Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

The other Christmas movie to be nominated for Best Picture of 1947, Miracle on 34th Street is rightly a classic. It takes a rather odd premise--the court must decided if an old fellow who claims to be Santa Claus is truly who he says he is--and makes it work despite some incredible leaps of faith demanded from the viewer. I watched it again this year after many years of avoiding it ("who needs to see that again?"), and I was charmed all over again by how it restores your faith in your fellow human beings.

Edmund Gwenn is delightful as the would-be Santa Claus. He certainly makes you want to believe again in your childhood fantasy that a man in red from the North Pole will bring you lots of presents and make sure that you get what you ask for, too. John Payne does a nice turn as the lawyer who agrees to defend Kris Kringle, and Maureen O'Hara is great, as always, as the no-nonsense business executive who doesn't want her daughter to believe in fairy tales like those about Santa. Of course, watching Natalie Wood give one of the best performances by a child ever in the movies is a highlight. She's remarkable in her ability to convey how her emotions change throughout the story. She and O'Hara have a conversation late in the movie about the need to believe in Santa Claus, and it's one of the most touching mother-daughter moments I've ever witnessed.

In years past, I always kind of looked at this movie as a two-hour-long commercial for Macy's department stores. While the store certainly plays a central role in the film (much to their delight, I'm sure), it didn't seem quite as overwhelming this year as it had in the past. That might have a lot to do with the fact that all of the competitors mentioned in the film are no more, and only Macy's remains standing. It is fun to watch how the annual Thanksgiving Day parade looked back in the 1940s, quite different from the elaborate spectacle staged for television today.

Just as an aside, don't watch the remake from 1994. Richard Attenborough is a pale substitute for Gwenn as Kris Kringle. Attenborough is actually much better as the "entrepreneur" in the Jurassic Park movies. And Mara Wilson is no Natalie Wood either. She's charming in her own way, but Wood was already so talented as such a young age. Fox Movie Channel alternates screenings of these two versions on Christmas Eve, but hold out for the original. It's worth the wait.