One of those movies that i’d seen in dribs and drabs over the years, but never fully given my attention, I decided to dive right into the original ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ over the 90s remake to see what made this such a much loved movie in the first place, and I totally get it.

The plot opens on Thanksgiving day, when a mysterious white haired, bearded man turns up to watch the Maceys thanksgiving day parade, and winds up berating and ultimately replacing a drunk actor hired to play Santa during the parade. After alls said and done, he does SUCH a good job that he’s hired to play Maceys ‘In store’ Santa, where he goes down an absolute storm after telling parents the best places to buy their kids much wanted christmas toys. The owners of Maceys are mortified at first, but realise that this approach brings in more customers than ever before, and higher profits. Causing them to pivot into becoming ‘the helping hand store’.

This is all too good to be true yes? Well, it is. Because the bearded man claims his real name is ‘Kris Kringle’ and that he’s the ACTUAL Santa Claus. Much to the confusion and dismissal of hard working realist divorcee Doris, who refuses to accept Kris’s story. Doris has a Daughter names Susan who she’s raising as a realist too, telling her that their is no Santa Claus and to take reality for what it is, rather than living in a fantasy. This somewhat bothers Doris’s coworker Fred, who has a bit of a thing for Doris, but it outrages Kris, who makes it his mission to not only prove to Doris that he IS the real Santa, but to help Susan nurture and develop her imagination.

Meanwhile, a pseudo psychologist working to do intelligence checks at Maceys has taken a GREAT disliking to Kris, and the feelings somewhat mutual. He wants Kris at minimum out of the store, and ideally committed, so he sets a trap in the hopes of snaring Santa, that will ultimately lead to the trial of the century! IS there REALLY a SANTA?!

I was very pleasently surprised by this one, it starts off maybe a little bit slow plot wise, but quickly picks up pace, delivering the kind of Schmaltzy christmas charm that you really want from a movie like this. The script is sluggish for the first 20 minutes or so, but then quickly picks up steam leading to a zippy second and third act that have a near perfect balance of light comedy, touching moments, romance and holiday cheer.

The act structurings are pretty evenly paced out, they dont rush things too badly and tonally its light and pleasent. The characters are all maybe a little *too* glossy stereotypical for my palette if im being honest, but I appreciate that this is a film from the 40s, when that kind of thing was all but unavoidable. The characters are well rounded and frankly delightful. With Doris bringing a dry and realistic edge to the situation, Kris being as delightful, charming and slightly irrasible as you could imagine Santa being, and Fred bringing a George Bailey level warmth to proceedings that helps act as the glue bringing these characters together.

Its a script that builds to a strong conclusion and sticks the landing. and its clear to me from story alone, how this has managed to stand the test of time.

Direction wise, its pretty reflective of studio pictures of the time, nothing too outlandish or ‘out there’ for the era. But its a good sturdy work, that again, holds up remarkably well for its age and delivers a genuine and sincere vision with the perfect level of energy.

Same goes for the cine as well, which again, isnt really breaking any boundaries on a technical level, but it does have a distinct grandness about it (the thanksgiving day parade footage itself is quite lovely) while also not shying away from mixing in good close up footage to really help bring the audience in on the action. This is largely edited together really solidly, and while It maybe would have been nice to have more B-roll and cutaways within the sequence structuring, Again, that wasnt entirely commonplace at the time, so it might be asking a bit much.

Performance wise Edmund Gwenn is a damn near perfect Kris Kringle, jolly, endlessly kind, patient and supportive, his warmth would melt the celluloid if it wasnt on Safety strip. he’s perfect here and pretty much makes the film what it is.

Same goes for Maureen Ohara and John Payne as Doris and Fred, they have fantastic on screen chemestry, Marueen plays the role with a genuiness that is unusual for this era of film makign and John compliments the cold realism with a bit more whimsical openness. These three actors frankly, were in the right place at the right time and toghether they achieve a rare lightning in a bottle moment honestly.

The rest of the cast keep things fairly campy, serious with a slight whimsy for comedic effect. its a solid production honestly. With only the soundtrack falling a little short, in the sense of…I dont actually remember any of the music in this film barring the occasional carol. I think it maybe would have helped if it had been a bit more prominent to the storytelling.

Ultimately? this is a lovely little Holiday classic, it hits all the right notes, aims for sincere over glossy and delivers the exact kind of cozy Christmas watching that I strive to find every year. Definitely one i’ll try and watch again next year and definitely recommended!

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/miracle-on-34th-street/1/