Miracle on 34th Street

My favorite holiday is tomorrow. A holiday that sees family members gather, share stories, reminisce, and break bread together. My favorite part of the day was and still is the conversation and of course the food is always great too. Thanksgiving is a day all about family. It’s also a day where we all have our own traditions for what we watch. Whether that’s watching the football game, the National Dog Show hosted here in Philadelphia, or watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. For us it was always the latter. Our story today begins much like that…with the iconic parade hosted in New York City. A film released in 1947 about another holiday and that wonderful man they call Santa Claus.

So if you’re like me and you enjoy film and the impact and emotions they convey, then grab a glass of your preferred liquid and join me for the next little while. For me that’s a cup of warm pumpkin maccha latte from our friends at Saxbys. So sit back, relax, and let’s talk about the love of film. Welcome to Glazed Cinema.

Before I begin talking about our subject today I wanted to start with a bit of news. I hope you have been enjoying Glazed Cinema thus far. It’s been a true pleasure to talk about films and recommend works I love. With the holiday season upon us I will be taking some time off after this episode to spend the holidays with family.

I will however be back for Season 2 of Glazed Cinema in January of 2022. During my break however I will still be posting to social media and preparing for next year. So with that out of the way, let’s get to our subject today.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I have fond memories from past years. I remember as a kid my mom would make herself coffee and eat breakfast with us in the living room while it was on. Sometimes my dad was working until the afternoon at the store, but when he was home for the day we’d all watch together. My brother and I loved seeing all the balloons of our favorite characters, the colorful floats, and happy songs. My mom would start cooking during the parade and we’d call her out to the living room to see certain things if we thought they were cool. Eventually we’d start smelling the food and then came Santa Claus to close the parade. By the afternoon my grandparents would arrive and we’d be eating dinner followed by dessert, followed by intermittent napping and conversation. I loved spending time with everybody and hearing stories of past and present.

Our subject today was released in 1947 and was a massive hit when it was released across the globe.

The story itself has very simple beginnings. It was first thought of by writer Valentine Davies. While at a department store during the holidays, he stood in a long line. While waiting he wondered what Santa would think of the all the lines and how Christmas had been commercialized. Inspired by this he would write a story about the idea and later gave it to George Seaton who wrote the script that would become Miracle on 34th Street.

Known primarily as a Christmas movie, it was originally released in June, six months removed from the holiday season. The tale revolves around four central characters. There’s Kris Kringle, played by Edmund Gwenn. Kris is actually Santa Claus visiting New York when he becomes Macy’s Santa Claus. There’s Doris Walker, played by Maureen O’Hara, who is a Macy’s executive in charge of orchestrating events of the holiday season. Her daughter Susan, played by Natalie Wood is a very practical girl who like her mother does not believe in Santa Claus. Then there’s Fred Galley, played by John Payne who is a lawyer and lives next to Doris and Susan. Fred has feelings for Doris and as a believer in Saint Nick, tries to show them magic of Christmas and that Santa Claus does exist.

Kris is a warm, gentle, and kind hearted man who wants to bring joy to others. People are skeptical of Kris however and doubt his mental sanity. What sane man thinks he’s Santa Claus they say and put him on trial. Together, Fred, Doris, and Susan become intertwined in a tale about an innocent man accused of assault and delusion. They must defend Kris and convince the judge that he is truly Kris Kringle before he is declared insane and locked away in a mental institution.

It’s a classic film and one that has captured the imaginations of generations. No matter how many times I watch this film there’s one thing that always stands out to me.

Watching this film I always marcel at is how perfect Edmund Gwenn was for the role of Santa Claus. In my personal opinion I think it’s the best portrayal of Santa Claus in film, hands down. Despite how well it turned out however Edmund wasn’t the first choice to play Kris Kringle. Instead it was another actor named Cecil Kellaway. Cecil had been acting in film for over a decade at the time, but he would turn the role down. He did however have a replacement in mind and instead recommended his cousin, Edmund and the rest as they say is history.

O’Hara herself knew that Edmund would be a hit as Kris Kringle. In her autobiography she wrote about as much, stating:

“Each evening, when we were not working, Edmund Gwenn, John, and I went for a walk up Fifth Avenue. Natalie had to go to bed, but we didn’t. We stopped and window-shopped at all the stores, which were beautifully decorated for the holidays. Edmund especially loved those nights and acted more like the kid who might be getting the presents instead of the Santa who would be giving them. I got such a big kick out of seeing the expressions of window dressers when they saw Edmund peering in at them—I knew then that he was going to make a big splash as Santa Claus ... Everyone felt the magic on the set and we all knew we were creating something special.”

Edmund was so convincing in fact that Natalie Wood thought he truly was Santa Claus until filming was over and she saw him out of character. Who could blame her? He had committed himself to the role growing his own beard, gaining thirty pounds, and

One of the biggest challenges of this film was shooting those scenes at the parade. If you’re unfamiliar with the film there are several shots of the iconic parade, showing floats, performers, and of course Santa Claus. There are other shots of the parade too however, like the one in Fred’s apartment in a high rise. There he is talking to Susan with the parade going on in the background with a balloon baseball player rising above the street.

Something interesting I learned while doing research is that the parade seen in the film was the actual parade from 1947. It didn’t stop at just using parade footage though. No, even Edmund Gwenn was chosen as the official Santa Claus during the day’s ceremony. Not only did he look the part, but this also insured that shooting the film could occur with no disruption to the beloved tradition.

This did of course add tremendous pressure to all parties. For Macy’s, they would have to hope they an actor would portray Santa Claus well enough to make the children watching happy. Without any frame of reference other than appearances I would imagine this would be nerve racking for such an iconic event. For Edmund, he’d have to play Santa Claus, not just for the cameras, the film crew, the national broadcast and more importantly, the crowd. The ones with the most pressure on them however had to have been the film crew themselves. They needed shots of the crowd from the street, shots of the parade from above, shots of Santa, and all needed to be done in one take. It’s not like they could hold the parade, bystanders, and people watching at home hostage while they set up and shot a second take. No, everything had one opportunity, one chance, one take.

Despite all the pressure however, it was an absolute success all around. Everyone loved Edmund as Santa Claus at the parade and the crew got all the shots they needed as well. I don’t know about you, but from where I’m sitting that is impressive.

Shooting on location was a standard for the film as well with the majority of filming being done within New York City at actual locations rather than a soundstage, which was preferred at the time.

One of my favorite scenes in the film is when Kris is sitting down as Santa Claus at Macy’s. A woman approaches with her daughter who has pigtails and a round hat. The girl looks on shyly as Mr. Kringle greets her saying, "Well hello young lady, what's your name?" Her mother begins to speak as her daughter looks up at her. She says, "I'm sorry, she doesn't speak English, she only speaks Dutch. She just came over." Kris begins to smile, nodding in his understanding. The girl looks on with a look of muted nervousness. Her mother continues. "She's been living in an orphans home in Rotterdam ever since and we've adopted her. I told her you wouldn't be able to speak to her, but when she saw you in the parade yesterday she said you were the real Santa Claus as she calls you and that you could speak to her." What happens next is a wonderful and touching moment, but I'll leave that for you to discover on your own.

Another of my favorite scenes is when Doris calls in Kris to speak to Susan. The little girl begins to believe that he is the real Santa Claus and Doris wants him to tell her the truth. That there is no Santa Claus and that he is not him. This backfires on Doris however as Kris is the real Santa Claus. There’s some verbal back and forth, but what I love about this scene is when we see Kris’ employment record. There typed up are his bits of personal information. Name, Kris Kringle. Address, Brooks memorial home for the aged. Place, North Pole. Next of kin, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen. My favorite bit however is his date of birth. Instead of a date are the words, “as old as my tongue and a little bit older than my teeth.” I was curious about where that came from. It’s such an odd and tongue in cheek kind of statement. It’s a great quote that comes from Jonathon Swift, an Irish satirist who famously wrote Gulliver’s Travels. The quote comes from a collection called Polite Conversation of a Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation.

I love that scene though, especially the way Kris handles the entire situation. Instead of being offended or causing a fuss he politely disagrees while talking to little Susan about school. Knowing he is who he is and not needing to prove anything to anyone…that is until he has to.

I love this film for a lot of reasons, but most of all I enjoy it for the feeling it provides. I always feel good having watched it and it's such a wonderfully genuine film. Nothing about it seems forced or underdeveloped. There are a few Christmas movies I have on rotation each year which include Home Alone, The Christmas Carol with George C Scott, and Miracle on 34th Street. It’s a timeless classic and a film that speaks to the young heart in each of us. Miracle on 34th Street is beloved by many generations and has stood the test of time as a holiday classic. It’s a little strange to think that so many remakes have been made between three TV movies in 1955, 1959, and 1973 and one theatrical release in 1994. Though opinions may vary, my favorite version is the original.

If you’d like to watch Miracle on 34th Street for yourself you can find it on a variety of streaming services. At the time of this recording you can find Miracle in 34th Street on HBO Max. HBO Max is a streaming service that offers two pricing options including $9.99 with ads or $14.99 without ads.

At this time you can also find it on Hulu, but you’ll need a subscription to within the app itself to watch it.

You can also find Miracle on 34th Street on services like Prime Video, Google Play, Apple TV, Vudu, and YouTube for $2.99 or $3.99 to rent. As Christmas starts to get closer I’m sure Miracle on 34th Street will be on other streaming services as well.

That’s all for this season. Glazed Cinema will be back with new content and more episodes in the new year with the first episode of season arriving on January 26th.

If you like this podcast tell your friends or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Each week there will be new content including hints about episodes before they air. If you'd like to learn more about the podcast visit our website at glazedcinema.com. There you’ll find info about the show and a place to submit ideas for future episodes. For film fans who are hearing impaired our blog page features each episode in written form as well. As always, thanks for listening and I hope to see you next time with another beverage and another fine film on Glazed Cinema.