“Kris Kringle is a kindly old gentleman who is a dead ringer for Santa Claus. When the Santa hired to ride in the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade shows up drunk, store supervisor Doris Walker (Maureen O’Hara) convinces Kringle to take over the role for the day. Kringle is so successful as Santa that Macy’s hires him as the in-store Santa Claus. The trouble is that Kringle not only thinks he really is Santa, but also that he starts sending customers to other stores when Macy’s doesn’t have what they want to buy. Doris, a divorced and disillusioned single mother, has trained her young daughter Susan (Natalie Wood) not to indulge in silly fairy tales like Santa Claus. When Doris’ neighbor, ambitious young attorney Fred Gailey (John Payne), takes an interest in her, he is saddened by Susan’s skeptical take on life at so young an age and tries to break through the cynical wall that Doris has built up around them. Meanwhile, Kris Kringle’s radical tactics as the new Macy’s Santa Claus brings unprecedented success to the famous department store, which inspires the community to adopt the generous spirit of the season year round. However, following an incident with the nasty in-store psychologist Mr. Sawyer (Porter Hall), Kringle must face the threat of institutionalization as he goes to court to prove that he is indeed the real Santa Claus.” -Andrea Passafiume, Turner Classic Movies
“For all those blasé skeptics who do not believe in Santa Claus—and likewise for all those natives who have grown cynical about New York—but most especially for all those patrons who have grown weary of the monotonies of the screen, let us heartily recommend the Roxy’s new picture, Miracle on 34th Street. As a matter of fact, let’s go further: let’s catch its spirit and heartily proclaim that it is the freshest little picture in a long time, and maybe even the best comedy of this year.” -Bosley Crowther, The New York Times (1947)
