Miracle on 34th Street (1973 film)
| Miracle on 34th Street | |
|---|---|
| Based on | The screenplay by George Seaton From a story by Valentine Davies |
| Written by | Jeb Rosebrook |
| Directed by | Fielder Cook |
| Starring |
Jane Alexander David Hartman Jim Backus Tom Bosley David Doyle James Gregory Roland Winters Roddy McDowall Sebastian Cabot Suzanne Davidson |
| Theme music composer | Sid Ramin |
| Opening theme | "Miracles" |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Norman Rosemont |
| Cinematography | Earl Rath |
| Editor(s) |
Gene Milford Robert A. Daniels |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Norman Rosemont Enterprises, Inc. 20th Century Fox Television |
| Distributor | CBS |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Original release |
|
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Miracle on 34th Street (1994 film) |
Miracle on 34th Street is a 1973 American made-for-television Christmas fantasy drama film directed by Fielder Cook. It is the third remake of the original 1947 film. Like the original, this film was produced by 20th Century Fox. Additionally, the New York City-based Macy's department store allowed their name to be used in this film, unlike later versions.
When an old man (Sebastian Cabot) spies the department store Santa Claus get drunk before taking part in the Macy's Thanksgiving parade, he immediately locates and complains to Karen Walker (Jane Alexander), the parade director. She promptly fires her Santa Claus and the old man, who turns out to be named Kris Kringle, volunteers to take his place for the sake of the children. Kris does so well during the parade that he is immediately hired to be the store's main Santa for the holiday period. At the same time, Karen's daughter, Susan (Suzanne Davidson), an intelligent but cynical six-year-old, meets her new neighbor, Bill Schafner (David Hartman), a lawyer, and decides to try and hook him up with her mother.
Kris, out of goodwill and to the horror of Mr. Schillhammer (Jim Backus), begins to send customers of Macy's to other stores if they can't find what they're looking for. In spite of Schillhammer's initial fear, the public embraces his actions as a goodwill marketing campaign and sales skyrocket, leading the profit obsessed Mr. Macy (David Doyle) to pursue the campaign in earnest. However, Karen and Shellhammer learn that Kris believes himself to actually be Santa Claus, a fact they frantically try to hide from their boss. The store's psychiatrist, Dr. Sawyer, (Roddy McDowall) initially takes Kris on as a fascinating case study, but Kris' belief that it is Sawyer who has the problem leads to him becoming an enemy instead. Kris finds a kindred spirit in the janitor, Alfred (Barry Greenburg), who gets joy out of dressing as Santa at the local YMCA every year. He also learns that Susan has been raised not to believe in Santa Claus or possess an imagination, two things he intends to correct. Susan herself is further convinced of his authenticity because he possesses a real beard and in particular when he speaks Spanish to a young girl who doesn't speak English.
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