Miracle on 34th Street

There are certain movies that, no matter how many years go by, they never go away and become films that still get regular viewing decades after they were first reaching theaters. The Wizard of Oz is one of those. The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins also fall into that category. For my generation and my parents’ generation, Miracle on 34th Street also falls into that category. This is a film I fondly remember being on television every year at Christmas time, and I watched it a lot growing up. So beloved was this film that I remember quite a bit of disdain in 1994 when 20th Century Fox elected to remake it for modern audiences. While that film does have its fans, and my memories of it are that it is mostly inoffensive, it doesn’t have the magic and holding power the original does. In the thirty-plus years since that remake has existed, I have never rewatched it, whereas I still see the 1947 original on a semi-regular basis. 

This film dares to tackle the spirit of giving during a time where Christmas is looked at from a commercial standpoint. The story takes place in the span of about a month, from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade through to Christmas Day. In that time, a miracle will happen. Hearts will be softened, minds will be changed, and a New York court of law will concede that Santa Claus really exists. All of this is grandiose, but the film never loses sight of the fact that what this really is about is the spirit of a little girl who is being raised to not have an imagination and to look at the world through a pragmatic lens only. This is ultimately her story and how we as adults can, though well-intentioned, do irreparable harm when we try to squash wonder and the spirit of childhood. There is plenty of time for a person in adulthood to focus on adult things, but there is only one childhood.

The film opens on the morning of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. An old man named Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) complains to event director Doris Walker (Maureen O’Hara) when he discovers the man playing Santa Claus for the parade is drunk. Doris, in desperation, persuades Kringle to take his place. When this ends up being a smashing success, he is subsequently hired to play Santa at Macy’s New York City store on 34th Street.

When toy department head, Mr. Shellhammer (Philip Tonge), tries to have Kringle recommend overstocked items to the shoppers and their kids, he instead directs people to hard-to-find items they really want, even if it means going to another store to get them. This angers Shellhammer until he is approached by a woman who is so delighted with this unprecedented way of doing business that she vows to become a Macy’s regular. The store is soon flooded with similar responses, prompting management to adopt the same attitude, shaping Macy’s as the people-first company rather than focused only on the bottom line. Soon Gimbals, Macy’s chief competitor, has adopted the same game plan. 

Doris, though, has a problem. She quickly discovers that Kris Kringle actually believes that he is Santa Claus. But she cannot fire him even if she thinks he may be dangerous because the owner of Macy’s, R. H. Macy, sees him as invaluable. So instead, she sends Kringle to see the store psychologist, Granville Sawyer (Porter Hall), for a cognitive test. Though Kringle passes easily, Sawyer believes that he will eventually turn violent if his belief of being Santa is challenged. 

Later, when Kringle angrily goes to Sawyer over some dodgy psycho-analysist on a young, kind-hearted employee, Sawyer gets him upset to the point that Kringle whacks him over the head with his cane. Sawyer overplays the hit, using it as an excuse to have Kringle committed. Meanwhile, lawyer Fred Gailey (John Payne), who has been letting Kringle stay with him while he’s working at Macy’s, takes it upon himself to represent Kringle in court, challenging not only the commitment but the prosecutor’s belief that Santa Claus doesn’t exist and therefore Kringle couldn’t possibly be him. 

In the middle of all of this plot is Susan Walker (Natalie Wood), a sweet young girl and daughter to Doris. Doris doesn’t believe in imagination and has raised her daughter to only focus on what is real and tangible. This has alienated the young girl from her peers and has left her without a sense of wonder or fun. Doris doesn’t like when others try to introduce that element into her daughter’s structured upbringing, either, and actively reproaches anyone who tries it. 

This leads to a confrontation between her and Fred Gailey when he takes Susan to see Kris Kringle in his Santa suit greeting children at Macy’s. Susan is charmed by Kris and is especially surprised to find that his beard is not a fake like she expected. Later, she will be further astonished when she sees him conversing fluently in Danish with a little girl who doesn’t speak English. Doris dismisses all of this as him just knowing another language, but it makes her angry at Fred for even introducing such ideas into Susan’s mind. It also makes her want to dismiss Kris from the job because this kind of thinking makes her uncomfortable. 

We are never privy to what has led Doris to such an extreme view on life. We get hints that suggest something in her past has led to this but never anything concrete. Some may look at that as a weakness in the script, but the opposite is actually true. By not knowing, there is no convenience in the plot for her overcoming her rigid views on life. Instead, we can focus on the emotional side of things and allow the ‘Miracle’ to happen. 

And what exactly is the miracle referenced in the title of the film, anyway? Is it the softening of Doris’s heart or Susan’s own journey from skeptic to believer? Or is it the way Kris Kringle manages to get two warring business owners to come together during the holidays despite being bitter competitors? How about getting a New York judge to rule officially that Kris Kringle is literally Santa Claus? It could be all of those things and more. The film never truly answers that Kris is legitimately Santa, only that legally he is considered to be him. Even the wish Susan makes to prove Kris is him isn’t a definite sign that he is Santa. That’s the genius of this script; it allows us to see both sides of the equation and choose whether we believe or otherwise. It’s not going to hold our hand and tell us outright. All of this could just be a good-natured man who knows how to handle people and make things happen. Then again, it could all be true. 

Edmund Gwenn is simply delightful in his role as Kris Kringle. He had many acting credits over the course of a long-spanning career, yet every time I see him in something, I cannot help but associate him with this role. Like Frank Morgan in The Wizard of Oz, this was a role that generations of people recognize him from and the one he will most be remembered for. He is absolutely perfect as Kris Kringle, the man who makes miracles happen in the simplest of ways. Nothing he does is grandiose, but the results are grandiose in their own way. 

This would also be a career-defining moment in a career filled with such moments for Maureen O’Hara. It’s a more subtle performance for her but one where you can see her point of view just from the way Maureen is doing it. She has a rather harsh view of the world, yet she never comes across as cruel or emotionally distant, just overly pragmatic. It would be easy to make this character seem shrewish and dislikable, but Maureen brings a humanity to her much like David Tomlinson does in Mary Poppins. The difference between the two is one of method, though, not of love for a child, which helps us care for her character even when we don’t agree with her. 

This was not Natalie Wood’s first time in front of the camera. Her career actually started four years earlier when she was just five years old. She was nine by the time Miracle on 34th Street released and was comfortable acting by this time. That shows on screen, too, as she has a natural way about her when the camera is on her. She would go on to act for many years afterwards until a senseless and controversial accident led to her premature death. She was truly one of the greats from the golden age of Hollywood, and her loss was truly a tragic one. 

A lot has to go right for a film to become a bonafide classic that stands the test of time. The performers have to be great, but so too does the script and the direction. This film nails all of those elements and more. The use of real department store chains is about the only thing that dates this film as Gimbals is no more and Macy’s is disappearing. But the elements of the story are still very much relevant and the story still strikes a chord with people nowadays who may be struggling with their own jaded views on life and the spirit of Christmas. There is a reason this film still gets shown every year during the holiday season and that is because it touches something in our hearts that transcends time and makes us just a little more sentimental during a time of the year when it is so easy to get bogged down with consumerism and greed. There is so much more to life than that and Kris Kringle represents that to us here. 

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Motion Picture: William Perlberg

Best Acting in a Supporting Role: Edmund Gwenn (won)

Best Writing (Motion Picture Story): Valentine Davies (won)

Best Writing (Screenplay): George Seaton from a story by Valentine Davies (won)

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Release Date: June 11, 1947

Running Time: 96 minutes

Not Rated

Starring: Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, Gene Lockhart, Natalie Wood, Porter Hall, William Frawley, Jerome Cowan, Philip Tonge, and Jack Albertson

Directed by: George Seaton