Santa Claus Comes to NYC

Though Christmas is now but a memory, the TCM presentation of Miracle on 34th Street (1947) on the big screen was a real treat for the holiday season.  The story focuses on Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn), an elderly gentleman who takes Christmas quite seriously.  When he encounters a drunken Santa Claus at the Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, he confronts the parade's organizer Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara), who immediately hires him as a substitute Santa, both for the parade, and later to work in the store.  Doris is rather matter of fact about Christmas; she's raised her daughter Susan (Natalie Wood) to view it as a commercial holiday - Santa Claus isn't real nor are fairy tales to be regarded as anything more than silly fictions.  There is, she tells Susan, no such thing as "happily ever after," something their neighbor Fred Gailey (John Payne) finds distressing, since he is hoping for a "happily ever after" with Doris.  So, when Kris announces he IS the real Santa Claus, and is labeled as mentally incompetent by Mr. Sawyer (Porter Hall), the Macy's staff psychologist, Fred decides to represent Kris in court - and prove Kris is the REAL Santa.

As someone who grew up in New York City, shopping at Macy's and Gimbel's, this film has resonances that cannot be escaped.  At one point, we see a shopper's book that Macy's has created to help guide customers to products they don't carry (but that other stores do - one of Kris' innovations).  Most of the stores in the book, including Gimbels - have since closed.  I've been to the Parade once, and watched it on television nearly every year - and the metamorphosis of the Parade from a "home town" event to an advertisement for New York City tourism is something this film makes very apparent.  (I'm not complaining - I like seeing the Broadway plays show their stuff).  So, regardless that this is an annual event, the film provides a time capsule view of a New York that is long gone, when the parade was a local event run by a local store, not a national pastime.  (To this day, Macy's in Herald Square uses Miracle on 34th Street as a window display at Christmastime.)

This Fathom presentation of the film was made especially poignant by the death of Maureen O'Hara on October 24, 2015.  The last survivor of the lead actors in the cast, her portrayal of Doris is on spot.  She makes the character tough, but never heartless - her affections radiate from her lovely eyes, but she is always in charge of her home and her business.  Born in Ireland as Maureen FitzSimmons in 1920, Ms. O'Hara started her career at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.  After a screen test, Charles Laughton signed her to a contract and starred her, with him, in Jamaica Inn (1939).  The rest, as they say, is history.  In 1941, she appeared as Angharad in director John Ford's How Green Was My Valley, the first of their 4 films together.  Her most famous screen partner was certainly John Wayne - a collaboration that didn't begin until 1950 in Rio Grande.  Never even nominated for an Academy Award (is that even possible), Ms O'Hara was finally given an Honorary Oscar in 2014.  With her flaming red hair and a complexion that looks like pure butter, Ms. O'Hara was so staggeringly beautiful in color films she was sometimes called The Queen of Technicolor.  Regardless of that beauty, she was an actor without compare.  

Edmund Gwenn actually appeared as Santa in the 1946 Thanksgiving Day Parade, and other members of the cast (like Ms. O'Hara) were shot in the parade to add scenes to the film  (see these TCM articles and the AFI catalog for more background on the film).  Ms. O'Hara was initially reluctant to appear in the film, as she had JUST been allowed to visit her family in Ireland (she was barred from visiting her homeland because of War restrictions.  Ireland was a neutral country during World War II), and was now being called back immediately to appear in " silly little movie about Santa Claus".  She stated that, once she saw the script, she changed her mind - the film, by the way is still #9 in AFI's 100 Years, 100 Cheers.

There have been other attempts to trap the lightning in a bottle that is Miracle on 34th Street, with limited success.  Maureen O'Hara, John Payne and Edmund Gwenn reprised their roles for the Lux Radio Theatre version on December 22, 1947.  In 1955, Thomas Mitchell appeared as Kris in a live television version (also starring Teresa Wright and MacDonald Carey) for the Twentieth Century Fox Hour.  Meredith Wilson (of The Music Man fame) wrote a musical version of the tale in 1963 entitled Here's Love, which ran for 334 performances and starred Laurence Naismith as Kris.  On December 14, 1973, another television version ran, starring Sebastian Cabot as Kris and Jane Alexander as Doris (now named Karen!).  Finally, a big screen version was again attempted in 1994, with Richard Attenborough as Kris - Macy's refused to allow their name to be used in the film!  Even star John Payne tried for many years to produce a sequel to the story, based on his own screenplay, but the attempts ended when he died in 1989.

Many character actors contribute to this film - Gene Lockhart as Judge Henry X. Harper, the man who must rule on the reality of Santa Claus; William Frawley as Charles Halloran, Judge Harper's cagey political advisor; Jerome Cowan as district attorney Thomas Mara, whose own son is called to testify as to the reality of Santa Claus (how does Tommy know there really is a Santa Claus:  "Because my Daddy told me so"), and Philip Tonge as Doris' colleague Mr. Shellhammer.  But in many senses, the film is stolen in one brief scene by Thelma Ritter as the harried mother who can't find the fire truck her son wants in time for Christmas.  This was Ms. Ritter's first role, and of course, she shines.

We'll close with the scene in which Doris asks Kris to tell Susan he isn't really Santa Claus:

Monument Valley Revisited

AFI Silver recently screened The Searchers (1956).  Glenn Frankel, the author of The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend, was also there, to comment on the film and answer questions.  It was a fascinating talk.  Though we previously posted on this film, the opportunity to see it on a big screen, and the  commentary by Mr. Frankel invites a revisit to perhaps best of all Westerns.

The book, which is reviewed here (NY Times Review), looks not only at the film, but at the historical inspirations for it. In this Interview with author from CNN, the story of Cynthia Ann Parker, and her abduction by the Comanches is discussed.  Like Debbie (Natalie Wood), Cynthia Ann (or Naduah, as the Comanches named her) was abducted at about age 11.  She lived with the Comanche for 25 years, bearing 3 children. One of her sons was Quanah Parker, the last chief of the Quahada Comanche. (For more information on Naduah and Quanah Parker, visit the Texas State Historical Association) Though given opportunities to leave the Comanche, Naduah refused; she loved her husband and children.  Eventually recaptured, Naduah was unable to return to her family, dying at age 45.

Ethan Edwards' fears that Debbie is now fully Comanche is a reflection of historical facts.  Ford emphasizes the importance of Ethan's fears when he encounters a group of recaptured white women and children.  Forced again into a new world, two of the prisoners appear insane - a woman who apparently has lost her child, and a teenage girl.  A third girl is terrified and weeping inconsolably.  Edwards' face reflects his horror, but of what?  Is it his fear that this is what will remain of Debbie when she returns, or disgust at the "savages" these supposedly civilized females have become?  You can draw your own conclusions, but it seems that this might be the instant when Ethan contemplates killing Debbie.

Finally, a word on seeing The Searchers in a theatre.  Nothing can prepare you for the grandeur of the scenery when seen in its proper environment.  The people are dwarfed by the expanse of the valley.  They appear as ants, stretching across an unending vista of stone and sand.  Monument Valley shows us that no one, not the settlers, not the Comanche, can change the Valley.  The Comanche have learned to live with the land.  The settlers come to "tame" it.  They never will.  One look at the sky and land, and you realize the lunacy of even trying.

I close with a trailer from the film, which gives a good idea of the vistas, and of Ford's vision of the West:

Natalie Sings (with Marnie's Voice)

Last week, I had the unique opportunity to see a classic film with music played by a symphony orchestra.  West Side Story (1961) was shown at Strathmore (in suburban Maryland), with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Marin Alsop) performing the music.  All I can say was that it was glorious.  I had previously seen films with live music, but these were silent films and Disney's Fantasia - music with dialog or vocals.  Here, so much of the film relies on the words of the songs, lyrics which propel the action of the story forward, I wondered how this would be accomplished.  Though I have no idea (technically) how it was done, I happily report that the orchestra, the singers, and the film all synced beautifully.  At times, I forgot there WAS a live orchestra, but the power of the music was so intense that I fell into the film in a way I never had before.  With music by Leonard Bernstein, Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreography by Jerome Robbins, this film is a one-of-a-kind experience.

If you are not familiar with the story, West Side Story is a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet. It focuses on two gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, who are struggling to retain control of their small neighborhood in New York City's West Side.  The Sharks are recent immigrants from Puerto Rico.  The Jets are white, also of immigrant roots; several ethnic groups are represented, including Polish, Irish, and Italian.   In the midst of this strife, two young people, Tony (Anton) and Maria fall in love.  As in Romeo and Juliet, these outside forces doom their pure love.  

Two performances stand out.  Rita Moreno as Anita, is, as always, breathtaking. I'm familiar with Ms. Moreno from a number of her performances, and I was not surprised that she blew the roof off every time she performed.  More surprising, to me at least, was the electrifying performance of George Chakiris as Bernardo.  When he is on the screen, it is impossible to take your eyes from him.  He is a lithe and powerful dancer; his movements beyond graceful, and with a masculinity that is palpable.   

Natalie Wood is quite lovely here, and her Maria is sweet and innocent at the start.  She is especially good in the final scene, when she confronts the two gangs.  It's well known that neither she nor Richard Beymer (Tony) do their own singing.  Maria is sung by the estimable Marnie Nixon (who also sang for Deborah Kerr, Audrey Hepburn, and Margaret O'Brien).  Beymer is subbed by Jimmy Bryant (who also sang for James Fox in Thoroughly Modern Millie).  When these pros do A Time for Us, I dare you to listen dry-eyed. (And it is as much the power of the singing voices as it is the skill of the acting).

Some interesting pieces of trivia were discussed in the playbill:  The play was originally titled East Side Story, and the rival groups were to be Catholics and Jews.  This was finally rejected, because it seemed to close to Abie's Irish Rose.  Warren Beatty was in contention for the role of Tony - and Natalie Wood came with him when he auditioned, which is how she was selected. The film was shot in the area that is now Lincoln Center. The film crew was allowed to work just before the tenement buildings were demolished.  I was also quite taken with the opening montage of shots of New York City, circa 1961. 

With or without an orchestra, I highly recommend this excellent film.  TCM has named it one of The Essentials, and it surely is.  Wonderful acting, great music, splendid dancing.  Here is a clip that features Rita Moreno and George Chakiris singing and dancing "America".  Enjoy!