Classic Movie Tuesday: Miracle on 34th Street

What’s December without a classic Christmas movie and my favourite has to be ‘Miracle on 34th Street‘ (1947). I love it so much that I even wrote it into my second novel, ‘Two Halves’ because like me, Cate is also a Natalie Wood Super Fan.

So for today’s Classic Movie Tuesday post, here’s everything you ever wanted to know about ‘Miracle on 34th Street.’

Let’s start off with the plot (from IMDb): After a divorced New York mother hires a nice old man to play Santa Claus at Macy’s, she is startled by his claim to be the genuine article. When his sanity is questioned, a lawyer defends him in court by arguing that he’s not mistaken.

VALENTINE DAVIES (1905-61) was serving stateside in the U.S. Coast Guard during WW2  when he got the idea for the original story about “what would happen if Santa Claus — the real Santa Claus — found himself stranded in an iconic department store amid the commercialized chaos of an American Christmas?” (Michigan Today).

Valentine had been friends with GEORGE SEATON (1911-79) since the 1920s when Valentine was a student at the University of Michigan and George was an actor in Detroit. Valentine gave his notes to George, who went on to write the screenplay for (and direct) the film.

At the 1948 Academy Awards both Valentine (Best Writing – Original Story) and George (Best Writing – Screenplay) won for ‘Miracle on 34th Street’.

THE CAST

British actor, EDMUND GWENN (1877-1959) played Kris Kringle. He was only offered the role after it had been turned down by his cousin, CECIL KELLAWAY (1890-1973) who stated, “Americans don’t like whimsy.” Edmund would go on to be the only person ever to win an Academy Award for playing Santa Claus when he received the 1948 statuette for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

‘Miracle on 34th Street’ was NATALIE WOOD’s (1938-81) fifth movie and the one for which she’s best known as a child star. In the movie, she plays Susan Walker (the daughter of Maureen O’Hara’s character). Whilst filming after hours in the iconic Macy’s Department Store, Maureen and Natalie grew very close. Maureen said she always held a special place in her heart for “Natasha” (Natalie’s birth name) whilst Natalie would refer to her as “Mamma Maureen.”

As an adult, Natalie would go on to star in such classics as ‘Rebel Without A Cause‘ (1955), ‘Splendor in the Grass‘ (1961) and ‘West Side Story‘ (1961) before tragically passing away at Santa Catalina Island on 29 November 1981 aged just 43. If you want to find out more about Natalie’s life & career, check out my blog post, Natalie Wood: A Life in Books. (Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Doris Walker was played by “Ireland’s first Hollywood superstar,” MAUREEN O’HARA (1920-2015) best known for her collaborations with director, JOHN FORD (1894-1973) and actor, JOHN WAYNE (1907-79). She was known as the “Queen of Technicolor” because “when that film process first came into use, nothing seemed to show off its splendor better than her rich red hair, bright green eyes and flawless peaches-and-cream complexion” (New York Times). Maureen was the last credited cast member of ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ to pass away on 24 October 2015. (Photo Credit: Dell Publishing, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

JOHN PAYNE (1912-89) played Fred Gailey, the lawyer who represents Kris and Doris’ love interest. John and Maureen were good friends and in addition to ‘Miracle on 34th Street’, they also starred in ‘To the Shores of Tripoli‘ (1942), ‘Sentimental Journey‘ (1946) and ‘Tripoli‘ (1950) together. On 1 March 1961, John was hit by a car while crossing Madison Avenue in New York. He suffered extensive facial lacerations (including damage to both his eyes), a skull fracture and broke his left leg in five places. The driver of the car was BERNARD THIERRY SELZ, future fund manager and anti-vaxxer. In Maureen’s autobiography ‘Tis Herself’, she revealed that John was so fond of ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ that he actually wrote a sequel for it but tragically he passed away before he could send it to her. (Photo Credit: Bureau of Industrial Service (Division of Ad Agency, Young & Rubicam), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Judge Henry X. Harper, who presides over the court case, was played by GENE LOCKHART (1891-1957).

Judge Harper’s political adviser, Charlie Halloran was played by WILLIAM FRAWLEY (1887-1966). William is best known for playing Fred Mertz in ‘I Love Lucy‘ (1951-57). Despite playing husband and wife on ‘I Love Lucy’, William and co-star VIVIAN VANCE (1909-79) disliked each other intensely. When Vivian heard the news of William’s death, she was dining out with her fourth husband and immediately shouted, “Champagne for everybody.”

ALVIN GREENMAN (1930-2016) played store janitor, Alfred in ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ (1947). He’s the only member of the 1947 cast to also appear in the remake, ‘Miracle on 34th Street‘ (1994). His characters in both films were called Alfred but in 1994 he played a doorman. Alvin was the last surviving cast member (credited and uncredited) before he passed away on 14 July 2016 at the age of 86.

‘Miracle on 34th Street; is also notable for legendary actress, THELMA RITTER’s (1902-69) first (uncredited) movie role as Peter’s Mother.

FILMING LOCATIONS

(Photo Credit: Mike Strand, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

The film was shot on location in New York City. It was only the second movie in 20th Century Fox’s history to be filmed there after ‘The House on 92nd Street‘ (1945)  (Good Housekeeping).

The parade sequences were filmed during Macy’s actual Thanksgiving Parade on 28 November 1946. Edmund Glenn played Santa Claus in the parade and addressed the crowd from Macy’s marquee. He was introduced by PHILIP TONGE (1897-1959) (who played Julian Shellhammer in the film).

Side Note: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade first took place in 1924 and is the joint second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the U.S. (along with America’s Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit). Funnily enough, the oldest Thanksgiving parade is actually the 6abc Dunkin’ Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia, which was created by Macy’s arch-rivals, Gimbels in 1920.

Even though ROWLAND HUSSEY MACY (1822-77) aka R.H. Macy appears in the film, played by HARRY ANTRIM (1884-1967), the actual Mr Macy passed away in 1877. The Macy family sold their ownership of Macy’s to ISIDOR (1845-1912) & NATHAN STRAUS (1848-1931) in 1895. Side Note: Isidor & his wife, Ida both died during the sinking of the RMS Titanic on 15 April 1912.

The Christmas window displays seen in the film were originally made by Steiff for Macy’s. Macy’s later sold the window displays to FAO Schwarz in New York, who then sold them to the BMO Harris Bank of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where they’ve been on display every December in the bank’s lobby on North Water Street.

The house featured at the end of the film is located at 24 Derby Road, Port Washington, NY. If you want to find out more about the house, check out this article by Dirt.

On the day of filming it was bitterly cold so a kind-hearted neighbour, VAUGHN MELE invited the cast and crew to warm up in her home between takes. As a thank you, Maureen invited Vaughn and her husband to dinner at the famous restaurant, 21. Vaughn was so excited by the occasion that she could only manage a glass of milk.

All the best, Louise x