Movie Review - Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Christmas Movie a Day #11
Miracle on 34th Street
Starring Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, and Natalie Wood
Directed by George Seaton

I think most people are familiar with the premise behind this one, but just in case you're not, Miracle on 34th Street tells the tale of a young girl named Susan (Natalie Wood) who has been raised by her mother Doris (Maureen O'Hara) to believe in only the "reality" of the world -- imagination is a foolish waste of time. Around Christmastime, Susan is the only girl her age that doesn't believe in Santa Claus, and, although many people disagree with her parenting techniques, Doris refuses to budge. During the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the man who is set to play Santa Claus gets drunk and Doris, who works for Mr. Macy himself, is pressed to find a new Santa. Fortunately, a man named Kris Kringle happens to walk by and jumps at the chance to play Santa. You see, Kris believes that he really is Santa Claus...and he just may be...he simply needs to convince Doris and young Susan.

It's really a great story and all the acting here is top notch, particularly Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle. He won an Academy Award for this role and, while I don't know who else he was up against, I will certainly say that he is darn good here. Maureen O'Hara is also quite winning, as is little Natalie Wood. And it's not just the three main actors here that are great -- every bit character does a great job here.

The nice thing about this movie is that it doesn't focus on young Susan, but instead focuses on the adults' reactions to Kris Kringle -- the notion that adults must let go of childish whimsy and be serious all the time. I'll hold off a bit on speaking more until I watch the remake for tomorrow's Christmas Movie a Day so I can do a little compare and contrast. Suffice it to say, I do enjoy this flick.

The RyMickey Rating: B+
The Christmas Spirit Scale: 8/10
(The Christmas Spirit Scale is a totally pointless rating that is simply my feeling about how "Christmas-y" the movie felt to me)