That was an excellent one.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

REVIEW DATE 2/19/2018 PLEASE BEWARE OF SOME REVIEWERS THAT ONLY HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW. I HAVE OVER 400 REVIEWS OF "CHRISTMAS RELATED FILMS & SPECIALS" WHEN ITS A POSITIVE THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. NOW I HAVE NO AGENDA! I REVIEW MOVIES & SPECIALS AS A WAY TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT I HAVE SEEN! I HAVE DISCOVERED MANY GEMS IN MY QUEST TO SEE AS MANY " C H R I S T M A S " MOVIES AS I CAN.Now Someone keeps reporting my reviews. I guess they are jealous because I do tell the truth. I want to point out that I never make snide remarks about actors weight or real life sexual orientation. If there acting is terrible or limited "I talk about that". If a story is bad "I will mention that" So why am I being "picked on"? IMDB? When one of my reviews gets deleted IMDB will not even tell me what someone found offensive. Well on to this review.Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) is indignant to find that the man (Percy Helton) assigned to play Santa in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is intoxicated. When he complains to event director Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara), she persuades Kris to take his place. He does so well, he is hired to play Santa at Macy's flagship New York City store on 34th Street.Ignoring instructions to steer parents to buy from Macy's, Kris directs one shopper (Thelma Ritter) to a competitor. Impressed, she tells Julian Shellhammer (Philip Tonge), head of the toy department, that she will become a loyal customer.Attorney Fred Gailey (John Payne), Doris's neighbor, takes the young divorcée's daughter Susan (Natalie Wood) to see Santa. Doris has raised her to not believe in fairy tales, but Susan is shaken after seeing Kris speak Dutch with a girl who does not know English. Doris asks Kringle to tell Susan that he is not Santa, but he insists that he is.Worried, Doris decides to fire him. However, Kris has generated so much positive publicity and goodwill for Macy's that Macy (Harry Antrim) promises Doris and Julian bonuses. To alleviate Doris's misgivings, Julian has Granville Sawyer (Porter Hall) administer a "psychological evaluation". Kris passes, and questions Sawyer's own mental health.This is a great film that everyone should see.

"Do you believe in Santa Claus?" is the big question in this festive classic from 1947, that features a stellar performance from a young Natalie Wood.I had only seen the 90's remake of this film written by John Hughes previously, but it's interesting to now compare/contrast and see how little that film adds to the original story.It was a little slow in places, but I liked the ending much better and thought that everybody involved gave wonderful performances.If any film deserves the title of 'festive classic' it's this one.

Every Christmas movie features the predictable moment where Santa Claus holds a child on his knees and asks what toy he or she would like for Christmas. Less predictable however is the way the scene is played in George Seaton's "Miracle on 34th Street", the hint that this film will be onto something special even by our modern standards.So Kris Kingle aka Edmund Gwenn takes care of the endless line-up of kids who showed at Macy's with their exhausted moms. One of them asks for a toy that isn't available, Santa Claus gives the mother the address of a little shop that sells it, her face says it all, she keeps on repeating 'I don't get it', and a few time later, the store manager realizes that basically this Santa Claus who seemed rather competent sent customers to their competitors. Now, in a lesser movie, that would have been enough a reason to fire him and makes the sappy sentimental comment on commercialism and its interference with the spirit of Christmas, but see what happens in the film. The mother, played by a priceless Thelma Ritter, actually congratulates the management for having placed the spirit of Christmas before profit and she promises to be back.This is one of the many delights of the script, while praising the 'spirit of Christmas' it also highlights the cynical smartness of capitalism that finds a profit in every situation. It comes to the funny point where a gesture that was motivated by Kingle's good heart became a marketing argument; in fact a win-win masterstroke of such profitable outcomes that even the competitors sent customers to Macy's. Even today, you can find countless marketing operations that rely on the pretension of being well-meaning and good-hearted, while never been disinterested. Interest is the soul of profit, the film gets it, and that's how brilliant it is.Actually, there's no shortage of adjectives to qualify "Miracle on 34th Street", I could also say enchanting, heart-warming, gentle, sweet, entertaining, and they would all be deserved, but the first word that comes to my mind is "smart", it is an intelligently written film, whose charm relies on the witty take on Christmas as a commercial event, a spirit, a state of mind from both children and adults' perspective and Edmund Gwenn who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for a performance that can be seen as a real gift to Hollywood: Gwenn is still today the most memorable cinematic Santa Claus. But the film also won an Oscar for the Screenplay, certainly for its intelligence and tact, it manages to "deliver" the message and make fun of the skeptics without accusing them.In lesser movies (again), only a miracle reveals the 'reality' of Christmas, but despite the fact that this film features the word 'Miracle' and that it was ranked number four in the American Film Institute's Top 10 Fantasies, the interrogation mark is maintained till the end. It's not on-the-nose miracle,the film contradicts the skeptics by extending their logic to such a length that they can't, by the end, state with their certitude that there's no Santa Claus. I just love the moment where Kris Kingle, as he calls himself, is assigned to trial in the Supreme Court of New York and Mr. Macy himself is asked whether he believes in Santa Claus, he imagines the headlines, what a contradiction if the owner of the biggest toy factory doesn't even believe in the most iconic toy provider. And no one is immune to the backlash in case they attack such a beloved icon, when the judge is asked to rule on the existence of Santa Claus, he is immediately warned by a friend who doesn't want to see him as a new Pontius Pilate.And it's not just about missing kisses from his grandchildren; he's got also a lot to lose. Indeed, how about all the Santa Claus syndicate workers, the Army of Salvation, it's a whole pyramidal business organization that will be thrown to pieces if he condemns Santa Claus, not to mention the political implications. The judge, while not negating his existence, moves it to another issue: how to prove that he's the real Santa Claus. The resolution of is one of the most memorable moments from the film but by that moment, it had already earned its status as a classic, because just seeing adults and responsible men making a case (literally) of Santa Claus existence and dealing it with in a very straightforward way is too delightful for words. At one moment, Kingle's lawyer says that if he believes he is Kris Kingle and acts accordingly so, there is no reason to deprive him from that right or doubt his sanity, I could see similar arguments being made today about transgender people.Psychology, psychiatry, consumerism, identity, "Miracle on 34th Street" is modern in so many ways it is hard to believe it was made in the 40's yet it really shaped all the archetypes of the genre, including many others such the workaholic mother (Maureen O'Hara) and the wise girl who couldn't believe in Christmas, played by a scene-stealing Nathalie Wood. All these clichés have become annoying because one could expect a little more from the screenwriter but having a divorced woman with a child, and telling her not to believe in fairy tales was hard to imagine in the 40's. And for all its modernity, this is still a film with a heart and a tender relationship between an old man and a little girl, something that would be impossible now without unveiling some sordid suspicion.But that's the power of "Miracle on 34th Street", it's a film you see with a mind from today but a heart from the past, and you feel so good after watching it.

Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara) employs a kindly old man to be her Santa Claus both on parade and in Macy's department store after discovering that her intended Santa Claus is intoxicated. Doris is initially happy with her new Santa Claus as he actually looks like Santa Claus (real whiskers and all). However, when Santa Claus (played by Edward Gwenn) starts claiming that he is the real Santa Claus Doris is horrified especially after she's explained to her young daughter Susan (Natalie Wood) that Santa Claus isn't real. Santa Claus AKA Kris Kringle ends up institutionalised as a result of his claims (and also due to the behaviour of unscrupulous psychiatrist Granville Sawyer). Having established enough evidence to believe that Kringle is the real Santa Claus lawyer Fred Gailey (John Payne) takes Kringle's case to court to prove once and for all that he is the real Santa Claus.I think one of the key successes with a film like Miracle on 34th Street is that it is a film that has great appeal to very young children but it also has some themes running throughout the film that adult audiences can also pick up upon. Clearly children are the key target audience here (given the nature of the premise it's probably a film that will work better with very young children). However, if you delve deeper then it's clear that there is also plenty of content and commentary on offer to an adult audience as well.The selling point for an adult audience is that the film also remembers what Christmas is actually about and actually manages to turn negatives into positives - the film focuses on such things as Christmas being far too commercialised, it also focuses on corporate greed and consumerism (department stores trying to manipulate kids into buying items they're overstocked with rather than toys that they actually want). It then turns these negatives into positives by Kringle's notion of being honest with the kids by referring them to another store if Macy's doesn't have the toy that they want. Initially, the head of Macy's department store is angry about the idea of losing business, but Kringle's actions have so much positivity about them that it ends up bringing good PR to Macy's. This leads to a funny moment where the heads of the two biggest department stores are actually encouraging shoppers to buy things from their rivals store which is both ironic and very clever.I think some of the best moments in the film are the scenes between Kris Kringle and Susan Walker (Natalie Wood). As mentioned, Gwenn is excellent here and is probably everything that kids imagine Santa Claus to be - kind, wise, caring, selfless. Considering Natalie Wood was only around 9 years old when this was made I thought her performance here was terrific and at times she almost steals the show from Gwenn. She's neither overly-cute, annoying or bratty and basically just portrays a young girl who slowly starts to believe in something that she's always been told isn't real. The chemistry and warmth displayed between the two characters was a joy to behold. Of course the film had other strengths as well, but Gwenn and Wood were the real stars of the show here.Miracle on 34th Street is a film with plenty for children and adults alike to enjoy. Young children will bear witness to a wonderful interpretation of the mythical man with the white beard who delivers all their presents on Christmas morning. For adults there's a bit of escapism and subtle nods about commercialisation, corporate greed and consumerism and again I liked the idea that these negative aspects were given a positive spin. It's certainly a film I wouldn't mind watching every now and again at Christmas.