Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Kris Kringle, seemingly the embodiment of Santa Claus, is asked to portray the jolly old fellow at Macy's following his performance in the Thanksgiving Day parade. His portrayal is so complete that many begin to question if he truly is Santa Claus, while others question his sanity.
- George Seaton
- George Seaton
- Valentine Davies
Rating: 7.4/10 by 721 users
Alternative Title:
Het wonder der 34ste straat - BE
To thavma tis 34is odou - GR
De Ilusão Também Se Vive - BR
It's Only Human - US
Christmas Miracle on 34th Street - US
The Big Heart - US
Milagro en la calle 34 - MX
Il Miracolo Della 34ª Strada - IT
Miracolo Nella 34ª Strada - IT
Le miracle sur la 34ème rue - FR
Zázrak na 34 ulici - CZ
Milagro en la ciudad - US
梦幻街奇缘 - CN
Country:
United States of America
Language:
English
Runtime: 01 hour 36 minutes
Budget: $630,000
Revenue: $2,700,000
Plot Keyword: court, judge, parent child relationship, holiday, department store, santa claus, thanksgiving, psychologist, lawyer, little girl, black and white, single mother, district attorney, skepticism, holiday season, commercialism, christmas, rationalism, loss of faith, mother daughter relationship, preserved film
This is one of the classic holiday pics I will watch every year if it is available to me (Oh no; he said “holiday” instead of Christmas. Blasphemy!) So I will neither pick it apart nor praise it to the heavens. The story writing is strong and the ensemble cast do a good job. The fact that it has been redone so many times speaks for itself. I won’t even try to compare it to the other versions. Instead, as I read in the Pearls Before Swine comic strip, “The floot-floot did a boom-boom on the jim-jam.” (Another way of saying “It is what it is.”)
I suppose if anyone was ever to play the definitive Santa Claus, then it would have had to be Edmund Gwenn. The glint in his eye, the smile and the avuncular look all lends itself so very well to this tale of the Christmas nay-sayers! Set in the toy department of the legendary Macy's toy store in New York, we meet this character who steps in to help out at the city's famous parade after their existing "Santa" gets a bit too inebriated. An instant success with the crowd, he is hired to run the shop's grotto and soon sales are going through the roof. It turns out that he is none too loyal though, and when news reaches his bosses that he is advising the parents where better deals on their gifts can be obtained, things look a bit precarious - or has he hit on the ultimate PR idea! Success never comes alone and resentful of his success certain people engineer an altercation in which our "Kris Kringle" ends up in court. Insisting before learned judge "Harper" (Gene Lockhart) that he is really from the North Pole, what now ensues is a comical, sprightly-written, court-room drama that requires the prosecutor "Mara" (Jerome Cowan) to prove, conclusively, that - well... It is interesting that the posters gave top billing to Maureen O'Hara and to John Payne as neither character are really necessary as the story builds up into the ultimate test of what we believe - or, what we choose to believe. Gwenn is in his element and this is just one of those films that I think it's impossible not to like - at least once a year.
