Category: Christmas / Chanukkah - Feature Film Family - Gift Set - Movie - Xmas Video
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DVD Miracle on 34th Street (Special Edition)
The original 1947 version of this Valentine Davies story follows the misadventures of Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) as he gets a job playing Santa Claus at Macy's department store in New York City. Natalie Wood is the little girl who tells him she doesn't believe in Santa, and Maureen O'Hara and John Payne are the couple who help Kris through a trial in which he must prove he's the jolly fellow from the North Pole. A sweet movie and perennial Christmas favorite, this is one of those movies that gets under your skin and must be revisited every so often. --Tom Keogh
Review(s): DVD Miracle on 34th Street (Special Edition)
Best Version of the Classic, with FABULOUS Special Features!
When Maureen O'Hara, the top-billed star of 1947's "Miracle on 34th Street", proudly proclaims all three 'remakes' of the story were flops, it may sound a bit conceited...but she is absolutely right, the original IS the best...and THIS is the edition that is a MUST for your collection!
Based on a story by Valentine Davies (who wondered how the real Santa Claus would react to the commercialization of Christmas), with an Oscar-winning screenplay by director George Seaton, the film is a triumph of perfect casting, perfect timing, and a sentimentality and humor that post-War America desperately needed. Contrary to general opinion, 20th Century Fox did not treat it as a 'minor' film (studio head Darryl F. Zanuck loved the story), but location shooting (at the first Macy's parade since the war began, as well as inside the store, during the Christmas 'rush') would push the budget to the limit.
O'Hara (unhappily yanked from a long-awaited return to her Ireland home), and popular Fox leading man John Payne were cast in the leads, but the real 'stars' of the film are Oscar-winning 71-year-old Edmund Gwenn (who is absolutely perfect as 'Kris Kringle', and convinced everyone on the project that he really WAS Santa Claus), and 8-year-old Natalie Wood (the most gifted of the post-War child stars), who brings young Susan brilliantly to life. Their scenes together are so sweet and irresistable that the film positively glows!
While elements of the story are 'dated' (the competition between Macy's and Gimbel's, the Postal information, etc.), it simply gives the 1947 version a 'timeless' quality that the 1994 version lacked...and in not attempting to incorporate 'magic' into the story (as the Attenborough production uncomfortably does), it actually seems MORE magical!
Several supporting players should be singled out; Thelma Ritter (in her screen debut), is wonderful as a frazzled mom; Gene Lockhart (the judge) and William ("I Love Lucy") Frawley (as the judge's campaign manager) are hilarious together; and Porter Hall, as the hiss able 'psychologist', Sawyer, is a perfect foil for Gwenn. The entire cast is superb!
This edition offers both a B&W AND 'colorized' version of the film, each featuring a warm commentary by O'Hara (taped at the 86-year-old actress' home, in Ireland), two documentaries (including scenes from the Thomas Mitchell, Sebastian Cabot, and Richard Attenborough versions), the bizarre trailer for the film, the complete 1955 TV production starring Mitchell, and a sentimental history of the parade.
While the film was, indeed, originally released in the summer of 1947 (to maximize profits), it is a bona fide Christmas 'Classic', and should be an essential part of your holiday collection!
Do You Believe this Gentlemen to be Santa Claus?
The Most Beloved Holiday Film of all Time is now on a Two Disc Special Edition for this Holiday season. The Film that begged the question: Do you believe in Santa Claus? Edmund Gwenn won the oscar for best supporting actor as Kris Kringle, the Macy's store Santa who is either believed to be insane or the gift deliverer himself, starring Maureen O' Hara, John Payne & 8 year old Natalie Wood. A Delightful & Dramatic masterpiece, The greatest holiday film of all time, enchanting & inspirational. Nearing it's 60th Anniversary, watch "Miracle on 34th Street this holiday season.
Faith And Other Intangibles
"Miracle On 34th Street", written by Valentine Davies and George Seaton; directed by George Seaton. (Spoilers abound, because I can't imagine that anyone who can read this hasn't seen this film yet).
It's the classic story of kindly Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn), a Macy's store Santa who firmly believes that he really is Santa Claus. Hard-bitten Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara) and her level-headed daughter Susan (Natalie Wood) don't buy it for a second. But is he telling the truth?
As long as there's been Christmas (and Christmas movies), filmmakers have struggled to capture that feeling many of us associate with the season. Like many other subject matter, Christmas is a high-wire act, and audiences are more often than not subjected to a dunking in treacle. What is it, then, that makes this film so effective? Why has this story thrived for almost sixty years, surpassing the inevitable remake and imitations with nary a blemish?
The obvious answers are true: it's extremely well written, directed and performed. Everyone in the film is tremendous, and naturally Gwenn and Wood are the standouts. It's impossible to imagine anyone being a more convincing Santa than Mr. Gwenn, and young miss Wood's acting is expressive and touching. It's a real challenge to make literal-mindedness and pragmatism appealing, and her success seems effortless.
Like many great movies, every choice feels as if there were no other option. Imagine setting this at a store in the midwest. The writer easily could have done so, but by setting it in New York City, the iconic heart of tough-minded me-first cynicism, the sentimentality has fertile ground in which to bloom.
That's reflected in the script again and again with a salty, grounded edge to amost every character decision. Parade manager Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara) doesn't simply choose Kris because he's kind-hearted and a dead ringer for Santa - she grabs him off the street in desperation because the Santa that she hired is passed-out drunk. It's also echoed in the skepticism of almost everyone that Kris comes across. Everyone likes him, but they're pretty sure he's a bit of a nut. Kris is so good in the parade, though, that he's quickly hired as the flagship Claus for the store.
Things are allowed to continue as they are - Kris 'plays' Santa at Macy's - with no one needing to seriously question his identity. Business is booming, and as long as Kris isn't seen to be a danger to anyone, his 'eccentricity' gets a pass. Even a huge potential misstep - Kris begins to recommend products from competing stores to customers - transforms into a goodwill epidemic among the retail chains. Naturally, this balance doesn't last long.
Kris make a friend with Alfred, a young janitor who loves playing Santa for the kids, too - but both he and Kris fall victim to the Macy's employee screener, Granville Sawyer (Porter Hall). Literal-minded to a fault, Mr. Sawyer believes that Kris is deranged, and will cause harm if his delusion is threatened. But the straw that breaks the reindeer's back is when Sawyer begins to psychoanalyze Alfred, convincing him that his love of being Santa is the result of a guilt complex in his childhood. This infuriates Kris to such a degree that he clonks the would-be Freud on the head with his cane - and that's all the ammunition that Sawyer needs.
He sets in motion commitment proceedings, an action even the hard-boiled Macy doesn't want to take. But it's too late. Fortunately, Santa has a lawyer - Fred Gailey (John Payne), who lives near Doris. While both Fred and Kris have ulterior motives concerning Doris and Susan - Fred wants to get to know Doris better, Kris wants to introduce Susan to imagination and faith - the script does the tricky job of keeping our sympathy.
Another great choice is to make Kris' first (literal) defender an adult - another stong contrast to the watery-eyed moppet who believes, believes, believes from the first frame to the last. Additionally, Doris and Susan are the last to make that emotional shift.
The stakes are high, too - Kris isn't simply going to be fired and sent packing out into the snow. If this case is lost, he'll be committed to Bellview asylum for good. We get a little taste of how broken and unhappy he'd be when Kris weakens and deliberately fails the psychiatric exam, effectively committing himself. His faith in his fellow man is shattered, but fortunately lawyer Fred Gailey (John Payne) convinces him to keep fighting - deftly setting up the courtroom sequence.
Fred take the best path a lawyer could use - he pressures the prosecutor to prove that Kris isn't Santa. No one wants to say there's no Santa on the stand, for a variety of savvy, unsentimental reasons. The prosecutor doesn't want to crush his son's dreams of Christmas. Mr. Macy won't, because he doesn't want to make headlines as the man who planted a fake Santa in his flagship store in the heart of the shopping season. The judge doesn't want to drop the hammer on Kris, either - he wants to run for public office soon, and there's lots of voter alienation hanging in the balance. Eventually, though, the hearing reaches the inevitable - the judge is duty-bound to require concrete proof from the defense. Where could that possibly come from?
That proof - delivered when a couple of postal workers send fifty thousand letters to the courthouse, helping Fred prove his case that Kris is the "one and only" Santa Claus - is a choice made simply to help clear out the dead letter office. It's a choice that could have been terribly maudlin if both mail workers had melted in light of Kris' plight - but with that opportunistic shade, it's so entertaining that we buy it whole-heartedly. Of course, it's also beautfully set up by having little Susan (Natalie Wood) first write her letter of support when things look darkest.
The theme of faith is endlessly reflected in the script. Doris needs to have faith in love (Fred), Susan needs to have faith that Kris will bring her special gift, Kris has faith that Fred will prevail, and everyone, as we know, needs to have faith in Santa Claus.
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