20th Century Fox | 1947 | 96 mins. | Not Rated
I’m sure every reviewer will write this, but it needs to be emphasized before I actually discuss the film. Despite the color cover and the text on the back of the case, which claims that this is an “all-new, colorized Blu- ray version,” I can assure you that only the black and white version of the film is contained on this disc. Likely, someone in the Fox graphics department has realized the snafu, and they will rectify the box art rather quickly. Other than being a bit of an embarrassment, the fact that that the black and white version is the one that’s been released isn’t a problem; in my opinion, it’s the one version fans of Miracle on 34th Street should own.
Based on a story written by Valentine Davies, 1947’s Miracle on 34th Street has become as much a Christmas time tradition as It’s a Wonderful Life. Unlike a lot of Christmas fare, Miracle is a film beloved by adults as well as children. As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to understand that at its core, Davies story is one about putting faith before reason. While there’s no doubt that Miracle on 34th Street presents a fantasy only Hollywood could create, in the midst of the fairytale is a rather strong message about the unfortunate commercialism of Christmas.
Given the films classic status, it seems hard to believe that Fox studio head Darryl F. Zanuck thought the film was to “corny” to be a success. As such, he insisted on a June release, which left the marketing team scrambling to promote the movie in a way that didn’t suggest it was about Christmas. As it turned out, Zanuck’s worries were misplaced, and Miracle on 34th Street turned out to be a huge hit; garnering three Oscars and a nomination for Best Picture. However, the unusual release date did result in one of the most unique trailers of the day, which you can see at the end of this review.
It’s the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and organizer Doris Walker (Maureen O’Hara) finds herself in a bind when the Santa she hired turns up at the event, stone cold drunk. A mysterious old man who goes by the name Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn), offers to don the red suit at the last minute. Kris is such a success at the parade that Doris offers him a job playing Santa at Macy’s during the holiday season. Kris tells her it will be no problem at all, as he had lots of experience, being the real Santa Claus and all.
Doris is a diehard realist—”I think we should be realistic and completely truthful with our children, and not having them grow up believing in a lot of legends and myths,” she says—and both she and her precocious daughter from a previous marriage, Susan (Natalie Wood) are skeptical about Kris Kringle’s claims. Unshaken, Kringle sees Doris and Susan as the ultimate test case for whether childlike faith is still relevant in a thoroughly modern world, saying, “If I can win you over, there’s still hope.” Even more disbelieving is Macy’s in-house psychologist, Granville Sawyer (Porter Hall), a twitching mess of a man who claims Kringle has “latent maniacal tendencies” and has him committed to the Bellevue mental asylum. Doris’ love interest and lawyer neighbor Frederick Gailey (John Payne) comes to the rescue, however, making headlines when he attempts to prove the existence of Santa Claus in court. At first, they seem to be losing to the cynical views of the prosecution. But a miracle is in order when, because of the local post office, Kringle gets all of the Santa Claus mail delivered to the courthouse which as far as the court is concerned proves that he really is Santa Claus.
The film ends on a final shot that promotes ambiguity as to whether Kris Kringle is really who he says he is or if it even matters. Maybe the question becomes to do you believe Kris is Santa Claus or not?
Miracle on 34th Street comes to Blu-ray sporting a solid 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer. There isn’t a lot of film grain present. Not surprisingly for a sixty-two-year-old film, some shots do appear a bit soft in comparison to some other black and white films transferred so far to Hi-Def but nothing that presents a real problem. It’s clear that no DNR has been applied, and the print itself is in great condition, showing few specks and no damage. It’s not by any means the best restoration or Hi-Def transfer I have ever seen but it’s a pleasant presentation.
Audio is presented in both DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio as well as the original Mono track in Dolby Digital 2.0 @224kbps. There’s not honestly much use here of the rear channels or the subwoofer. The main focus of this upconverted 5.1 mix from an original Mono recording is the front 3.0 (left/center/right) configuration with all dialogue being delivered perfectly through the front center channel speaker and most all other sounds, music, Foley ,etc. coming through the front left and right channel speakers. This works, never requiring any volume adjustments. The 5.1 mix is decent and does the film justice, by all means, as does the original Mono mix.
Miracle on 34th Street contains the following special features:
• Commentary by Maureen O’Hara: O’Hara has some interesting stories about working for 20th Century Fox in the post-war days, and she has a few words for nearly every actor that pops up on screen, but there is a lot of long silences.
• AMC Backstory: Miracle on 34th Street (SD, 22:06) ” This AMC documentary, discusses the film’s conception, production, and distribution.
• Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade: Floating in History (SD, 15:32) This featurette covers much of the same material as the AMC documentary, but with some added emphasis on the parade portion of the film, which was shot—hurriedly—at the actual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
• Fox Movietone News: Hollywood Spotlight (SD, 1:46) This archive industry news brief gives highlights from the major acceptance speeches at the 1947 Academy Awards, including Edmund Gwenn saying, “Now I know there’s a Santa Claus!”
• Poster Gallery (1080p, 00:39) This self-playing gallery includes nine posters for the film. Notice how none of them make any mention of the fact that Miracle on 34th Street is a Christmas movie.
• Promotional Short (SD, 5:08) The film’s trailer which was very unconventional (especially for its time).
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