December 10: Miracle on 34th Street
Divorcee Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara) and her daughter Susan (Natalie Wood) get caught up in the Holiday spirit in the perennial favorite, Miracle on 34th Street (1947).
The story is about Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) a charming man with a distigushed beard, jolly attitude, and a loving spirit. A born Santa Claus. His antagonists in the story include a down-hearted mother Doris, a skeptical little girl Susan, and a "malicious, contemptible fraud," the quasi-psychologist at Macy's, Mr. Sawyer (Porter Hall).
The side story of Santa with fellow Macy's employee Alfred:
Alfred: Yeah, there's a lot of bad 'isms' floatin' around this world, but one of the worst is commercialism. Make a buck, make a buck. Even in Brooklyn it's the same - don't care what Christmas stands for, just make a buck, make a buck.
Santa Claus: Oh, Christmas isn't just a day, it's a frame of mind... and that's what's been changing. That's why I'm glad I'm here, maybe I can do something about it.
The story does tidy up the various cynical points of believing in the jolly fellow wearing a red suit, even bringing in politics with the Judge (Gene Lockhart) and District Attorney (Jerome Cowen) being forced to admit there is a "spirit" of the law that needs to be honored.
Available through many sources, including DVD, streaming on Amazon Prime, and iTunes for AppleTV. Best seen in glorious black & white.
Newer versions of the story are available, but this remains my favorite.
Reprinted from December 2017