Miracle on 34th Street

BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE MOVIE. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 300 HOLIDAY FILMS & SPECIALS. I HAVE NO AGENDA.

A department store Santa (Sebastian Cabot) hired by divorced mother Karen (Jane Alexander) tells Karen's daughter, Susan (Suzanne Davidson), that he is the real Kris Kringle. He also sends children to the store's competitors for lower prices. When a psychiatrist (Roddy McDowall) employed by the store questions Kringle's sanity and ends up committing him to an asylum, Karen's attorney friend Bill (David Hartman) seeks to free Kringle by proving in the courtroom that he's really Santa Claus.

This is nice production of the often told tale. There has been it least 3 television productions and 2 theatrical films that I am aware of. This production is good but the treat is seeing all the old familiar faces. The casting of this film makes the whole film worth watching!

I thought the Thomas Mitchell version as OK as we'll, while Richard Attenborough's left a bitter taste in my mouth. What stood out was that it's set up blended so well into the 70's era. I confess, I always thought of David Hartman as a newsman, but here I realize he wasn't a bad actor at all. Cabot's Santa? Loved him! Convincingly kind and gentle, and showed brilliant Santa magic.

In some ways it does feel like you'd get lost following this if you didn't already know the story, because you don't get a lot to tell you just what the characters as set up are all about, and you don't get hardly any exposition of Karen Walker as an unbeliever, but familiarity saves it. As well, I feel like i wouldn't like it as much if not for wanting some reprieve from the forced resolution I got out of the Attenborough version. The Post Office miracle doesn't feel as brilliant, but still different enough to feel fresh, a nd believable enough to appreciate as a miracle.

I won't put as much diligence into making this a Christmas season must-see, but I'll definitely get to a point where it feels like another go is in order. Not a bad version at all.

Personally, I have seen all three versions of this film, and while I understand why older generations and purists stand by the original as the best one, that doesn't mean that people can't still enjoy this version. For a made-for-TV version, it has a wonderful cast, with Sebastian Cabot being the highlight. I thought the way the court case was handled was better here than in the 1994 version, and having grown up with color all of my life (and having been born only 2 years before this version originally came out), I still claim this one as my favorite. That is not to say that the original or 1994 versions aren't good--I think they all have a place for those who enjoy them. I just think that this story--like many others--is a generational one, and everyone is going to have at least a little nostalgia for the one from their generation. My only wish, which so far has gone unfulfilled, is that someone will eventually put this version out on DVD and Blu-Ray so that those of us who enjoy it can watch it again. The 1947 and 1994 versions' fans have access to their movies--why can't we? I think the reviewer who offered the option of a box set including all versions of this movie has a wonderful idea--that way, everyone's happy, and each is different enough from the others that you can watch them all and enjoy them.

I worked on this made-for-TV-movie as a set dresser back in 1973. It was my first job as a returning Vietnam war era veteran. The art director was a woman named Jan Scott who offered me more work as Set dresser but I chose to attend college on the GI bill as an art major, with the eventual goal of teaching art, though I did continue to work on a few more film projects on occasion.

What is very noteworthy about this production was that the majority of the crew had just finished Martin Scorcese's "Mean Streets" and many of the locations used to film Mean Streets, most notably the Green Hotel in Pasedena, were used to film Miracle. In retrospect it's funny to think about how so many who had worked with Scorsese all thought that while he was a fairly good director, he was such a neurotic quirky sort that he probably wouldn't last long in the business and also no one seemed to think much of Mean Streets as a finished product. Most did, however, have a high opinion of De Niro's acting ability.

Fielder Cook the director, was an early Hollywood television pioneer having directed episodes of Playhouse 90 and many other early TV productions. He was also quite the colorful character and well-liked by the crew. The two other people who impressed me were actors Roddy McDowell and Sebastion Cabot. Cabot, for his acting ability and McDowell Because after the project was wrapped he personally and quite sincerely thanked every crew member for a job well done.

I was so impressed by Cabot's portrayal of Kris Kringle that as a college student, during Christmas vacation I got a job as a Department store Santa at a somewhat upscale large retail establishment in L.A. and played the "role" of Santa Claus much the way Cabot did and put on makeup for every "performance".

On one occasion where there was a crowd of people waiting to bring their children up to sit on my lap and be photographed by my attractive young female "elves" I noticed a distinguished looking and portly white-haired older gentleman standing in the back of the crowd watching who I swear to God, MUST have been the Real Santa.

Mirricle is my favorite Christmas movie, the 1974 version i think is my least favorite but i have only seen it once a very long time ago. I just wish there was a set I could buy with all the versions on it, because sometimes I wish I could watch them all back to back. Just a thought corporate America PUT OUT A BOXED SET!!!!!!!! All of the versions have their strong suits. The original is the most widely recognized and beautifully written and I believe most everyones favorite, but I have never even seen the fifties TV version, and I would like that opportunity. The 74 version has some nostalgia for the people who saw it when they were little, and the most recent version is easier for small children to identify with. It would even be nice if they could have a version of the Broadway play but I doubt there are any copies of it running around.