''Miracle on 34th Street'' is a 1973 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction f ...

directed by

Fielder Cook Fielder Cook (March 9, 1923 – June 20, 2003) was an American television and film director, producer, and writer whose 1971 television film ''The Homecoming: A Christmas Story'' spawned the series ''The Waltons''. Biography and career Born in ...

. It is the third remake of the original 1947 film. Like the original, this film was produced by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. Additionally, the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

-based

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

department store allowed their name to be used in this film, unlike the later version.

Plot

When an old man ( Sebastian Cabot) spies the department store

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

getting

drunk Alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the negative behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main ps ...

before taking part in the Macy's

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...

parade, he immediately locates and complains to Karen Walker (

Jane Alexander Jane Alexander (née Quigley; born October 28, 1939) is an American actress and author. She is the recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and nominations for four Academy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. From 1993 to 1997 ...

), the parade director. She fires her Santa Claus and the old man, who turns out to be named Kris Kringle, volunteers to take his place for the sake of the children. Kris does so well during the parade that he is immediately hired to be the store's main Santa for the holiday period. At the same time, Karen's daughter, Susan (Suzanne Davidson), an intelligent but cynical six-year-old, meets her new neighbor, Bill Schafner (

David Hartman David Hartman is the name of: *David Hartman (rabbi) (1931–2013), American-Israeli rabbi *David Hartman (TV personality) David Downs Hartman (born May 19, 1935) is an American journalist and media host who began his media career as an actor. He ...

), a lawyer, and decides to try and hook him up with her mother. Kris, out of goodwill and to the horror of Mr. Schillhammer (

Jim Backus James Gilmore Backus (February 25, 1913 – July 3, 1989) was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom '' Gilligan's Island,'' the father of James Dean's character in ''Rebel Without a Cause ...

), begins to send customers of Macy's to other stores if they can't find what they're looking for. In spite of Schillhammer's initial fear, the public embraces his actions as a goodwill marketing campaign and sales skyrocket, leading the profit obsessed Mr. Macy (

David Doyle David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

) to pursue the campaign in earnest. However, Karen and Shellhammer learn that Kris believes himself to actually ''be'' Santa Claus, a fact they frantically try to hide from their boss. The store's psychiatrist, Dr. Sawyer, (Roddy McDowall) initially takes Kris on as a fascinating case study, but Kris' belief that it is ''Sawyer'' who has the problem leads to him becoming an enemy instead. Kris finds a kindred spirit in the janitor, Alfred (Barry Greenburg), who gets joy out of dressing as Santa at the local YMCA every year. He also learns that Susan has been raised not to believe in Santa Claus or possess an imagination, two things he intends to correct. Susan herself is further convinced of his authenticity because he possesses a real beard and in particular when he speaks Spanish to a young girl who doesn't speak English. Through their friendship with Kris, who becomes Bill's roommate, Bill becomes closer to Karen, who is overworked and looking for companionship, and Susan begins to learn the value of imagination. She eventually asks Kris to get her a new house for Christmas to prove that he's Santa Claus, and later for help in ensuring Bill becomes her new father. Kris eventually passes the word on to Bill, who arranges for a real estate contract for Karen for a similar house and insists she buy the house for Susan's sake. Sawyer's anger with Kris leads him to antagonize him and Alfred to the point that Kris throws a pie in his face during an encounter in the lunchroom. Reluctantly, Karen agrees to allow Sawyer to evaluate him again. After Kris helps Alfred with his yearly Santa Claus routine, Dr. Sawyer confronts him and lies to Kris and tells him that Karen believes him to be a menace. In light of this, Kris deliberately fails every one of his tests at Bellevue, leading to the hospital to recommend his commitment. Kris reveals to Bill that he intends for Bill to get him off, making Bill realize that Kris wants the confrontation for the sake of proving to the world that he is the one and only Santa Claus. An angered Bill agrees, and a commitment hearing begins in which Judge Henry Harper ( Tom Bosley) and D.A. Thomas Mara ( James Gregory) reluctantly move forward with the case despite the terrible press it's giving their political ambitions. During the course of the hearing, Mr. Macy is placed on the stand and upon contemplating the terrible press and lost sales if he declared his own Santa a fraud, he declares he believes in Kris and fires Sawyer before he leaves the courtroom. Similarly, Harper and Mara are eventually pressed to declare that Santa Claus is real when Bill points out the terrible press, but the D.A. demands that Bill prove Kris is the one and only Santa Claus. Bill and Karen are about to give up on the case as hopeless when Susan gives Bill a letter to pass on to Kris, and Bill realizes that hundreds of children write to him every year. He quickly manipulates the court to recognize the authority of the Postal Service, and arranges the post office to deliver all of Santa's mail to the court. As Bill papers the court room in Kris' mail, Judge Harper dismisses the case in Kris' favor (as he quietly slips a letter of his own into the pile). At the celebration at the memorial home, Susan loses faith in Kris when she doesn't get her house. However, on the way back into New York, Bill and Karen drive her past the house she asked for, leading Susan to rush inside and find it even has the swing she asked for. As Karen and Bill discover Kris's distinct cane, they realize he made the arrangements and declare their love for each other.

Cast

* Sebastian Cabot as Kris Kringle *

as Karen Walker *

as Bill Schaffner *

Roddy McDowall Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 4 October 1998) was a British actor, photographer and film director. He began his acting career as a child in England, and then in the United States, in ''How Green Was My Valley'' (1 ...

as Dr. Henry Sawyer * Suzanne Davidson as Susan Walker *

as Horace Shellhammer * Barry Greenberg as Alfred *

as R.H. Macy * Tom Bosley as Judge Henry X. Harper * James Gregory as Deputy District Attorney Thomas J. Mara *

Roland Winters Roland Winters (born Roland Winternitz; November 22, 1904 – October 22, 1989)DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 287. was an Ame ...

as Mr. Gimbel *

Liam Dunn Liam Dunn (November 12, 1916 – April 11, 1976) was an American character actor. Life and career The New Jersey native's early career was spent in television in series such as ''Bonanza'', ''Room 222'', ''Alias Smith and Jones'', '' Mannix'' ...

as Mr. Tucker *

Conrad Janis Conrad Janis (February 11, 1928 – March 1, 2022) was a jazz trombonist and actor who starred in film and television during the Golden Age Era in the 1950s and 1960s. He played the role of Mindy McConnell's father, Frederick, on television's ' ...

as Dr. Pierce *

Ellen Weston Ellen Weston (born Ellen Weinstein) is an American actress, producer, and writer. Early years Born in New York City, Weston is the daughter of educators; her mother was a teacher, and her father was a superintendent of schools. She attended Perfor ...

as Celeste *

Jason Wingreen Jason Wingreen (October 9, 1920 – December 25, 2015) was an American actor. He portrayed bartender Harry Snowden on the CBS sitcom ''All in the Family'' (1977–1979), a role he reprised on the continuation series ''Archie Bunker's Place'' (1 ...

as Halloran *

Burt Mustin Burton Hill "Burt" Mustin (February 8, 1884 – January 28, 1977) was an American character actor.Obituary ''Variety'', February 2, 1977, page 94. Over the course of his career, he appeared in over 150 film and television productions. He ...

as Roy

Production

Though Sebastian Cabot was known for having a beard at the time the film was made, he instead shaved it off and wore a false beard for this role due to the make-up artists failing at whitening his natural beard. Notably, the dialog in which Susan discovers his beard is real is still kept. Natalie Wood, who played Susan in the original film, was originally offered the role of Karen Walker, with the idea that her real life daughter would play Susan and Robert Wagner, her husband at the time, would play Bill Schaffer. Wood declined due to concerns over her daughter being too young to start acting. The film was very clearly shot during the summer as many outdoor shots depict lush, green trees.

Critical reception

In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

,'' Howard Thompson wondered why a network would bother to remake a seasonal favourite like the original movie, but opined "it has matched the Hollywood film very nicely...Norman Rosemont's expansive production has real seasonal gleam." The reviewer praised a "winning cast," especially Sebastian Cabot: "charming," although "No Santa, of course, could match the gentle whimsey of the late

Edmund Gwenn Edmund Gwenn (born Edmund John Kellaway; 26 September 1877 – 6 September 1959) was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947), for which he won th ...

in the movie," concluding that "Two good “Miracles” should make the season merrier."

References

External links