"Miracle on 34th Street" is a cinematic staple of the Christmas season. It's played on TV and on countless VCRs and DVD players around the country come December, and nearly everyone's seen it. It's a bona fide classic.
That being said, "Miracle" leaves something to be desired.
The film's plot, which you are probably familiar with, centers on the "conversion" of a little girl, Susan Walker (Natalie Wood), who has been brought up to be resolutely practical by her mother, Doris (Maureen O'Hara). Santa (Edmund Gwenn), or Kris Kringle as he calls himself, enters into he film by playing Santa in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. He does a good enough job to be hired as a Santa for Macy's, where hilarity ensues (who knew?) as Kringle runs into various and sundry non-believers. The film climaxes with Kringle on trial for insanity, and Susan's belief in Santa at stake. I'll give you two guesses as to how it turns out (Hint: Christmas classic).
In this movie, Maureen O'Hara has all the acting range of a wooden plank. Every line she utters as Mrs. Walker is stiffly delivered with a level of poise and restraint that borders on the comical. This may stem from the true cause of Walker's desire to "protect" her daughter from fantasy -- she is obviously a single mother, and it is alluded to that a bitter divorce has somewhat disillusioned her. O'Hara's restrained performance may be a purposeful attempt to portray a character that is consumed with bitterness but strives to keep a cool façade, although that seems a stretch. Natalie Wood does a much better job as Susan, and manages to convincingly portray the different stages of belief her character goes through.
The movie obviously wants us to side with Kringle (indeed it is very hard not to), but it's interesting to consider the movie as if the naysayers are right, and "Kris Kringle" is really just a delusional old man. Viewed in that context, Kringle's behavior and advice come off more as the distressing delusions of a certifiable lunatic, rather than the heartwarming actions of a kindly old man trying to save Christmas.
Taken for what it is meant to be -- formulaic holiday escapism -- "Miracle" does a satisfactory job. The acting is adequate, and the story appropriately nostalgic, upbeat and cute, but it lacks any real depth or subtlety.
That being said, "Miracle" leaves something to be desired.
The film's plot, which you are probably familiar with, centers on the "conversion" of a little girl, Susan Walker (Natalie Wood), who has been brought up to be resolutely practical by her mother, Doris (Maureen O'Hara). Santa (Edmund Gwenn), or Kris Kringle as he calls himself, enters into he film by playing Santa in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. He does a good enough job to be hired as a Santa for Macy's, where hilarity ensues (who knew?) as Kringle runs into various and sundry non-believers. The film climaxes with Kringle on trial for insanity, and Susan's belief in Santa at stake. I'll give you two guesses as to how it turns out (Hint: Christmas classic).
In this movie, Maureen O'Hara has all the acting range of a wooden plank. Every line she utters as Mrs. Walker is stiffly delivered with a level of poise and restraint that borders on the comical. This may stem from the true cause of Walker's desire to "protect" her daughter from fantasy -- she is obviously a single mother, and it is alluded to that a bitter divorce has somewhat disillusioned her. O'Hara's restrained performance may be a purposeful attempt to portray a character that is consumed with bitterness but strives to keep a cool façade, although that seems a stretch. Natalie Wood does a much better job as Susan, and manages to convincingly portray the different stages of belief her character goes through.
The movie obviously wants us to side with Kringle (indeed it is very hard not to), but it's interesting to consider the movie as if the naysayers are right, and "Kris Kringle" is really just a delusional old man. Viewed in that context, Kringle's behavior and advice come off more as the distressing delusions of a certifiable lunatic, rather than the heartwarming actions of a kindly old man trying to save Christmas.
Taken for what it is meant to be -- formulaic holiday escapism -- "Miracle" does a satisfactory job. The acting is adequate, and the story appropriately nostalgic, upbeat and cute, but it lacks any real depth or subtlety.