Review by prudhoeboy

Hard to believe this timeless Xmas classic is now 75 years old. It's interesting how times have changed since then, when children respected adults and were well behaved. The plot also mostly from an adult perspective with NYC and a court room looming large in plot. A very adult NYC way to resolve things too, putting Santa on trial. Compare to Home Alone, which is now over 30 years old. Both movies captured culture of that time period more or less.

Notice child steals the show and leads the adults to a more stable family life in the suburbs at the end. Most of the Christmas classics seem to involve getting back to a simpler way of living like the country or suburbs. The idea of celebrating Xmas downtown in a big city with children does not seem to have been explored but even in this movie we see children I wonder if a plot could be written where the family stays downtown. NYC seems to have solved this issue by constructing winter recreation facilities like ice rinks and decorating commercial places like Times Square. This movie should be judged in the context of its day and more modern ones compared to it to tell us something about ourselves and how times have changed. A takeaway from this movie is that it is much easier to believe in Santa in your own home in the suburbs where you are living the American dream with family.