (of course not realizing who Kris really is). He becomes an instant hit and is recruited by Mr. Macy to act as the “Santa in mall”. Again he becomes a great attraction and Macy’s feels the success as the excess business comes rolling in.
Doris’s daughter, Susan, meets this new Santa and tells him of her disbelief. “You’re better then the other Santa’s. Your beard doesn’t come off” she says to him. Susan continues by telling Kris that her mother doesn’t believe in fantasy because it’s just a waste of time and people should be more concerned in real things. Kris does what he can to persuade her otherwise. And this becomes the underlining relationship in the film. Kris trying to convince non believers, like Susan and Doris, who have a burning desire for faith and letting go of hard realism becomes his mission. With Susan, it’s to convince her that being young and having a wild imagination is a terrific gift that should never be ignored. With Doris, it’s to convince her that falling out of love does not mean that the world has to become cold and faithless. He is able to do this for her with the help of the Fred, the affection attorney down the hall. Fred’s conviction to represent Kris when he is put on trial for his sanity helps to convinces Doris, and others, to believe in Kris and the Christmas spirit.
The result of the trial is not just one of the greatest Christmas movie moments, but one of the greatest movie moments in general. It helps to express the love and sincerity of the film and its characters. The film can be considered the greatest Christmas classic ever (I would have to with “A Christmas Story”). It’s a movie that loves its characters and wants to greatly reward the good and teach a lesson to the bad. With terrific performances from the cast (Edmund Gwenn took the Oscar for Best Actor) and great direction from George Seaton, “Miracle on 34th Street” becomes a great film to watch not just during late December.
One last note. The film was made in 1947, two years after WWII. During this time, the economy was booming and commercial capitol was at an incredible high. People handing out as much money as possible for the best Christmas gift was what replaced the old, forgotten holiday spirit. And, no place was more of an example like this than New York City. So, the film doesn't just remind us about what Christmas is really about. It also becomes a social commentary on the respectively current state of the economy and American culture.
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