Do you believe in Sanata Claus? After seeing the Miracle on 34th Street , you just might.

When the Macy's Day Parade Santa Claus actor gets drunk moments before his float starts, the parade coordinator, Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara), has to think on her feet to find a last-minute replacement. The man she finds is such a big success, the store hires him to be their 34th Street store's Sanata Claus (Edmund Gwen). Store managers are thinking twice about the decision when it turns out their Santa is recommending other stores to customers- and those doubts just continue to grow when it becomes clear the man really believes he's Kris Kringle himself! To Doris Walker and her young daughter Susan (Natalie Woods), who have trained themselves not to believe in any sort of fantasy,  it seems especially alarming. While Mrs. Walker is wondering if Macy's can really keep someone of uncertain sanity on the payroll, Mr. Kringle and Doris' beau Fred Galley (John Payne) are both wondering what it would take to make believers out of Susan and her mother. Things soon escalate out of control, and Kringle finds himself on trial, asking the courts- and the viewers- do you believe in Santa Claus?

According to her biographers, Natalie Woods certainly did believe.  It wasn't until seeing Edmund Gwen out of costume at the film's wrap party that she realized the man was not the real Sanata Claus. She wasn't alone either- thousands of children watching the 1946 Macy's Thanksgiving Parade watched Edmund Gwen, portraying the jolly old man himself,  making his way down the New York streets on Sanata's Sleigh to open the Macy Store for the Christmas shopping season as part of the parade. In fact, all of the parade scenes were shot live at the 1946 parade! With all the effort to make Santa so eminently believable  it might come as a surprise that this film wasn't released at Christmas time; it premiered in May. Studio Head Darryl Zanuck believed more people went to the movies in the summertime. The strange timing didn't seem to affect it's success though. Edmund Gwen won the Academy Award for best supporting actor (The only actor portraying Santa Claus to have ever done so), and the film also received the awards for best Original Story and Best Screenplay.


It has certainly held up well over the years, becoming a perennial favorite to generations of viewers, and it's not hard to see why. Miracle on 34th Street is surprisingly funny and briskly paced, never letting itself get bogged  down in sentimentality, even while having a clear message. The main cast is spectacular with Natalie Woods in particular being quite adorable as the overly serious Susan, but, for me, it was all the bit players that made the film. From the judge to Alvin the janitor, their concerns and antics jump off the screen.  So, when you're watching Miracle on 34th Street, perhaps you, too, will find yourself believing that Age of Miracles has not passed.

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