For today's edition of Dave-El's Weekend Movie Post, we go back in time to 1947 for a holiday classic, Miracle On 34th Street.
This is a favorite film Andrea remembers watching with her grandmother.
Maureen O’Hara is Doris Walker a harried event director for Macy’s Department Store charged with coordinating the annual Thanksgiving Parade. It’s the morning of the big show and the guy she hired to play Santa Claus is incredibly drunk. The kindly gentleman who brought the matter to her attention seems quite suited for the role, a stout portly man with a white beard and a kind, pleasant demeanor and after some initial reluctance, Mr. Kringle (please, call him Kris) agrees to play Santa.
Yes, it appears that Santa Claus himself is going to be Macy’s Santa!
(See, Dean! Andrea tried to tell you for years that the Santa at the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade was the real one!)
Of course, Mr. Kringle may be a kindly man with a harmless delusion but a delusion nonetheless.
But on the other hand…
When a child who only speaks Dutch approaches Santa at the Macy’s store, she finds herself engaged in conversation with a Santa Claus who is fluent in Dutch.
Could it be…?
Nah! Santa Clause ain’t real!
Doris Walker is a no nonsense type of gal who is raising alone her daughter Suzy to have a realistic view of the world and this old man with a twinkle in his eye and a warm compassionate heart isn’t helping.
Suzy is starting to act like a little kid, playing and using her imagination when Kris is around. Who needs that aggravation?
But damn it, Kris really is a great department store Santa. Kids love him and parents love him.
Macy's staff psychiatrist isn't happy and insists Kris poses a real threat and could go berserk and kill everyone.
(Well, not everyone. Maybe only those on the naughty list, I would think.)
Stuff and shenanigans occur that deposits Kris Kringle in Bellevue Mental Hospital and it's up to Doris's neighbor and erstwhile boyfriend, attorney Fred Gailey, to help Kris beat the rap.
But to prove Kris is not insane, Fred needs to prove in a court of law that (Wait for it!) Kris Kringle really is Santa Claus.
Well, that's gonna take some fancy lawyerin'!
Long story made short and yes it spoils the ending (Fred wins and Kris is free just in time for Christmas Eve because he has places to be, you know. Wink!) but come on, how else do you think this movie is gonna turn out?
OK, the destination may be pre-ordained but how we get there is funny, clever and warms the heart like a friendly little Christmas movie should,
Maureen O'Hara had moved back to post-war Ireland not looking to make another movie at that time. But she saw the script for Miracle On 34th Street, fell in love with it and hopped back across the pond to make the darn thing.
Edmund Gwenn was not the first choice to play Kris Kringle but he does such a wonderful job making this role come to life, I cannot imagine anyone else from that era doing a better job. Gwenn would go on to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Kris Kringle.
Miracle on 34th Street was shot on location in New York City, with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade sequences filmed live during the 1946 parade as it was happening. O'Hara recalled, "It was a mad scramble to get all the shots we needed, and we got to do each scene only once. It was bitterly cold that day."
In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".
The Academy Film Archive preserved Miracle on 34th Street in 2009.
I can see why Miracle on 34th Street is such a perennial holiday favorite. It's enough to almost make a cranky curmudgeon like myself believe in hope and joy.
Don't get all mushy on me! I said "almost"!
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