Miracle on 34th Street

Name: Miracle on 34th Street
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family
Released: 1947-06-04
Duration: 1 h 36 min
Rating: 7.9
Cast: Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, Gene Lockhart, Natalie Wood

Capture the spirit of Christmas with this timeless classic!

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

1:36 (96 min)

Comedy, Drama, Family

United States

7.9/10
70 628

—
no scores

7.4/10
872

7.9/10
61000

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All about film

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Actors and characters

Watch film Miracle on 34th Street — Miracle On 34th Street | #TBT Trailer | 20th Century FOX

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Production

20th Century Fox

Release date

1947-06-04

Budget

$630 000

Revenue

$2 650 000

Director

George Seaton

Scenario

Valentine Davies

Author

Composer

Cyril J. Mockridge

Producer

William Perlberg

All team (22)

Short description

Miracle on 34th Street is set in New York City around Christmas, when the Santa Claus hired to appear in the Macy's Thanksgiving parade turns up unfit to perform. An older man named Kris Kringle is persuaded to take his place, and he does so well that the store keeps him on as its resident Santa. Complications arise because Kris insists he really is Santa Claus, which offends his superiors and eventually lands him in court, where his claim has to be argued rather than dismissed. Among those drawn into the matter are Doris Walker, a Macy's employee raising her skeptical young daughter Susan, and Fred Gailey, a lawyer and neighbor.

George Seaton directed and wrote the screenplay, with William Perlberg producing for 20th Century Fox. It was the first feature Seaton directed, preceding The Counterfeit Traitor and Airport. Edmund Gwenn plays Kris, Maureen O'Hara plays Doris, John Payne plays Fred, and Natalie Wood plays Susan, with Gene Lockhart and Porter Hall in supporting roles.

The film runs 96 minutes and was released in June 1947. On IMDb it holds a 7.9 rating from about 61,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.4 from a much smaller number of votes. A critics' rating of 8.5 from 52 reviews places it above both audience measures.

What's left behind the scenes

At a party celebrating the end of filming, Natalie Wood was genuinely amazed to see Edmund Gwenn without a beard. During filming, the young actress considered Edmund Gwenn to be a real Santa Claus.
Macy's department store traditionally holds a parade on Thanksgiving Day. Few people know this, but Edmund Gwenn actually portrayed Santa Claus in such a parade on November 28, 1946. Gwenn did everything expected of Santa Claus at such an event, and even gave a short speech after the parade. He was introduced to department store visitors by Philip Tong, who played Julian Shellhammer in the film "Miracle on 34th Street." Gwenn removed the coverings from the department store's window displays, which were filled with Christmas gifts, to the sounds of Tchaikovsky's suite from the ballet "The Nutcracker." This is how Macy's traditionally opened its Christmas sales season.
Actress and society columnist Hedda Hopper wrote in her column on May 3, 1947, that "when the film ('Miracle on 34th Street') premieres at the Roxy Theater in New York, Macy's department store will have to close for half a day so that all 12,000 of its employees can go to the cinema."
Maureen O'Hara joined the film's cast almost against her will. She had just returned to Ireland when she had to return to America for filming. The actress stopped objecting and making demands as soon as she read the script.
In the 1970s, Natalie Wood and her husband Robert Wagner were approached with a proposal to film a television remake of the movie with their daughter Natasha Gregson Wagner in the role of Susan. Wood responded with a firm refusal. She herself became a movie star and America's sweetheart at a young age and did not want her younger daughter (born in 1970) to start filming at such a young age.
Filming took place during severe frosts in New York. The cameras froze several times for the operators.
The film's box office receipts totaled four times the amount spent on its production.
The influential organization "National Legion of Decency" gave the film "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947) a "B" rating (partially questionable content) because Maureen O'Hara played a divorced woman.
In 2015, of the actors who participated in the filming of "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947), only Alvin Greenman, who played the supporting role of Alfred, was still alive. The last of the main cast members, Maureen O'Hara, passed away in October 2015.
The idea for the script came to Valentine Davies when he was looking for a Christmas gift for his wife. The commercial side of the joyful pre-holiday bustle made him wonder how a real Santa Claus would feel about all of it.
In the American Film Institute (AFI) ranking "100 Years…100 Movies: AFI’s 100 Most Inspiring American Movies," the film "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947) ranked 9th.
The girl from Denmark spoke Dutch in the film, but with a noticeable American accent.
It so happened that two Christmas-themed films – 'Miracle on 34th Street' and Henry Koster's romantic comedy 'The Bishop's Wife' – were nominated for the 1947 Academy Award for Best Picture. Throughout the history of the award, only three Christmas films have been nominated in the Best Picture category – the aforementioned two, and Frank Capra's 'It's a Wonderful Life,' which he filmed the previous year.
The founder of the Macy's department store chain, Rowland Hass Macy, died in 1877, 70 years before the filming of 'Miracle on 34th Street'.
The Christmas-decorated windows of Macy's department store, captured in the film, were later sold to the oldest toy store in the United States, FAO Schwarz, and then to Marshall & Ilsley bank in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Since then, they have decorated the lobby of the bank's main branch on North Water Street every December.
On December 22, 1947, a radio broadcast of the "Lux Radio Theater" series prepared a 60-minute adaptation of the film "Miracle on 34th Street" for listeners. Maureen O'Hara, Edmund Gwenn, John Payne, and Natalie Wood, who had starred in the film, participated, voicing the characters they played.
During the filming of "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947), Natalie Wood was 8 years old.
While working on "Miracle on 34th Street," Natalie Wood was also filming "Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!" and "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir."
Thelma Ritter's first film role.
Edmund Gwenn wore a false beard during filming.
The role of Kris was initially offered to Cecil Kellaway, but the actor turned it down. Only after that was Edmund Gwenn approved for the role, as he was Kellaway's cousin. Kellaway played Santa Claus in 1964 in one of the episodes of the American sitcom 'Bewitched' (1964-1972), which also starred ten-year-old Bill Mumy, a screen star and America's darling in those years.
The actor who played Judge Gene Lockhart also starred in another classic Christmas-themed film. He played Bob Cratchit in Edwin L. Marin's 'A Christmas Carol' (1938).
June 2008: In the American Film Institute (AFI)'s "10 Top Films in the Fantasy Genre" ranking, the film "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947) ranked 5th.
The predecessor to the modern United States Postal Service was the Post Office Department, which existed from 1829 to 1971.
On December 23, 1949, a 30-minute radio adaptation of "Miracle on 34th Street" aired on the popular program "Screen Director's Playhouse," with Edmund Gwenn voicing the role of Chris. On December 21, 1950, the same program broadcast a 60-minute radio adaptation of the film. Edmund Gwenn also participated in its recording.
In 1994, "Smithmark" Publishing released a lavishly illustrated, large-format book, "Miracle on 34th Street: Hollywood Classic" by Sarah Parker Danielson.
When filling out his employee record card, Kris Kringle lists the names of Santa Claus's reindeer in the "closest relatives" section. In the original manuscript of Clement Clarke Moore's poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas", the name of one of them is given as "Donder", although "Donner" is the commonly accepted spelling. Kringle listed the reindeer's name as it appeared in Moore's work.
In a dialogue with a girl from Holland, presented in the film without translation, Santa Claus asks what gift she would like for Christmas. The girl replies that she doesn't need anything, as she considers having a new (adoptive) mother to be the gift.
A Danish girl sings the song "Sinterklaas Kapoentje, Leg wat in mijn schoentje, Leg wat in mijn laarsje, Dank je Sinterklaasje!". One translation reads: "Saint Nicholas, rogue and scoundrel, Put something in my little shoe. Put something in my little shoe. Thank you, Saint Nicholas."
The character of District Attorney Thomas Mara is clearly based on Thomas I. Dewey, the Manhattan District Attorney who later became Governor of New York and twice unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for President of the United States (in 1944 and 1948). Jerome Cowan, who played the role, actually resembled Dewey. Moreover, both men wore mustaches, which was quite unusual for public figures at the time. The judge in the film mentions that their District Attorney is a Republican, which was unusual for someone in an elected office in New York at the time.
At the end of the court hearing for Chris's case, 21 mailbags were brought into the courtroom.
Judging by the number of olive picks on the table next to the telephone, Mrs. Shelhammer drank 9 martinis before speaking with Mrs. Walker.
The son of the District Attorney, Thomas Mara Jr., finishes his testimony in court and tells Kris Kringle: "And don't forget the football helmet. To make it the real thing." At that time, Tim Mara was the owner of the "New York Giants" football team.
The film's producers approached the management of Macy's and Gimbels department stores for permission to film in their sales areas. They were told in both cases that they would like to see what could come of it first. A refusal would have meant additional effort in post-production and reshoots. A screening of already filmed scenes was organized for the department store management, and fortunately, they liked what they saw. Permission was granted.
The film takes place during the Christmas season, but the head of 20th Century Fox, Darryl F. Zanuck, insisted that the premiere take place in May. He believed that people go to the movies more often in the summer. His subordinates had to organize a promotional campaign geared towards a summer release while keeping the fact that the film was Christmas-themed a secret.
The scenes in Macy's department store were filmed “on location,” meaning directly in Macy's department store at the corner of 34th Street. Filming was complicated by the fact that the filming equipment required more power than the department store's electrical wiring could provide. Therefore, additional power sources had to be installed in the building's basement.
Darryl F. Zanuck, head of 20th Century Fox, was strongly opposed to this project, believing the film would be too commonplace. He eventually agreed to allocate a rather modest budget to the film on the condition that director and screenwriter George Seaton would then film three films of the studio's choosing. Seaton was so eager to make this film that he agreed without question.
The film was initially planned to be titled “A Christmas Miracle on 34th Street,” but the premiere was moved to the summer, and the word “Christmas” had to be removed from the title.
Images of Warner Brothers characters (Bugs Bunny, Tweety Bird, and others) can be seen on Macy's department store's Christmas window displays – which is surprising, considering the longstanding rivalry between that company and 20th Century Fox, which made “Miracle on 34th Street.”
“Miracle on 34th Street” (1947) was one of the first colorized films (referring to a technology in cinema or photography by which the original black-and-white image is transformed into color).
When Maureen O'Hara first read the script, the film was titled "Big Heart".
Cinematographer Charles J. Clarke was removed from the film "Miracle on 34th Street" and sent to Mexico to help Henry King finish filming "Captain from Castile" (1947). He was replaced on "Miracle on 34th Street" by Lloyd Ahern.
In exchange for permission to film "Miracle on 34th Street," George Seaton filmed the comedies "Apartment for Peggy" (1948), "Chicken Every Sunday" (1949), and the war drama "Big Lift" (1950) for 20th Century Fox.
Trying to explain Chris's conviction that he is Santa Claus, Dr. Pierce cites the example of a restaurant owner in Hollywood who believed himself to be the heir to the Russian throne, despite all evidence to the contrary. Dr. Pierce forgot the man's name. The episode referred to Mikhail Romanov, the owner of "Romanoff's" restaurant in Hollywood, which was frequented by movie stars at the time.
Psychiatrist Sawyer, played by Porter Hall, pinches his eyebrow when he is excited or nervous. In one scene, his secretary exhibits the same nervous reaction.