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Nothing says Christmas quite like the classics can. In a contemporary cinematic age governed by a desire for cash over quality, few - if any - modern Christmas flicks are destined to be as popular as the seasonal favourites of old. One picture which ranks highly in the category of Yuletide classics is the 1947 masterpiece Miracle on 34th Street. It's interesting to note just how unlikely this film's success was - back in the '40s, it was a film the studio had no idea know how to handle. It was selected for a summer release (in America, that is, when movie-goers aren't in the mood for movies about Santa Claus), it was armed with a surprisingly astute social insight, it offered subtle jabs at festive commercialism, and was infused with an intersection of law and politics. But Miracle on 34th Street found its audience, and was bestowed with acclaim and Oscars. Anchored by a winning combination of warm, sincere performances, magical moments, and a screenplay that's both sentimental and smart, Miracle on 34th Street should be required viewing on Christmas Eve. Children will find it a rewarding fantasy about the existence of Santa, while older, more mature viewers will be rewarded with an intelligence often lacking in Christmastime entertainment.
As the film begins, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City is about to take place. The Santa Claus hired for said parade is found to be slightly inebriated, and the parade organiser, Doris Walker (O'Hara), is left with no other option but to hire an elderly man she encounters (Gwenn) who happens to look remarkably like Santa. Due to the success of the parade, this old man is then hired as the department store Santa at Macy's, and is a huge hit: he's wonderful with children and is genuinely full of the Christmas spirit. In fact, this man claims that he actually is Kris Kringle himself. Problem is, Doris is raising her daughter Susan (Wood) with directness and honestly, meaning a complete absence of fairy tales, myths...and Santa Claus. Kris' ostensibly ridiculous claim is challenged, of course. Ultimately, rationality and the fantastical meet head to head in a courtroom where the sanity of Kris Kringle is to be determined.
Similar to other Christmas films set during the first half of the twentieth century (like A Christmas Story and It's a Wonderful Life, to name a couple), Miracle on 34th Street evokes and captures a time of sheltered innocence far removed from this day and age. It's almost impossible to imagine a period ever existing - a time when a trip to the department store meant dressing in your very best clothes, and when a stranger across the hall could be trusted alone with a little girl. To view Miracle on 34th Street is not to step back in time per se, but to enter a nostalgic dream wherein an array of wonderful moments unfold: Kris Kringle singing with a little Dutch girl, the great Thelma Ritter in an unbilled cameo as an early benefactor of Kringle's natural goodwill, and the United States Postal Service opting to dump all the undelivered Santa letters on Kris when he's in court.
George Seaton started as a radio actor before moving behind the camera during the 1930s. Miracle on 34th Street was only his fourth movie as a director, but he shows a solid sense of craftsmanship. Seaton's visuals may not exactly be outstanding, but he shows a true gift for working with actors (which comes back to the fact that he was an actor himself prior to his directorial career). Edward Gwenn's performance as Kris Kringle, for which he earned an Oscar, is wonderfully endearing - he's the perfect movie Santa Claus. Gwenn portrays the jolly fat man as the embodiment of goodwill and kind-heartedness; the type of person that makes you smile just by seeing them. Best of all, he deftly keeps his character ambiguous as to whether he genuinely is Santa Claus or just a sweetly deluded old man. Either way, you can't help but love the guy. Further additions to the cast include the wonderful Maureen O'Hara who's very convincing as Doris, and the precocious young Natalie Wood who's an utter joy as Susan.
Miracle on 34th Street also stands out due to its innovative (for the time) and extensive use of authentic locations - Seaton managed to integrate his actors into the real Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (Gwenn even played Santa for the event), and a few specific scenes were shot inside an actual Macy's department store with real workers and customers in the background. Such techniques are highly effective, as is the film's extraordinarily clever ambiguity. No-one ever definitively declares Kris to be the real Santa Claus, nor does the movie prove in any way that Santa exists, and there isn't a single shred of hard evidence to suggest Kris truly is Santa. Just as Doris and Susan slowly begin to gain faith in the unprovable, so does the audience. Sure, hints are presented in Kris' favour, but nothing is solid. It's up to us to believe and interpret the ending however we want.
It may not approach the dizzying heights of the brilliant Christmas staple It's a Wonderful Life, but Miracle on 34th Street remains a smart, immensely enjoyable festive fable that carefully hedges its bets in playing the line between reality and fantasy. In this regard, Edmund Gwenn's performance as Kris Kringle is pitch-perfect because he's able to generate the belief that Santa Claus is not just a mere impossibility, even for the adults (both in the audience and in the film) who should "know better". Yet, this movie refuses to get mushy on us. The sentiment is earned and genuine, but never forced. Seaton's screenplay is sharp; the tender drama is deftly combined with sly humour (this is actually a very funny movie) and a knowing, biting commentary on the commercialism of Christmas that grows more relevant with each passing year (I wonder what Kris would think about the state of Christmas commercialism today...). Miracle on 34th Street is not some cornball effort that uses the Christmas backdrop as a way to cheaply jerk a tear...it's a simple story of how decency and kindness will win over the most cynical of hearts. Here is a movie that doesn't push the materialistic aspect of the festive season (Jingle All the Way, anyone?) but rather the spirit of the holiday. It is, quite plainly, the Christmas spirit put on film.
9.2/10
