I knew immediately, when I was invited to participate in this write-off, what movie I would review.
"Miracle on 34th Street"! This movie has been my favorite since I was a little girl.
I was probably the same age that Natalie Wood was at the time the movie was made, when my father took me to Manhattan, to 34th Street, (all the way from Brooklyn), on thanksgiving day, to actually see the parade in person. It was so exciting to see and feel the thrill of it and to this day it is one of my best childhood experiences and memories. When I watch the parade on film, the original film, in black and white, my memory fills in the colors.
To this day, every Thanksgiving, there is nothing I enjoy more in this holiday period than watching the movie and it's parade on my little kitchen TV as I prepare turkey with all the trimmings for my family.
Basically the story is simple. The man hired to play Santa Claus for the parade, gets drunk just as the real Santa passes by the hold area where the participants in the parade are getting ready to strut their stuff. He quickly chastises the drunken guy, sends him on way and takes over.
He then spends the rest of the story trying to convince the people he meets that he is the real Santa.
He is hired to play Santa in Macy's department store. His gentle, joyous spirit, soon transforms those around him. But, before that happens, he has to win over a little girl and her cynical mother and convince them to believe in something other then the harsh realities of life. The woman, who hired him in the first place, has taught her little girl that there is no magic, no Santa Claus, no Easter bunny. She has been disappointed too many other times, has seen too many drunken Santas, working the parade, and has taken her mothers non-believing attitude.. Too many times for such a little girl.
But slowly, ever so slowly, she starts to believe in the goodness she sees in this Santa. She sees him send customers to Gimbals and other dept. stores when a toy a kid wants is not in stock in Macys. But, so do the higher ups in Macys, before long, the big honchos decide he's not dealing with a full deck, and they try to have him committed, after all, there really is no such person as "Santa Claus", is there?
Next, there's the big trial and all hell breaks loose when the post office steps in to deliver Santa all the mail they have received in his name over many years. Would the post office deliver all those thousands of pieces of mail to "Santa Claus", or Kris Kringle, the other name he likes to go by, if he wasn't "Santa"?........Case dismissed!!
Eventually the little girl decides to confide in him and tells him her biggest wish, what she wants for Christmas, can he deliver? Is it a possible request?
I don't want to give away the ending but needless to say, the movie wouldn't have been nominated for 4 academy awards, receiving 3, for best original story, best screenplay, and best supporting actor, Edmund Quinn, Santa himself, if it wasn't a really worthwhile, well made and heartwarming story, one with a lesson in faith and good will...It was also nominated for best picture that year but didn't get that coveted prize.
"Miracle on 34th Street" was recently released in a 50th anniversary edition featuring remastered footage and, at the beginning, a promotional short film about the film itself. I would recommend this movie to anyone looking for a delightful Christmas story, one of nostalgia and a little romance, with a little bit of a miracle thrown in... A look at the values of those days, and in some ways how they haven't changed. It's a story for all ages and all spirits.
To Quote Kris Kringle, "Christmas isn't just a day, it's a frame of mind"
The cast: Natalie wood-----Little girl
Maureen O'Hara-----Mother, works at Macy's
John Payne------Family friend, neighbor and Santa's Lawyer
Gene Lockhart----- Mr Macy
Thelma Ritter------ Shopper, her film debut.
William Frawley---- Macy's friend and advisor
Well, that's My favorite Christmas Movie. I hope you decide to read the other movies submitted in this write-off by these great Epinion Writers:
Update:Dec. 28th......There is another favorite Christmas movie write-off going on whose writers are definitly worthy of a peek. The host of this one is jenni1396...Check her out for links to these writers..
Six year old Susan has doubts childhoods most enduring miracle Santa Clause. Her mother told her the \secret\ about Santa a long time ago, so Susan do...More at Christianbook.com
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.