Miracle on 34th Street is one of those movies which definitely tries to tug on the viewer's heartstrings. Now perhaps this movie is not quite as effective in its tugging of heartstrings as that other famous 1940s Christmas movie. Yes, Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed...that other movie was indeed "Wonderful". But Miracle on 34th Street is a very good film in its own right. This movie will definitely entertain and, yes, warm the heart as well. It's a movie which is fondly, and rightly, remembered as a holiday classic.
The film centers around kindly old man Kris Kringle who believes himself to be Santa Claus. Is it really possible that he could be? Well how much faith do you have? That's what this movie is ultimately about, faith, believing in something which common sense dictates you shouldn't. And if you have faith some rather good things can happen. Maybe even a miracle or two. When we meet her Doris Walker certainly doesn't believe. This young divorcée, responsible for overseeing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, ends up hiring Kris Kringle to portray Santa when her original actor proves to be quite a hopeless drunk. Kris is so perfect in the role that he is hired to be the Santa for the Macy's store during the Christmas season. And it is in this role that Kris will meet Doris Walker's nine-year-old daughter Susan. Doris has raised Susan not to believe in Santa Claus, not to believe in fairy tales of any kind. Susan it seems has rather sadly been deprived of having any imagination at all. Kris Kringle will set out to fix that.
As Kris Kringle sets out to open Susan's mind to all the possibilities of the imagination it is left to attorney Fred Gailey, Doris and Susan's neighbor, to work on restoring Doris' faith. And Fred will also need to put all his lawyer's skills to good use when Kris Kringle gets himself into a bit of a predicament. All the key performers do excellent work. Maureen O'Hara is wonderful in portraying Doris, tracing the arc of her character as this very serious-minded career woman opens her heart and allows herself to really believe in something. John Payne plays Fred and, dare I say it, there's a hint of Jimmy Stewart to him. Yeah, there's that other movie again. Natalie Wood is perfectly precocious in her portrayal of Susan, a child who seems impossibly mature for her age, credit for which must go to the actress playing the role. And then of course there is Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle. Kris certainly is steadfast in his belief that he is in fact Santa Claus and thanks to Gwenn's winning performance you may well believe it too. Gwenn could not be any better.
All in all it's a charming, heartwarming, and undeniably uplifting movie. The story takes a little while to kick into high gear and even when it does it still is a very simple, basic story. There may even be a moment or two where the film feels a little bit mundane and there is that nagging sense it never quite hits the emotional heights another film might. But this Christmas, when you're tired of watching It's a Wonderful Life...OK, so maybe nobody ever gets tired of watching It's a Wonderful Life. But when you're done watching Jimmy Stewart and friends make time to watch Miracle on 34th Street too. There's room for more than one holiday classic.
The film centers around kindly old man Kris Kringle who believes himself to be Santa Claus. Is it really possible that he could be? Well how much faith do you have? That's what this movie is ultimately about, faith, believing in something which common sense dictates you shouldn't. And if you have faith some rather good things can happen. Maybe even a miracle or two. When we meet her Doris Walker certainly doesn't believe. This young divorcée, responsible for overseeing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, ends up hiring Kris Kringle to portray Santa when her original actor proves to be quite a hopeless drunk. Kris is so perfect in the role that he is hired to be the Santa for the Macy's store during the Christmas season. And it is in this role that Kris will meet Doris Walker's nine-year-old daughter Susan. Doris has raised Susan not to believe in Santa Claus, not to believe in fairy tales of any kind. Susan it seems has rather sadly been deprived of having any imagination at all. Kris Kringle will set out to fix that.
As Kris Kringle sets out to open Susan's mind to all the possibilities of the imagination it is left to attorney Fred Gailey, Doris and Susan's neighbor, to work on restoring Doris' faith. And Fred will also need to put all his lawyer's skills to good use when Kris Kringle gets himself into a bit of a predicament. All the key performers do excellent work. Maureen O'Hara is wonderful in portraying Doris, tracing the arc of her character as this very serious-minded career woman opens her heart and allows herself to really believe in something. John Payne plays Fred and, dare I say it, there's a hint of Jimmy Stewart to him. Yeah, there's that other movie again. Natalie Wood is perfectly precocious in her portrayal of Susan, a child who seems impossibly mature for her age, credit for which must go to the actress playing the role. And then of course there is Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle. Kris certainly is steadfast in his belief that he is in fact Santa Claus and thanks to Gwenn's winning performance you may well believe it too. Gwenn could not be any better.
All in all it's a charming, heartwarming, and undeniably uplifting movie. The story takes a little while to kick into high gear and even when it does it still is a very simple, basic story. There may even be a moment or two where the film feels a little bit mundane and there is that nagging sense it never quite hits the emotional heights another film might. But this Christmas, when you're tired of watching It's a Wonderful Life...OK, so maybe nobody ever gets tired of watching It's a Wonderful Life. But when you're done watching Jimmy Stewart and friends make time to watch Miracle on 34th Street too. There's room for more than one holiday classic.