The holiday season is upon us, and Miracle on 34th Street is the perfect classic film to celebrate December with. Written and directed by George Seaton, the film has endured for the better part of a century as an American classic. It’s even been remade twice, although neither of them have reached the heights of the nearly flawless original.
Very much of its time but with a keen social edge that makes it surprisingly timeless, Miracle on 34th Street serves as the perfect grounded transition from the Autumn season to the winter holidays. If you’re looking for a classic holiday film, revisit this Academy Award-winning film is regarded as a true classic of American cinema.
Why You Need To Watch Miracle On 34th Street
Miracle on 34th Street is a delightful movie that eschews the typical emotional core of most Christmas movies, with a surprisingly modern perspective and sense of humor that’s aged like fine wine. While plenty of holiday movies use overt emotional appeals, Miracle on 34th Street is a surprisingly clever and quick-witted movie that never leaves the real world.
The film opens during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York City, placing it firmly in the space between the final Autumn holiday and the festive Christmas season. While the film does have a focus on the idea of Christmas spirit, it’s notably never rooted in spirituality or any specific religious interpretation of the season.
Instead, the focus is on Santa Claus and what it’s supposed to mean to people. The film focuses largely on Kris, a kindly old man who is the right balance of whimsically enthusiastic and disarmingly righteous. Hired on the spot as a last-minute replacement for Santa Claus during the parade, he’s quickly brought on as Macy’s official Santa.
However, as everyone around him gradually discovers, he’s perfect for the job because he believes he’s the real Santa. When his sanity is called into question, his newfound friend Fred Gailey defends him in court. The film’s screenplay, which won George Seaton an Academy Award, is a witty and fast-paced affair with plenty of clever turns of phrase.
It also notably never really leans into the supernatural potential of Kris, instead focusing on the character as if he were just a sweet-natured old man with just enough ambiguity to leave the other characters (and audience) gradually believing in him. Opposite John Payne’s performance as Gailey is Maureen O’Hara’s Doris, a manager at Macy’s.
A single-working mother who prefers to raise her daughter, Susan, with a focus on logic over superstition, Doris and her own gradual acceptance of faith (not just in Kris but the idea of a long-term romance with Fred) make the film a fitting peer to other back-and-forth dynamics of the era like Arsenic and Old Lace.
A Witty Core Makes Miracle On 34th Street Endlessly Entertaining
That sense of timeless wit is the true core of Miracle on 34th Street and what makes it so timeless even today. The film has a clear view of the impact of commercialism that it treats with sly irreverence. Kris becomes popular because of his joyful willingness to tell customers about better deals at other stores.
This starts a charitable arms race between the various department stores in New York City. It pays off when a businessman considers the cost of calling Kris a fraud — while realizing the impact Kris has had on the children. The film calls out the financial appropriation of the season that is active today, but with good humor and endless heart.
The film also takes a surprisingly nuanced look at mental health. One of the closest things the film has to an antagonist is Granville Sawyer, the Macy’s psychologist who believes Kris’ “delusions” make him a danger to himself and others. His harsh view on alternate perspectives and surface-level readings of people’s generality is painted as a genuine problem.
While we may have a better understanding of mental health now, Miracle on 34th Street‘s focus on the importance of kindness, generosity, and friendship still feels applicable today. None of this is to say the film is unnecessarily sweet. There’s a deep-seated layer of self-aware to the entire film, with more focus on livelihoods than the Christmas spirit.
The film never addresses the underlying self-serving habits of people. The judicial system that tries Kris is more focused on upcoming elections than actually serving the state of New York. Even the film’s triumphant conclusion in the courtroom stems from two guys who hear about the case and decide to throw a little chaos into the situation.
Throughout it all, there are plenty of great gags, clever turns, and even a few genuine emotional twists that keep the movie deeply affecting. It’s cute, funny, and surprisingly modern in its perspective on society. Almost eighty years later, Miracle on 34th Street is the perfect self-aware, snarky, and ultimately sweet way to start off a holiday movie season.
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