Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
(George Seaton, US 1947, 96 min., 35mm)
Released in the summer of 1947, Miracle on 34th Street has nonetheless grown into a perennial favorite, bridging the season from Thanksgiving to Christmas. When the Santa Claus hired for the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade turns up drunk, a jolly, bearded man named Kris (Edmund Gwenn) volunteers for the job. He is so perfect for the job, he is hired as a Santa for the Macy’ store Christmas display and worms his way into the hearts of Macy’s special events director Doris Walker (Maureen O’Hara), neighbor, love interest, and lawyer Fred Gailey (John Payne), and Doris’s daughter, Susan (Natalie Wood). When Kris begins to tell people that he is the real Santa Claus, however, his sanity is questioned and he finds himself in a legal battle to stay out of the sanitarium and restore the hearts of the children of New York City. Nominated for Best Picture at the 1948 Academy Awards, this 75th anniversary screening will touch all members of the household.