The Miracle on 34th Street

One Kris Kringle (Thomas Mitchell), a department-store Santa Claus, causes quite a commotion by suggesting customers go to a rival store for their purchases...

So, of course, this is not as good as the original, which has since become one of the all-time Christmas classics. And unlike the original, which had a few names in it, this one really has no stars that anyone has ever heard of. And, yes, it does not look as good as the original because no one has bothered to remaster it.

But for what it is, it is not a bad little film. If you want to watch the original story but do not have two hours, here you go: the basic plot in under an hour. I appreciated it, because sometimes you just do not want to invest that much time in television.

This abridged TV episode was done by 20th Century Fox as part of a way to keep up with the emerging popularity of the new medium. The shortness of the piece explains the format of under one hour for the program.

As far as the remake is concerned, its director, Robert Stevenson, does a good job in recreating the atmosphere. The young actress, Sandy Descher, as Susan, is pretty intense for a girl her age. If one adds the likable actress Teresa Wright, as the mother, who happens to work for Macy's and McDonald Carey, as the neighbor, Fred Gaily, the casting is excellent.Both had appeared in Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt", and they have an easy time with one another.

Thomas Mitchell makes a delightful Kris Kringle. Also in the cast, we see Ray Collins, a veteran film actor and Hans Conried, who is Ms. Wright's supervisor.

A timeless story told with conviction.

This is a television version of "Miracle on 34th Street". In most ways, it's the 1947 film all over again but with a few plot lines eliminated and an insanely fast delivery. The actors literally deliver their lines at break-neck speed--and it makes for a curious and unimpressive film. In no way at all is the film better than the classic version--and in most ways it is inferior. While Macdonald Carey and Theresa Wright try their best, they just aren't as good as John Payne and Maureen O'Hara. The same can be said for Santa. While Thomas Mitchell was okay--he just wasn't as sweet and wonderful as Edmund Gwen. However, the biggest difference is little Susan Walker. While Sandy Descher was competent, she wasn't even close to Natalie Wood--who delivered one of the best performances of a child in any film of the era.

So, if this film is based very closely on the original, is VERY rushed and in no way is as good, you may be tempted to say 'why bother watching this 1955 version?'--and I'd insist that you are 100% correct! An odd curio but nothing more.

Frankly, I had never even heard of this condensed TV version (the first of four remakes!) of the original 1947 Oscar-winning classic when I chanced upon it at my local DVD rental shop.

While understandably not up to the standards of the earlier film, a capable director leads a rather remarkable cast: Thomas Mitchell, Teresa Wright, Macdonald Carey, Hans Conried, Dick Foran, Ray Collins, Don Beddoe and Whit Bissell. The child actress playing the little girl seemed awfully familiar to me even though her name – Sandy Descher – didn't ring any bells; it eventually transpired that she had been the girl dumb-struck by the giant ants' attack at the beginning of the sci-fi classic THEM! (1954) – which, ironically, starred the original Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn)!

Although I quite liked this made-for-TV version overall, I think the brief 45-minute running time ultimately worked against it – as the narrative seemed awfully rushed in spots! Besides, the cast – while commendably entering into the spirit of the thing – seemed somewhat less sympathetic than the performers of the previous version (Gwenn, Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood, etc.) had been.

This isn't bad. It was typical of those seen in TV anthologies of the day. Thomas Mitchell does well with the script. But Susan Descher shows little emotion as Susan and Macdonald Carey and Teresa Wright have little romantic spark. Ray Taggart ("Perry Mason") is one of the real bright spots as the judge. No one expects this to pass the Edmund Gwenn version. But it's certainly watchable. Watch and enjoy.