Miracle On 34th Street (1947 DVD-Video Set)
Picture:
D (colorized)/C+ (black & white)
Sound: C+ Extras: B- Film: B-
In the
debate of what the best holiday (explicitly Christmas if you choose) film of
all time, the choice only in recent years has been Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life, though I
previously argued at the following link that the British A Christmas Carol is the best overall for a classic holiday film:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1541/A+Christmas+Carol+(1951,+VCI)
So as far
as American films are concerned, what is the film that can take on Capra’s
classic? The one that was THE Christmas film before the 1980s,
George Seaton’s original 1947 Miracle On
34th Street. Even after
being recently remade and an older TV version suddenly surfacing again, nothing
is like the classic version. Fox has
issued a new DVD set of the film with two versions, but none of this has to do
with missing footage.
Instead,
the old, tired, lame, sickening, shockingly ugly and bad colorized version is included
as DVD 1, while the REAL version in
its original black and white is one DVD 2 with far more extras. The story of a man who comes to town, sees
the decline of Christmas and claims he is Kris Kringle himself is an
interesting idea enough. To have
authorities want him tried for being nuts and delusional and go to court over
it seems as crazy as… the way the holiday is being miscelebrated.
In this
is the positive corporate competition between Gimbels and Macys, the two top
department stores around. To their
credit, both companies allowed their names to be used in the film, even if
Macys is the only survivor 60 years later, as Gimbels folded a while ago. Natalie Wood plays the young pessimist whose
mother (the great Catherine O’Hara) is the Macy’s executive who hired “Kris” in
the first place. A trial ensues.
Unlike
the Capra film where the sorry state of an S&L makes everyone behave
against their own economic interest for what we could say is very shaky
ideological reasons (with no simple explanation, no matter what airhead
explanation you get), this a film where the U.S. is healthy economically, made
things people wanted to buy, was educated, has heart and can even afford
spirit. No illicit appeals to pit or
distraction here, which is another key point.
None of the emotions here are phony or formula, but earned.
John
Payne is the lawyer who defends “Kris” and Edmund Gwenn won an Academy Award
from playing the man who claims to be Santa Claus. So why did the film get eclipsed by Capra’s
film? Politics and a sudden period
(early 1980s to early 1990s) when the copyright “temporarily expired” since
Capra “forgot” to renew it. Fox always
held fast to their classic and its message that in a free society, we have the
right to our dreams and beliefs at any age is as powerful as ever. Back in 1947, it struck a major chord,
becoming a hit despite a June release!
Also at
that time, the original Axis of Evil was conquered and The Cold War was on the
rise against a Communism that was far, far worse than “Godless” was that no
kind of belief (even in love or emotion, as if the latter was not human nature)
was allowable. Today, with Political
Correctness the 21st Century rebirth of that scourge and the Extreme
Right hijacking anything Christian or religious, this film has suddenly become
more relevant that ever before. No
wonder it is getting a revived reputation; it is the film that knows best about
the true meaning of Christmas, down to happiness, wealth, generosity of gifts
and spirit. Nice to see the original is
making a comeback!
The 1.33
X 1 image on the black and white version is a little problematic in parts, but
looks good, though it will need some work for a Blu-ray release. The sound on this version is a Dolby Digital
5.1 mix that spreads the sound out as much as can be expected for a film with
limited fidelity. Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
is on both versions, but there is no different, with Cyril Mockridge’s music
score a plus. Of course, the colorized
version looks like an older plastering job, where the terrific work of
cinematographers Lloyd Ahern and Charles Clarke shot. Between the work capturing the parade and the
interesting ways the film shoots the department stores, it makes for a palpable
film experience.
The
colorization wears the detail down, plasters color that looks like talcum power
colored in flat colors that remind one of death, then it is painted on the
people, but makes them look more like zombies.
It is never consistent, good looking or right. Depth is also cut down. You can skip this disc or as a gag, hang it
as a Christmas Tree ornament.
Extras
include a partial commentary track with Maureen O’Hara with audio form another
source, a look at the film from the AMC Network show Hollywood Backstory, Movietone
News: Hollywood Spotlight, Promotional Short, The 20th Century Fox Hour of
Stars from 1959: Miracle on 34th Street, the TV version and Macy's Thanksgiving
Day Parade: Floating in History featurette.
A good set of extras for a film whose last word has yet been spoken.
- Nicholas Sheffo
