Movie Monday: Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

It’s not the holidays without seeing the original Miracle on 34th Street! That is why it feels only right that we end our holiday celebration of Movie Monday with this classic!

Revealed in Maureen O’Hara’s autobiography, O’Hara was vacationing in here native country of Ireland when she was called back to the United States to begin filming for Miracle on 34th Street. Although O’Hara was originally frustrated by the sudden ending of her time in Ireland, O’Hara could tell that his film would be a success as soon as she read the script. However, she could never have forecasted that it would become one of the all time classic holiday films ever made.

The reason that O’Hara was asked to come back to the United States so urgently was because the parade scene at the beginning of Miracle on 34th Street was filmed at he actual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade! It occurred to O’Hara once they began filming that it was definitely important to capitalize on filming while the real parade was taking place instead of having to stage another parade for filming. The scenes of “Santa” (played by John Payne) in the Macy’s Parade were real! He acted as the official Santa for that Macy’s Parade that year so they could film for the movie.

The main cast of Miracle on 34th Street got along splendidly! O’Hara had a special bond with young Natalie Woods, and felt as if Natalie was like an actual daughter to her. Watching this film as a classic cinema enthusiast, it is sweet to see Natalie Woods as a young girl in this movie after watching her as a mature lady in Rebel Without a Cause.

John Payne, who played Santa in Miracle on 34th Street, always loved this movie. He felt that it would be best if they created a sequel for it, and even talked about doing one with Maureen O’Hara. Payne wrote a screenplay for a sequel to this holiday classic, however, Payne sadly passed away before O’Hara had the opportunity to read it.

The success that followed Miracle on 34th Street led to a this film winning three Academy Awards. Although this movie didn’t have an extensive budget to work with, they made back what they spent and much more. This has become one of my very favorite classic holiday movies and one that I never miss when it is on television! Something about this film makes the holiday season just that much more magical!

I hope everyone enjoyed the special holiday edition of Movie Monday, and I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Holidays!!

Much Love,

Sarah

Source for some of the fun facts found in this review: http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/359279%7C0/Miracle-on-34th-Street.html