Nov 282013
 

Clip from Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

This is such a great movie and perfect for Thanksgiving. It was nominated for several Academy Awards, including best picture, and won Edmund Gwenn an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. All the performances are wonderful, especially Natalie Wood as the little girl who doesn’t believe in Santa.

Some interesting trivia about the film via IMDB:

  • They used the actual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade from 1946 in the film.
  • Unbeknownst to most parade watchers, Edmund Gwenn played Santa Claus in the actual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade held November 28, 1946. He fulfilled the duties of most parade Santas, including addressing the crowd from the marquee of Macy’s after the parade was over. He was introduced to the crowd by actor Philip Tonge (he played Mr. Shellhammer in the movie) and he later unveiled the mechanical Christmas display windows to the accompaniment of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite.” This gesture symbolized the opening of the Christmas shopping season at the store.
  • According to Natalie Wood’s biographer, during the shoot, the young actress was convinced that Edmund Gwenn was actually Santa Claus (by all accounts, Gwenn was a very good-natured man on the set). It wasn’t until Wood saw him out of costume at the wrap party that she realized he wasn’t Santa.
  • Received a ‘B’ rating (morally objectionable in part) from the highly influential Legion of Decency because Maureen O’Hara played a divorcée.

Happy Thanksgiving!