Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
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94% of critics liked it
(34 reviews) -
82% of users liked it
(45,957 ratings)
Edmund Gwenn plays Kris Kringle, a bearded old gent who is the living image of Santa Claus. Serving as a last-minute replacement for the drunken Santa who was to have led Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, Kringle is offered a job as a Macy's toy-department Santa. Supervisor Maureen O'Hara soon… More Edmund Gwenn plays Kris Kringle, a bearded old gent who is the living image of Santa Claus. Serving as a last-minute replacement for the drunken Santa who was to have led Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, Kringle is offered a job as a Macy's toy-department Santa. Supervisor Maureen O'Hara soon begins having second thoughts about hiring Kris: it's bad enough that he is laboring under the delusion that he's the genuine Saint Nick; but when he begins advising customers to shop elsewhere for toys that they can't find at Macy's, he's gone too far! Amazingly, Mr. Macy (Harry Antrim) considers Kris' shopping tips to be an excellent customer-service "gimmick," and insists that the old fellow keep his job. A resident of a Long Island retirement home, Kris agrees to take a room with lawyer John Payne during the Christmas season. It happens that Payne is sweet on O'Hara, and Kris subliminally hopes he can bring the two together. Kris is also desirous of winning over the divorced O'Hara's little daughter Natalie Wood, who in her few years on earth has lost a lot of the Christmas spirit. Complications ensue when Porter Hall, Macy's nasty in-house psychologist, arranges to have Kris locked up in Bellevue as a lunatic. Payne represents Kris at his sanity hearing, rocking the New York judicial system to its foundations by endeavoring to prove in court that Kris is, indeed, the real Santa Claus! We won't tell you how he does it: suffice to say that there's a joyous ending for Payne and O'Hara, as well as a wonderful faith-affirming denouement for little Natalie Wood. 72-year-old Edmund Gwenn won an Oscar for his portrayal of the "jolly old elf" Kringle; the rest of the cast is populated by such never-fail pros as Gene Lockhart (as the beleaguered sanity-hearing judge), William Frawley (as a crafty political boss), and an unbilled Thelma Ritter and Jack Albertson. Based on the novel by Valentine Davies, Miracle on 34th Street was remade twice: once for TV in 1973, and a second time for a 1994 theatrical release, with Richard Attenborough as Kris Kringle. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- George Seaton
- Written By
- Valentine Davies, George Seaton
- Genres
- Drama, Kids & Family, Romance, Classics, Science Fiction & Fantasy
- In Theaters
- Jan 1, 1947 Wide
- Studio
- 20th Century Fox
Critic Reviews
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Shirley O'Hara, The New Republic
Miracle on 34th Street isn't great art or high comedy, but it is good entertainment.
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Variety Staff, Variety
So you don't believe in Santa Claus? If you want to stay a non-believer don't see Miracle.
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Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
It's a highly professional piece of Hollywood sentimentalism.
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Bosley Crowther, New York Times
[Let us] heartily proclaim that it is the freshest little picture in a long time, and maybe even the best comedy of this year.
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Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed
One of the few perfect and genuinely emotional Christmas movies that will live on forever...
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Maureen O'Hara
as Doris Walker
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John Payne
as Fred Gailey
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Edmund Gwenn
as Kris Kringle
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Natalie Wood
as Susan Walker
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Harry Antrim
as R.H. Macy
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Jerome Cowan
as D.A. Thomas Mara
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William Forrest
as Dr. Rogers
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Herbert Heyes
as Mr. Gimbel
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Gene Lockhart
as Judge Henry X. Harper
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Jack Albertson
as Postal Worker
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Lela Bliss
as Mrs. Shellhammer
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Jeff Corey
as Reporter
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Teddy Driver
as Terry
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William Frawley
as Charles Halloran
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Alvin Greenman
as Alfred
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Porter Hall
as Mr. Sawyer
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Alvin Hammer
as Mara's Assistant
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Theresa Harris
as Cleo
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Percy Helton
as Santa Claus
- Robert Karnes
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Anne O'Neal
as Secretary
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Harry "Snub" Pollard
as Mail-Bearing Court Officer
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Thelma Ritter
as Peter's Mother
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Steve Roberts
as Guard
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James Seay
as Dr. Pierce
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Anthony Sydes
as Peter
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Guy Thomajan
as Post Office Employee
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Philip Tonge
as Mr. Shellhammer
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Basil Walker
as Intern
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Mary Field
as Mother
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Robert Gist
as Window Dresser
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Richard Irving
as Reporters
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Jane Green
as Mrs. Harper
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Robert Hyatt
as Thomas Mara Jr.
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Robert Lynn
as Macy's Salesman


