When Gailey and Chris have the bedroom discussion about whether Santa sleeps with his whiskers under the blanket or out, Gailey takes off one slipper twice.
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is still very much in progress, and a marching band can be heard loudly playing in the background as Doris enters her high-rise apartment building. Her apartment is many levels up, as Susan and Fred can be clearly seen looking down to watch the parade below from his apartment which is located directly across from Doris', and therefore several minutes must pass between the time Doris enters the apartment building and when she arrives (presumably by elevator), at the entrance to her apartment. After we see her enter the apartment building, the very next shot we see of her is at the doorway of her apartment. As she enters it, the band is still playing the same march, just as loudly as it had been when she entered the apartment building, and it has not even skipped a beat.
Judge Harper looks to the audience's right when looking at his advisor, who is sitting on the audience's left.
Several shots of Judge Harper show a lamp on his desk. When the mail is dumped in front of him, it has disappeared.
When Mr. Sawyer is interviewing Kris, in the front shot he is pulling his eyebrow. When it switches to a rear shot, he is drumming on the desk with his fingers. It repeats again as they switch from front to rear shots.
While Mara is making his final arguments to Judge Harper, Fred Gailey is out in the hall presumably talking to the postmen. He returns to the courtroom just as Mara finishes his statement. No judge would allow final arguments to proceed the attorney's absence for the opposing party.
When the state rested its case, Fred Gailey could have asked for an immediate dismissal since the state did not meet its burden of proof. 1) The state did not produce expert witnesses to testify on Kris' mental state & 2) he was not proven to be a danger to himself or others.
When Fred Gailey is explaining to Judge Harper that people who are who they believe themselves to be are not unbalanced, he states that Kris is Santa Claus, to which Judge Harper quickly responds "But he isn't." Fred should have immediately asked for a new hearing, because Judge Harper had obviously made a decision and revealed it in open court before the hearing concluded.
When Fred called Thomas Mara, Jr. to the stand, The Prosecutor, Thomas Mara, Sr. would have had no choice but to recuse himself from the hearing due to his personal relationship with his son.
The court hearing happens in the New York State Supreme Court, but such a hearing would instead occur in a municipal court. That is why the District Attorney is presenting the case.
When Kris leaves Alfred in the cafeteria and storms into Granville Sawyer's office he has nothing in his hand. During his entire conversation with Granville his right hand is always free to gesture. The umbrella he uses to bop Granville on the head was sitting on the desk and he can be seen picking it up just before hitting Granville.
After Tommy Mara, Jr. leaves the witness stand, he goes over to Kris to remind him not to forget to bring him a football helmet. Kris tells him not to worry and that he'll get it, indicating that he (Santa) will be bringing him one. But after the case is over, Tommy Sr. comments that he has to go buy one, indicating that he will be the one giving it to Tommy Jr..
This is completely in character with Kris in this movie as he often is seen directing/guiding parents to finding the right presents for their children rather than giving them himself. Ultimately, the outcome is that Tommy Jr. gets the football helmet, so Kris has honored his promise.
This is completely in character with Kris in this movie as he often is seen directing/guiding parents to finding the right presents for their children rather than giving them himself. Ultimately, the outcome is that Tommy Jr. gets the football helmet, so Kris has honored his promise.
At the end of the film, Susan refers to Fred Gailey as her uncle, which is not mentioned at any other point during it. During this time period, adult male family friends were often referred to as "Uncle". Adult female family friends were "Aunt". Addressing an adult by their first name would have been disrespectful. Using Mr. or Miss would have been too formal for the closeness felt for a family friend or in this case, a mother's potential husband.
One of the letters to Santa Claus delivered by the New York Post Office is postmarked Indianapolis, Indiana.
Letters are postmarked by the post office they are sent from, not where they are received. The letter would have been sent from Indianapolis, and somehow made its way to the New York dead letters office.
Letters are postmarked by the post office they are sent from, not where they are received. The letter would have been sent from Indianapolis, and somehow made its way to the New York dead letters office.
When Kris is tricked into getting into the car to be taken to Bellevue, the crowd of bystanders is obviously watching the filming.
The woman tells Kris that all the department stores are out of the toy fire truck her son wants. He directs her to a store that has them. A few scenes later Mr. Shellhammer's secretary goes in to his office to talk to him. Behind her is a toy fire truck, perhaps the one they are supposedly out of.
When Kris is at Doris's apartment for dinner, there are only 3 chairs at the table, with three place settings (one side of the table is against a window). There are four people in the apartment for dinner: Doris, Susan, Fred, and Kris.
Rowland H. Macy passed away in 1877, so there is no way he could have been affiliated with the store in the 1940s.
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.
Outside the courtroom, the shadow of a camera can be seen on the pillar as Kris walks down the hall.
After Kris is accused of being mentally ill but before his hearing occurs, newspaper articles are shown on the screen. The headlines say that he will have a hearing, which is correct. But the articles say that it has already occurred, and describe what happened in the courtroom. Yet that has not happened yet.
Kris claims that John Quincy Adams' Vice President was Daniel D. Tompkins. In fact, that was John C. Calhoun, while Tompkins had been Vice President under Adams' predecessor, James Monroe. The confusion arose because Adams was the 6th President whereas Tompkins was the 6th Vice President, some Presidents having had a different Vice President in each term, and one of the latter having served under 2 of the former.
During the trial Fred Gailey says that the US Post Office was founded on July 26, 1776. It actually was done so on July 26, 1775, by decree of the Second Continental Congress.
Mr. Shellhammer says he made his wife's martinis triple strength. A typical one is already pure alcohol. A "triple strength" version could only be one that is triple in size.
Kris switches between referring to Granville as a psychologist and psychiatrist, two completely different types of doctors.
Doris tells Shellhammer that she can see the parade from her apartment, when in fact hers is behind Fred's apartment, which faces the parade route. Not correct: She says she can see the parade from THE ROOF of her apartment.