Miracle on 34th Street

2022 - 12 - 24

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Image courtesy of "Collider.com"

'Miracle on 34th Street' and 9 of the Best Christmas Films Based on ... (Collider.com)

Many of your favorite holiday movies probably got their start on the page, including films such as 'Miracle on 34th Street' and 'A Christmas Carol'.

The film follows an adult Ralphie reminiscing about a particular Christmas when he was a child. While the film is based on the novel of the same title by Donna VanLiere, the book was a novelization of the Christmas-themed song written by NewSong. The film and book's storyline were inspired by Valentine Davies' experiences while standing in line at a store during the holiday season. When a department store on 34th street hires Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) to work as Santa Claus, he attracts attention by claiming to be the real deal. The book itself was inspired by the Allsburg’s childhood memories at department stores during the holiday season. The band NewSong also featured a song in the film called “The Christmas Blessing.” Meanwhile, Nathan searches for the parents of a boy who died in the ER in the second film. It was first turned into an animated TV film in 1966, followed by a live-action movie in 2000 and an animated version in 2018. While Donna VanLiere wrote the book on which the films were based, she wrote 11 books in this series. The adult Nathan (Neil Patrick Harris) questions his career path and returns to his hometown, where he encounters romance and deals with a tragedy. The film is loosely based on a short story called “The Greatest Gift” written by Philip Van Doren Stern. While their neighbors and friends are appalled at their lack of Christmas spirit, they are forced to scramble as she returns for the holiday.

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Image courtesy of "What's On Disney Plus"

Miracle on 34th Street (1947) | Retro Movie Review (What's On Disney Plus)

Susan Walker (Natalie Wood) is a very intelligent, sensible little girl who has been brought up by her mother Doris (Maureen O'Hara) to not believe silly ...

The film is carried by the on screen chemistry of Kris Kringle and Susan but the acting in the more poignant scenes is also strong enough that it holds its own dramatically too. So the question remains, after all those parodies, tributes and three-quarters of a century is the film really as good as the reputation that precedes it? The gradual progression from a little girl who only believes in what she can see to one that wants to believe in magic is particularly highlighted by one-on-one scenes with Kris. She is immediately positioned as a love interest for lawyer Fred Gailey (John Payne) and all of her concerns and even parenting decisions for Susan are hand-waved away and overridden by a man who decides he knows better and wants to pursue Doris romantically. Even when the rest of the world is ready to lock him up as a madman… But the amazing thing is that I already knew most of the story beats because the film has seeped into the larger pop culture over the last 75 years through parody and tribute.

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Image courtesy of "Salon"

"Miracle on 34th Street" reminds us that home ownership was once ... (Salon)

Revisiting this delightful holiday classic 75 years later reflects postwar anxieties that are still relevant today. By Anna Thompson Hajdik ...

[ enthusiastically moved into suburbs](https://www.salon.com/2021/04/09/them-covenant-review-amazon-white-flight/) to carve out their slice of the postwar American dream. Blandings Builds His Dream House" (1948) intertwines the happiness and satisfaction of the family and traditional family roles with the depiction of single-family homes. A new era in home construction came to define an entire generation of family life. "Miracle on 34th Street" remained popular however, even almost a year after its release with the magazine's editors writing in the same piece that the "unheralded little picture about Santa Claus was [the] funniest and most original" of the year. Whether a colonial manor or modest Cape Cod, the ways these films juxtaposed the prospect of home ownership with stark visions of the alternative – the concrete jungle and isolating nature of the big city, further demonstrated the allure of suburban living for many families. The film is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2022 and is remembered today for its obvious sentimentality and its half-hearted critique of the [over-commercialization of Christmas](https://www.salon.com/2017/12/16/how-coca-cola-invented-christmas-as-we-know-it_partner/). This collective expectation and unprecedented demand contributed significantly to a national housing crisis despite the Roosevelt and subsequently, the Truman administration's passage and implementation of And the film was a bright spot in an otherwise dismal period for Hollywood. The film industry reflected the concerns of the immediate postwar era and helped to assuage the anxieties of a frustrated public that, like "Miracle on 34th Street's" young protagonist, dreamed of a home. The article acknowledged the toll of the House Un-American Activities Committee on the industry's creative output, along with a diminished foreign market for American films. [Natalie Wood](https://www.salon.com/2022/05/28/robert-wagner-officially-cleared-as-suspect-in-mysterious-of-natalie-wood/)) lives with her mother in a high-rise apartment in Manhattan. "Miracle on 34th Street" was initially released in May of 1947.

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Image courtesy of "KVNF Public Radio"

A Holiday Special: Miracle on 34th Street, A Radio Play! (KVNF Public Radio)

KVNF and Magic Circle Players present Miracle on 34th street, a radio play. The show was directed by Michelle Terry and stars John Adragna, Kelly Green, ...

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Image courtesy of "Looper"

Miracle On 34th Street Shows Macy's HR Is Dropping The Ball ... (Looper)

The plot revolves around a Macy's Santa Claus — portrayed by British character actor Edmund Gwenn — whose kindness and good deeds aren't enough to keep him out ...

Sure, it turns out that Gwenn's character is the real Santa, but Macy's HR doesn't know that when they approve him to ride in the parade that very morning and work in the Macy's toy department the next day (Black Friday). Then there's the pièce de resistance that proves the ineptitude of Macy's HR department depicted in the film: Santa Claus' employment card. First, HR should have gotten whiplash from the sheer double take that must have occurred when their potential hire listed his name as Kris Kringle on the employment card. HR then immediately approves the hire of a complete unknown (Gwenn) to take the drunken Santa's place just because he happens to bear a resemblance to Saint Nicholas. "Now I know there's a Santa Claus," Gwenn said during his acceptance speech at the 20th Academy Awards ceremony (via the [Oscars](https://youtu.be/BqOH9T0KgSs?t=88)). Fans' first inkling that something isn't quite right in HR comes when Macy's initial Santa (Percy Helton) shows up drunk to ride in the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade.

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