Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Directed by George Seaton. Starring Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Gene Lockhart, Porter Hall, Natalie Wood, Jerome Cowan, William Frawley, Philip Tonge, Alvin Greenman, Harry Antrim, Jack Albertson, Lela Bliss, Thelma Ritter.

Agreeable fable of an old man with a snowy beard (Gwenn) who calls himself Kris Kringle and takes a job as Macy’s Santa Claus for a parade and in one of their department stores, later insisting he’s the real Santa Claus. This doesn’t sit well with certain folks, including divorced mom O’Hara who has taught her daughter (Wood) not to believe in fantasy and fairy tales. A holiday classic to many viewers, although it contains the expected creaky and dated elements, and is a little too preoccupied with the business strategy and corporate cynicism sides of the story instead of its soft, warm heart and humor, found primarily in Gwenn’s splendid portrayal. Its courtroom climax is just the right kind of cornball. Gwenn is practically perfect as Old Saint Nick, and he picked up an Academy Award for the performance (upon accepting the Oscar, he said, “Now I know there is a Santa Claus”); Oscars also went to the writers—Seaton and Valentine Davies. Ritter’s small role was her first on film. One of the first black & white films to fall prey to the contemptible colorization fad.

76/100