Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Director:

George Seaton

Writers:

George Seaton (writer)
Valentine Davies (story)

Release Date:

2 May 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

Capture the spirit of Christmas with this timeless classic!

Plot:

When a nice old man who claims to be Santa Claus is institutionalized as insane, a young lawyer decides to defend him by arguing in court that he is the real thing.

Plot Keywords:

Santa Claus | Commercialism | Thanksgiving | Christmas | Lawyer

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Maureen O'Hara	...	Doris Walker
John Payne	...	Fred Gailey
Edmund Gwenn	...	Kris Kringle
Gene Lockhart	...	Judge Henry X. Harper
Natalie Wood	...	Susan Walker
Porter Hall	...	Granville Sawyer
William Frawley	...	Charlie Halloran
Jerome Cowan	...	Dist. Atty. Thomas Mara
Philip Tonge	...	Julian Shellhammer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jack Albertson	...	Post Office mail sorter next to Lou (uncredited)
Harry Antrim	...	Mr. R. H. Macy (uncredited)
Lela Bliss	...	Mrs. Shellhammer (uncredited)
Walden Boyle	...	Judge's Clerk (uncredited)
Kevin Burke	...	Child on Santa's lap (uncredited)
Dorothy Christy	...	Secretary (uncredited)
Jeff Corey	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Teddy Driver	...	Terry (uncredited)
Mary Field	...	Dutch Girl's Adopted Mother (uncredited)
William Forrest	...	Doctor Rogers at Bellevue (uncredited)
Jack Gargan	...	Chauffeur (uncredited)
Robert Gist	...	Department Store Window Dresser (uncredited)
Jane Green	...	Mrs. Harper (uncredited)
Alvin Greenman	...	Alfred (uncredited)
Alvin Hammer	...	George (uncredited)
Theresa Harris	...	Cleo (uncredited)
Percy Helton	...	Drunken Santa Claus (uncredited)
Herbert Heyes	...	Mr. Gimbel (uncredited)
Clark Howat	...	Extra in Macy's Lunchroom (uncredited)
Robert Hyatt	...	Thomas Mara - Jr. (uncredited)
Richard Irving	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Robert Karnes	...	Second Bellevue Interne (uncredited)
Fran Lee	...	Customer (uncredited)
Marlene Lyden	...	Dutch Girl (uncredited)
Robert Lynn	...	Macy Salesman (uncredited)
Mae Marsh	...	Woman in Santa Line (uncredited)
Ida McGuire	...	Drum Majorette (uncredited)
Joseph McInerney	...	Bailiff (uncredited)
Jean O'Connell	...	Miss Adams (uncredited)
Anne O'Neal	...	Secretary to Mr. Sawyer (uncredited)
Gil Perkins	...	Court Officer Bearing Mail (uncredited)
'Snub' Pollard	...	Mail-Bearing Court Officer (uncredited)
Lorin Raker	...	Macy Salesman (uncredited)
Bob Reeves	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Thelma Ritter	...	Peter's Mother (uncredited)
Stephen Roberts	...	Security Guard (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre	...	Courtroom Reporter (uncredited)
James Seay	...	Dr. Pierce (uncredited)
Irene Shirley	...	R.H. Macy's Secretary (uncredited)
Patty Smith	...	Alice (uncredited)
Ann Staunton	...	Mrs. Mara (uncredited)
Brick Sullivan	...	Guard (uncredited)
Anthony Sydes	...	Peter (uncredited)
Guy Thomajan	...	Lou (uncredited)
Basil Walker	...	Bellevue Intern (uncredited)

Directed by
George Seaton

Writing credits
George Seaton		(writer)
Valentine Davies		(story)

Produced by
William Perlberg	....	producer

Original Music by
Cyril J. Mockridge		(as Cyril Mockridge)

Cinematography by
Lloyd Ahern		(director of photography)
Charles G. Clarke		(director of photography) (as Charles Clarke)

Film Editing by
Robert L. Simpson		(as Robert Simpson)

Art Direction by
Richard Day
Richard Irvine

Set Decoration by
Ernest Lansing
Thomas Little

Costume Design by
Kay Nelson

Makeup Department
Ben Nye	....	makeup artist

Sound Department
Roger Heman Sr.	....	sound (as Roger Heman)
Arthur von Kirbach	....	sound (as Arthur L. Kirbach)

Special Effects by
Fred Sersen	....	special photographic effects

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Charles Le Maire	....	wardrobe director
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Music Department
Alfred Newman	....	musical director
Edward B. Powell	....	orchestrator (as Edward Powell)
Maurice De Packh	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
John C. Eagan	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Charlie Hall	....	location manager (uncredited)
Dirk Van H. Labberton	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
May E. Romm	....	technical advisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1947) (USA) (theatrical)
• CBS/Fox (1993) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Fox Video (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (1997) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Fox Video (1997) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Fox Video (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Centfox (1949) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• CBS/Fox (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Legend Films  colorization
• Percepto Records  score album released by

Also Known As:

Miracle on 34th Street (UK)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Dutch

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Canada:F (Ontario) | Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | UK:U | Germany:o.Al. (DVD) | South Korea:All | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #12122)

Filming Locations:

Macy's Department Store - 151 West 34th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Cinematographer Charles G. Clarke was taken off the picture and sent to Mexico to finish principal photography on the troubled production of Captain from Castile (1947). Lloyd Ahern replaced him.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Fred finally gets himself invited to Thanksgiving dinner, Doris says "Dinner's at three" even though when she left her apartment 5 minutes before, her maid/cook was just lacing up the rather large turkey. (Unless she has one of those new-fangled microwave ovens, which are just now in the testing stage; no way can the turkey be ready for "Dinner at three".)

Quotes:

Fred: That baseball player sure looks like a giant to me.
Susan: Sometimes people grow very large, but that's abnormal.
Fred: I'll bet your mother told you that, too.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation: Christmas Special (#1.18)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Sabre and Spurs

It makes you want belive that Santa Claus really exists

Miracle On 34Th Street was a great Christmas movie. The major conflict of the movie was whether or not Santa Claus really existed.

The movie begins with Kris Cringle (Edmund Gwen) walking by a store with a man setting up a display of reindeer and notices that they are not in order. Kris tells the man politely how to fix them in the right positions, but the man gives him a strange look and goes back to work. Kris Cringle believes himself to be Santa Claus although most everyone else thinks he is crazy. Even little Susan (Natalie Wood) thinks he is a fake and doesn't believe in any ‘fairytales'. Her mother, Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara), taught her that to believe in ‘fairytales' is childish and impractical. Kris is later made a part of the Macy's parade when the Santa Claus that was supposed to be in the parade is found drunk. When asked if he had ever had any experience, Kris replied, `Many times.' Doris makes him the department store Santa Claus at Macy's where he tells many people that he is the real Santa Claus.

As more people find out about Kris Cringle calling himself ‘Santa Claus', they get upset saying that no such person really exists. Many people took it more literally and said that it would be impossible for reindeer to fly or for anyone to live in the North Pole. He is forced to take a mental examination and the doctor convinces Doris that Kris is mentally ill after he gets in a fight. Kris is arrested and taken to court and his lawyer is Mr. Gailey who starts to believe, along with Doris and Susan, the he actually is Santa Claus.

I thought that this was a really good holiday movie that focus on something that all of us as little kids went through- believing or not believing in Santa Claus. It even feels like I should believe in Santa after watching it. I thought that Edmund Gwen was a really good actor and perfect for his part. He played his role very innocently, which made him very believable as Santa Claus. Natalie Wood was a great actress who played very well the typical role of the cynical child. The acting and the plot was very well written. It was a very innocent movie that is entertaining for all types of audiences.