Happy Holidays Series - ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ Still A Sentimental Holiday Favorite

In this all-time Christmas classic, an old man going by the name of Kris Kringle, fills in for an intoxicated Santa in Macy’s annual Thanksgiving Day parade.

Kringle proves to be such a hit that he’s soon appearing regularly at the chain’s main store in midtown Manhattan.

When Kringle surprises customers and employees alike by claiming that he really is Santa Claus, it leads to a court case to determine his mental health and, more importantly, his authenticity.

‘Miracle on 34th Street’ is a holiday film that must be seen every holiday season. This 1947 holiday classic (which was actually released in the summer) does an amazing job injecting Christmas magic and joy into the festive season.

There are quite a few moments in this film that can really tug at the heartstrings at times. Quite a few of those moments mainly involve Santa, who is played incredibly by Edmund Gwenn. In the first half of the film, we get to see him do many things that would make some people believe he’s the real deal.

The one part that really stands out in the first half is where he speaks to the little Dutch girl. It would put a smile on anyone’s face. The courtroom scenes that involve Kringle and trying to prove that he’s the one and only Santa Claus are still some of the best scenes in the film!

All of the performances in this film are just simply amazing, and at times a little moving. Edmund Gwenn’s portrayal as Kris Kringle is really iconic and is, without a doubt, one of the best (if not the best) Santa performances on film. Gwenn’s performance as Kringle is nothing short of amazing and his heart-warming take on the character will make you believe in Santa all over again.

Cast: Maureen O’Hara (Doris Walker); John Payne (Fred Gailey); Edmund Gwenn (Kris Kringle); Gene Lockhart (Judge Henry X. Harper); Porter Hall (Granville Sawyer); William Frawley (Charlie Halloran); Jerome Cowan (DA Thomas Mara); Philip Tonge (Julian Shellhammer); Natalie Wood (Susan Walker)

Writer/director: George Seaton (Airport; The Country Girl; The Proud and Profane; Little Boy Lost)

Trivia: Despite the fact that the film is set during the holiday season, then-studio head Darryl F. Zanuck insisted that it be released in summer because he argued that more people went to the movies during the summer. So, the studio began to promote it while keeping the fact that it was a Christmas movie a secret.

The film won three Oscars: Gwenn for Best Supporting Actor, Valentine Davies for Best Writing, Original Story and George Seaton for Best Writing, Screenplay. In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

Where to find the film? During the remainder of the holiday season, you can find this film on Peacock, Disney Plus, Paramount Plus, Pluto TV and AMC+.

*** I hope you have enjoyed the holiday review series that I have been working on throughout the month of December! For the next couple editions, I will be working on a few new releases that the Dietrich Theater will be showing, along with my annual best films of the year list. I will also be checking out a couple recent releases that I haven’t gotten around to checking out, along with a few throwback classic comedies to get us through the cold month of January!*** 

https://youtu.be/LrQmDsDcYzk?si=geg2o3zBzBx_fLFL