Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
- Starring:
- Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, (more)
- Director(s):
- George Seaton
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- NR
- Category:
- Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Family & Kids
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Edmund Gwenn plays Kris Kringle, a bearded old gent who is the living image of Santa Claus. Serving as a last-minute replacement for the drunken Santa who was to have led Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, Kringle is offered a job as a Macy's toy-department Santa. Supervisor Maureen O'Hara soon begins having second thoughts about hiring Kris: it's bad enough that he is laboring under the delusion that he's the genuine Saint Nick; but when he begins advising customers to shop elsewhere for toys that they can't find at Macy's, he's gone too far! Amazingly, Mr. Macy (Harry Antrim) considers Kris' shopping tips to be an excellent customer-service "gimmick," and insists that the old fellow keep his job. A resident of a Long Island retirement home, Kris agrees to take a room with lawyer John Payne during the Christmas season. It happens that Payne is sweet on O'Hara, and Kris subliminally hopes he can bring the two together. Kris is also desirous of winning over the divorced O'Hara's little daughter Natalie Wood, who in her few years on earth has lost a lot of the Christmas spirit. Complications ensue when Porter Hall, Macy's nasty in-house psychologist, arranges to have Kris locked up in Bellevue as a lunatic. Payne represents Kris at his sanity hearing, rocking the New York judicial system to its foundations by endeavoring to prove in court that Kris is, indeed, the real Santa Claus! We won't tell you how he does it: suffice to say that there's a joyous ending for Payne and O'Hara, as well as a wonderful faith-affirming denouement for little Natalie Wood. 72-year-old Edmund Gwenn won an Oscar for his portrayal of the "jolly old elf" Kringle; the rest of the cast is populated by such never-fail pros as Gene Lockhart (as the beleaguered sanity-hearing judge), William Frawley (as a crafty political boss), and an unbilled Thelma Ritter and Jack Albertson. Based on the novel by Valentine Davies, Miracle on 34th Street was remade twice: once for TV in 1973, and a second time for a 1994 theatrical release, with Richard Attenborough as Kris Kringle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 97 mins
Complete Cast:
- Maureen O'Hara - Doris Walker
- Edmund Gwenn - Kris Kringle
- Harry Antrim - R.H. Macy
- William Forrest - Dr. Rogers
- Gene Lockhart - Judge Henry X. Harper
- Alvin Greenman - Alfred
- James Seay - Dr. Pierce
- Percy Helton - Santa Claus
- Porter Hall - Mr. Sawyer
- Anne O'Neal - Secretary
- Guy Thomajan - Post Office Employee
- Thelma Ritter - Peter's Mother
- Teddy Driver - Terry
- Jack Albertson - Postal Worker
- Anthony Sydes - Peter
- Lela Bliss - Mrs. Shellhammer
- Jane Green - Mrs. Harper
- John Payne - Fred Gailey
- Natalie Wood - Susan Walker
- Jerome Cowan - D.A. Thomas Mara
- Herbert Heyes - Mr. Gimbel
- Robert Gist - Window Dresser
- Richard Irving - Reporters
- Philip Tonge - Mr. Shellhammer
- William Frawley - Charles Halloran
- Mary Field - Mother
- Harry "Snub" Pollard - Mail-Bearing Court Officer
- Steve Roberts - Guard
- Alvin Hammer - Mara's Assistant
- Basil Walker - Intern
- Theresa Harris - Cleo
- Robert Hyatt - Thomas Mara, Jr.
- Jeff Corey - Reporter
- Robert Lynn - Macy's Salesman
- Director(s):
- George Seaton
- Writer(s):
- George Seaton, Valentine Davies
- Producer(s):
- William Perlberg
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- NR(Child Classic)
- Categories:
- Family & Kids, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
- Closed Captioning:
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- Subtitles:
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- 1947 - Film Daily - 10 Best Films
- 1947 - Hollywood Foreign Press Association - Best Screenplay
- 1947 - Hollywood Foreign Press Association - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
- 1947 - New York Times - 10 Best Films
