| Collector's Corner December 2002
 Miracle
on 34th StreetStarring: Maureen O’Hara,
John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, Gene Lockhart, Natalie Wood, William Frawley
Directed by: George Seaton
Theatrical release: 1947
DVD release: 1999
Video: Original Aspect Ratio
Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Released by: 20th Century Fox Home
Entertainment
Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to.
It's Thanksgiving. Macy’s parade is just starting when
Doris Walker (Maureen O’Hara) finds the hired Santa Claus dead drunk. A likely
replacement shows up and identifies himself as Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn). Doris hires
him on the spot and then offers him a job as the Macy’s Santa Claus. Doris, it turns
out, has been hurt badly by a divorce and has no time for fantasy or idealism. She’s
straight ahead, all common sense and has instilled the same world-view in her daughter,
Susan (played by the lovely nine-year-old Natalie Wood, pictured above with Edmund Gwenn).
Across the hall, neighbor Fred Gailey (John Payne) is trying to talk to little Susan about
Santa Claus, something she is too sensible to believe in.
At his first day at work, Kris listens to each child’s
wish for Christmas. But he cares enough about the children that he recommends archrival
Gimbel’s if he thinks they have a better product. The managers, including Doris, want
to fire him, but the customers are so happy that Macy’s seems to care about their
needs that they all promise to shop at Macy’s first. Doris decides to send Kris to
the company psychologist, who files a complaint in court asking that Kris be sent to an
insane asylum. Fred Gailey, who turns out to be an idealistic attorney, offers to take on
the case. His defense is to claim that Kris really is Santa Claus. How can he prove it?
Miracle on 34th Street had a checkered history
before it was even released. Studio mogul Darryl F. Zanuck was not convinced about the
value of Christmas films. Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life had stiffed
five months before for RKO, losing money and garnering poor reviews (things obviously
changed when the film was released to television). Plus, Zanuck was a firm believer that
only summer releases were successful. So he demanded the film get a summer release and
that the Christmas angle be downplayed.
The marketing folks had to figure out how to sell a
Christmas movie in the summer without ever revealing what it was about. The trailer
(included with the DVD) is one of the most creative solutions ever shown to the American
public. Over a five-minute filmette, we find that the movie is "hilarious, romantic,
delightful, charming, tender, exciting." We hear Rex Harrison, Anne Baxter, Peggy Ann
Garner, and Dick Haymes laud the film. The marketers never once mention Christmas. Best of
all, the entire trailer is built around a short story about studio bosses and their
stubborn refusal to use a good idea unless they come up with it personally. I would have
loved to see how Zanuck took the ribbing. For anyone even remotely involved in marketing
or movies, this trailer is worth the cost of the DVD.
Luckily, so is the movie. Written and directed by George
Seaton (The Country Girl, The Pleasure of His Company, Airport), Miracle on 34th
Street has the look of a film by a storyteller who knew he had a story worth telling.
Seaton delivers clean pictures, limited backgrounds, crisp dialogue and enough cutting to
keep you interested without being confused. He brilliantly gets out of the way and lets
the story carry you. His peers loved the story. They gave him the Academy Award that year
for best screenplay, beating Gentleman’s Agreement and Great Expectations.
The other Oscar winner was Edmund Gwenn. He was a veteran
of over 80 films, including such winners as Lassie Come Home, Foreign Correspondent,
Green Dolphin Street and Them. Gwenn played the role of Kris Kringle with a
twinkle in his eye and the milk of human kindness pouring from his very being. To get an
idea of how wonderfully understated his acting was and how perfectly he was cast, watch
two of the other versions of Miracle on 34th Street and see Sebastian Cabot or
Richard Attenborough struggle with the role to little success.
Though Gwenn walks away with the film, there are plenty of
other great performances. Even the small roles resound. Like William Frawley (better known
as I Love Lucy’s Fred Mertz), who does a monologue in chapter 17 that might as
well be a rationalist’s manifesto on why it occasionally pays to be irrational. Or
the uncredited Jack Albertson (better known as "the man" in Chico and the Man)
as the character that unconsciously makes a pivotal decision that changes the outcome of
the story. John Payne, never known as a great actor, did his best work as a star in Miracle
on 34th Street. He displays charm, strength, and a good heart. Plus, he’s
believable as a man who could stay in the struggle with Maureen O’Hara and live to
tell the tale.
Personal confession time: Maureen O’Hara walks on the
screen and I want to blow a wolf whistle. Not only was she a stunning Irish lass, gifted
with an athletic body, clear skin, and blazing red hair, but she had enough strength to
make her the match of any man. John Wayne and John Ford, two notoriously tough men,
considered her mix of beauty and fire to be so attractive that she was their constant
first choice. Watch her in Rio Grande or The Quiet Man. She looked as though
she could clean your clock, your socks, or your pipes. In Miracle on 34th Street,
she takes a potentially off-putting character (check what Jane Alexander and Elizabeth
Perkins did with the role in the remakes) and crafts a character that is vulnerable,
pining, and hurt as well as strong, confident, and protective. Doris was a role that
allowed O’Hara to show a soft side of herself, and she handled it perfectly.
Natalie Wood gives you a glimpse of what a fine actress she
would become. (I was surprised to find that she had a major role in three of the last four
"Collector’s Corner" columns -- Miracle on 34th Street, The Searchers, and West
Side Story. It was not intentional.) In chapter 20, she has her delicate newfound
optimism dashed when she feels as if Kris has let her down. Her mother, who would have
normally told her she must be more reasonable, is finally coming around. She tells her
daughter, "Just because things don’t turn out the way you want them to the first
time, you’ve still got to believe in people." Little Susan walks away and sits
patiently chanting: "I believe. I believe. It’s silly, but I believe." Even
though she’s just nine years old, you get the sense that she really is struggling
with life's lessons -- should she trust her heart or her head, should she be sensible or
hopeful, should she choose faith or reason? One of the beauties of Miracle on 34th
Street is the way it so gently yet convincingly confronts some of life’s
quandaries.
And not just children’s quandaries; the film
constantly forces choices on the audience: What’s more important: principles or
money; faith or common sense; kindness, joy, and love, or career success; idealism or
realism? It also teaches important lessons for adults, like the importance of loyalty, or
that people who are being pushed around deserve our defense. It even demonstrates the
intricacies of how good can appeal to and eventually win over evil (pay special attention
to Frawley’s monologue and Macy’s thoughts in chapter 17).
This is an old black-and-white film, but the transfer is
gorgeously burnished. The sound is clear and no one tried to make fake multichannel sound.
The DVD is worth having just for the film and the five-minute trailer. Unfortunately, the
only other extra is a TV ad. I’m thankful for the trailer, but how about some more?
Like a commentary track by Maureen O’Hara. Or some reminiscences by musical director
Alfred Newman's film-composer sons (Thomas or David) or nephew (Randy).
To sum up, while it's perfectly suitable as a
children’s movie about Santa Claus, there is so much more in Miracle on 34th
Street. It’s a great story with important messages, acted well and efficiently
directed. The result is funny, dreamy, quixotic, enchanting, amiable, kindhearted,
thrilling, and clean enough to show your granny.
Take some time this month to watch Miracle on 34th
Street with someone you love. You’ll be glad you did.
...Wes Marshall
wesm@hometheatersound.com |
