Miracle on 34th Street (1994)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Les Mayfield

Writers (WGA):

Valentine Davies (story)
George Seaton (1947 screenplay)

Release Date:

18 November 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

Experience the Miracle.

Plot:

A little girl discovers dreams do come true if you really believe. Six-year-old Susan has doubts about childhood's most enduring miracle - Santa Claus...

Plot Keywords:

Santa Claus | Christmas | Mother | Remake | Holiday

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Richard Attenborough	...	Kris Kringle
Elizabeth Perkins	...	Dorey Walker
Dylan McDermott	...	Bryan Bedford
J.T. Walsh	...	Ed Collins
James Remar	...	Jack Duff
Jane Leeves	...	Alberta Leonard
Simon Jones	...	Donald Shellhammer
William Windom	...	C.F. Cole
Mara Wilson	...	Susan Walker
Robert Prosky	...	Judge Henry Harper
Kathrine Narducci	...	Mother
Mary McCormack	...	Myrna Foy
Alvin Greenman	...	The Doorman
Allison Janney	...	Woman in Christmas Shop
Greg Noonan	...	Cmdr. Coulson

MPAA:

Rated PG for some mild language.

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | American Sign Language

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | Germany:o.Al. (f) | South Korea:All | Peru:PT | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Hughes Entertainment

Trivia:

Alvin Greenman (The Doorman) appeared in the original version as Alfred.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jack and Alberta have dropped Kris off at the old folks' home and Jack is returning to the limousine, you can see Alberta's crossed legs through the open door. When Jack enters the car, however, Alberta's legs are completely covered by her overcoat.

Quotes:

Kris Kringle: You think I'm a fraud, don't you?
Dorey Walker: Fraud is a bit too strong of a word.
Kris Kringle: But you don't believe in me.
Dorey Walker: I believe that Christmas is for children.
Kris Kringle: Well your daughter doesn't believe in me, either.
Dorey Walker: I don't think that there's any harm in not believing in a figure that many do acknowledge to be a fiction.
Kris Kringle: Oh, but there is. I'm not just a whimsical figure who wears a charming suit and affects a jolly demeanor. You know, I... I... I'm a symbol. I'm a symbol of the human ability to be able to suppress the selfish and hateful tendencies that rule the major part of our lives. If... you can't believe, if you can't accept anything on faith, then you're doomed for a life dominated by doubt.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Naked Fear (1999)

Soundtrack:

Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town

You Really Can't Get Too Much of This Story

Few things are more amusing that reading the comments from the crybaby dishrags who whine about remaking a classic like "Miracle On 34th Street" (1947). How are these weepy rants helpful?

Did it need to be remade? No. But the source material is good enough that any number of professionally done remakes would still be entertaining. If this 1994 version had been the original, people would already be crowning it with the classic tag.

But it is not the original. It strikes a decent compromise by keeping many of the original story elements, deleting some, updating others, and making a few generally ill-advised additions.

There are even some clear improvements. Elizabeth Perkins and Mara Wilson are a much better mother and daughter match than Natalie Wood and Maureen O'Hara. There is a real chemistry between them and the producers appear to have grasped this connection. This "Miracle" is told much more from their respective points of view and in that sense is much more their story than in the original. Wilson brings a focus and intensity to her roles that few child actors can match. She gave a similar performance the next year in Matilda. Perkins is one of those actresses you don't really notice at first, memorable in "Big" and "Speak" for performances filled with subtle nuances.

It is no surprise that Richard Attenborough falls short of the Edmund Gwenn standard but that was Gwenn's signature role; and as much a part of cinema history as Gregory Peck's Atticus Finch. But look for the sequence where Wilson pulls his beard and discovers it is real-this is one of the great all-time scenes.

As long as Perkins and/or Wilson are being featured, the film works quite well. And it really only stumbles seriously during the courtroom scene and during the subplot elements featuring James Remar and Jane Leeves. The film staggers along a bit but recovers itself in time for an original and very effective conclusion. As Roger Ebbert said, while it will never replace the original; this is a sweet, gentle, good-hearted film that stays true to the spirit of the original and doesn't try to make everything slick and exploitative.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.