When a nice old man who claims to be Santa Claus is institutionalized as insane, a young lawyer decides to defend him by arguing in court that he is the real thing.
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With the help of a talking freeway billboard, a "wacky weatherman" tries to win the heart of an English newspaper reporter, who is struggling to make sense of the strange world of early-90s Los Angeles.
Director:
Mick Jackson
Stars:
Steve Martin,
Victoria Tennant,
Richard E. Grant
Vada Sultenfuss is obsessed with death. Her mother is dead, and her father runs a funeral parlor. She is also in love with her English teacher, and joins a poetry class over the summer just... See full summary »
Director:
Howard Zieff
Stars:
Dan Aykroyd,
Jamie Lee Curtis,
Macaulay Culkin
At the Macy's Department Store Thanksgiving Day parade, the actor playing Santa is discovered to be drunk by a whiskered old man. Doris Walker, the no nonsense special events director, persuades the old man to take his place. The old man proves to be a sensation and is quickly recruited to be the store Santa at the main Macy's outlet. While he is successful, Ms. Walker learns that he calls himself Kris Kringle and he claims to be the actual Santa Claus. Despite reassurances by Kringle's doctor that he is harmless, Doris still has misgivings, especially when she has cynically trained herself, and especially her daughter, Susan, to reject all notions of belief and fantasy. And yet, people, especially Susan, begin to notice there is something special about Kris and his determination to advance the true spirit of Christmas amidst the rampant commercialism around him and succeeding in improbable ways. When a raucous conflict with the store's cruelly incompetent psychologist erupts, Kris ... Written by
Kenneth Chisholm <kchishol@rogers.com>
The scenes at Macy's were shot on location at the main New York store on 34th Street itself. Shooting was complicated by the fact that the crew's power needs exceeded the store's electricity capacity and required additional power sources arranged in the store's basement. See more »
Goofs
When Kris is standing on top of the awning at Macy's after the parade, his voice says "You'll find toys of all kinds at Macy's", but his mouth is moving to totally different words. See more »
Quotes
Fred Gailey:
Is it true that you're the owner of one of the biggest department stores in New York City?
Mr. R. H. Macy:
THE biggest!
See more »
A perfectly-cast Christmas confection that surpasses all expectations and really does make viewers laugh and tear up. Corny? Yes. Overacted? In some scenes, yes. Dated? Perhaps. But the message of belief, ultimately, is timeless and the silvery black and white cinematography is wonderful. And yes, there's Edmund Gwenn as the department store Santa who really is. A most deserving recipient of the Supporting Actor Oscar, Gwenn seems like an incredibly nice man--maybe because he never has to force kindliness; more than that, he has an innate happiness and twinkle that comes from within. He truly glows in this part. Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Thelma Ritter (in a wonderful bit) and precocious Natalie Wood are also excellent in this classic fairy tale. It is a film without artifice. It glows, too. **** from ****
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A perfectly-cast Christmas confection that surpasses all expectations and really does make viewers laugh and tear up. Corny? Yes. Overacted? In some scenes, yes. Dated? Perhaps. But the message of belief, ultimately, is timeless and the silvery black and white cinematography is wonderful. And yes, there's Edmund Gwenn as the department store Santa who really is. A most deserving recipient of the Supporting Actor Oscar, Gwenn seems like an incredibly nice man--maybe because he never has to force kindliness; more than that, he has an innate happiness and twinkle that comes from within. He truly glows in this part. Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Thelma Ritter (in a wonderful bit) and precocious Natalie Wood are also excellent in this classic fairy tale. It is a film without artifice. It glows, too. **** from ****