A perennial Christmas classic that needs no introduction, George Seaton’s Miracle on 34th Street (1947) remains a delightful and effervescent holiday classic that grows in stature with each passing year. Not that anyone at 20th Century-Fox had the slightest idea that what they were about to create was an enduring masterwork – except perhaps those intimately involved with the project. These included scenarist Valentine Davies, who conceived the idea (a hired Santa Claus who actually believes he’s the real deal) while milling about a crowded department store during 1944's Christmas rush.
Studio chief, Darryl F. Zanuck thought the project a low budget B-movie – an initial assessment gradually upgraded as the enthusiastic dailies arrived from New York. However, nothing could dissuade Zanuck from staving off the urge to release the film in mid-June 1947 – a misfire that would have killed many lesser projects and relegated the film's success to the bottom shelf of cinema history: but not ‘Miracle’ – a film that truly lived up to its title.
At a time when most movies played for one or two weeks, Miracle on 34th Street sold out the house for half a year: all the way to Christmas, earning three Oscar nominations along the way – the most poignant and satisfying of these, the Best Supporting Actor statuette going to Edmund Gwenn for his idyllic performance as Kris Kringle.
For those not yet acquainted with the magic of the story; the plot concerns a kindly old man, Kris (Gwenn) who believes himself to be the one and only jolly fat man in the red suit. Kris is accidentally discovered by Doris Walker (Maureen O’Hara) after the man she hired to play Santa in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade becomes intoxicated. Replacing drunken Santa, Kris confounds the sensibilities of Doris’ precocious and intelligent daughter, Susan (the utterly charming and sophisticated Natalie Wood).
Raised to be a hard bitten realist, Susan gradually begins to believe in Kris. Her idealism and Kris’ optimism however are shattered when mean-spirited staff psychologist, Granville Sawyer (Porter Hall), attempts to have Kris committed to a state home for lunacy.
In the meantime, Doris’ beau, the elegant Fred Gailey (John Payne) plots Kris’ defence in the New York Supreme Court – a classic battle of legal ethics that results in one of the most miraculous and thoroughly satisfying resolutions in cinema history.
In the face of such lighter-than-air optimism, there’s no denying that Miracle on 34th Street has its detractors – most notably director John Hughes who publicly went on record as saying that he could not understand why the film had become such a cherished classic – then went one step further by remaking it as a totally charm-free clunker starring Richard Attenborough as Santa and Mara Wilson as Susan in 1994.
But now, finally, 20th Century-Fox Home gives us a Blu-Ray of this much beloved Christmas classic that is almost perfect. Previous DVD editions have been marred by contrast boosting and some very curious digital aliasing, as well as image instability. Most of these annoying distractions have vanished on Blu-Ray. Image quality is, on the whole, superb.
The gray scale is darker, but that overall darkening of the image also reveals more fine detail and restores the mid-tone register of the film elements. Grain still exists - as it should, as do age artefacts, the latter not nearly as obvious or distracting as before. Fox has wisely chosen to discard the colorized version of this film on Blu-Ray. The audio is mono as originally intended and quite acceptable.
Extras are direct imports from the previously issued DVD and include an episode of Hollywood Back Story on the making of the film – which is rather short on detail but does contain some good interview snippets with surviving cast members, and, a featurette on Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Maureen O'Hara's recollections on making the movie have been preserved in an audio commentary.
Bottom line: Miracle on 34th Street (1947) is a masterpiece of originality, a film of immense charm, subtle poignancies and immeasurable holiday delights. It will surely endure as long as the spirit of Christmas does.
FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)
5+
VIDEO/AUDIO
4
EXTRAS
2
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