Miracle on 34th Street
A little girl discovers dreams do come true if you really believe. Six-year-old Susan has doubts about childhood’s most enduring miracle – Santa Claus…
- Director:Les Mayfield
- Genre:Drama / Family / Fantasy
- Runtime:114 minutes
Cast
Maureen O’Hara : Doris Walker
John Payne : Fred Gailey
Edmund Gwenn : Kris Kringle
Gene Lockhart : Judge Henry X. Harper
Natalie Wood : Susan Walker
When the Cole’s Santa Claus gets drunk before taking part in the Thanksgiving parade, Dorey, Cole’s director of special events, fires him and must find a replacement immediately. She spots an old man (Richard Attenborough) berating the drunk Santa, and begs him to take over. He claims his name is Kris Kringle. Kris does so well during the parade that he is immediately hired to be Cole’s main Santa for the holiday period. All the children in New York begin to believe that he is the real Santa, with the exception of six-year-old Susan, Dorey’s daughter. Dorey’s boyfriend, Brian Bedford, does his best to convince Susan to believe. While being babysat one night by Kris, Susan shares with him her Christmas wish, she would like a dad, a house (used every year for the Cole’s catalogue photoshoot) and a baby brother. Kris asks if she would begin to believe in Santa if she got all those things. Susan agrees that she would.
Kris is credited with bringing in many more sales to Cole’s than previous years, until one night, when he is arrested, then sanctioned for supposedly assaulting a man on the street. Later, the truth emerges, that the man he assaulted was the original drunk Santa, who set up Kris to be arrested, with the help of members of staff from a rival of Cole’s.
With the help of Brian, Dorey takes Kris’ case to court, and drums up support from him from the public. It soon becomes clear that to get Kris acquitted and freed, Brian must prove that not only does Santa exist, but that Kris is the real one. It is a seemingly impossible task until Brian comes up with a plan that requires some help from Susan.
Just as the judge is about to make his decision — and it seems he was going to rule against Kris — Susan walks up to the judge with a Christmas card containing a $1 bill. On the back, the words In God We Trust are circled. The judge realizes that, since the U.S. Department of Treasury can believe in God with no hard evidence, then the people of New York can believe in Santa Claus in the same way. This leaves the elated judge no other choice but to declare that Santa is real, thus freeing Kris. Read more
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