Miracle On 34th Street

Synopsis: 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 fin
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family
Director(s): George Seaton
Production: 20th Century Fox
  Won 3 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 1 nomination.
 
IMDB:
7.9
Rotten Tomatoes:
96%
NOT RATED
Year:
1947
96 min
3,352 Views


You've got them mixed up.

You're making a mistake.

You're making a mistake

with the reindeer.

Tsk tsk tsk.

Would you mind stepping out

for a moment?

Open the door!

I'm sorry.

The store isn't open today.

I don't want

to buy anything...

and I'm sorry

to interrupt your work...

but I wanted to tell you

you're making a serious mistake.

- Huh?

- With the reindeer, I mean.

You've got Cupid

where Blitzen should be.

And Dasher should be

on my right-hand side.

He should, huh?

Yes. And another thing...

Donner's antlers have got

four points instead of three.

Still, I don't suppose anybody

would notice except myself.

No. I don't suppose so.

- Well, bye. Thanks.

- Not at all.

Glad to have helped you. Bye.

Yes.

Jingle bells,

jingle bells...

You're on float number three.

You're on the Pilgrim float.

You're on the pirate float.

You follow the van.

Mrs. Walker,

something's got to be done.

That three-men-in-a-tub float

isn't big enough.

We can get

the butcher and the baker...

I'm awfully sorry...

but I've got enough to do

to take care of the people.

I was hoping you could... George!

I beg your pardon, sir.

You seem to have got mixed up

with this whip of yours.

Allow me, will you?

It's quite simple, really.

- You don't mind if I show you?

- No, sir.

Now, then.

- See? It's all in the wrist.

- Is that so?

Yes, of course.

If you follow through.

Is that so?

It's just like

throwing a ball.

If you were to...

You've been drinking.

Well, it's cold.

A man's got to do something

to keep warm.

You ought

to be ashamed of yourself.

Don't you realize there are

thousands of children...

lining the streets

waiting to see you...

children who have been dreaming

of this moment for weeks?

You're a disgrace to

the tradition of Christmas...

and I refuse to have you

malign me in this fashion.

Disgusting.

Tell me, who's in charge

of this parade?

When you find out, tell me.

These pants are gonna fall off

in Columbus Circle.

I beg your pardon.

Who's in charge here?

Mrs. Walker.

There she is, down there.

- Thank you.

- You're welcome.

You two ought to be

over on 81st Street.

Mrs. Walker,

one of the men in your parade...

What are you doing

out of costume?

Get back and get dressed...

Oh, I'm terribly sorry.

I thought

you were our Santa Claus.

Your Santa Claus

is intoxicated.

- Oh, no!

- Yes. It's disgraceful.

How can you allow a man

to get into such a position?

Jingle bells, jingle bells...

Stop that!

What do you mean by drinking?

You know it's not allowed.

A man's got to do

something to keep warm.

I'll warm you.

I ought to take this cane...

Somebody, Julian,

get some black coffee...

plenty of it, too.

Yes, Mrs. Walker.

Black with a little cream.

Wake me up

when the parade starts.

Jingle bells, jingle bells

Jingle all the way

Shameful! Absolutely shameful!

Could you be Santa Claus?

Have you had any experience?

Oh, a little.

Oh, please.

You've got to help me out.

I am not in the habit

of substituting...

for spurious Santa Clauses.

- Oh, please.

- No, I...

Well, the children

mustn't be disappointed.

All right, I'll do it.

Oh, good. Thank you.

Come right this way.

Get that costume.

Wonderful!

He's the best we've ever had...

and he didn't need any padding.

What?

He didn't need padding.

Where did you find him?

I just turned round,

and there he was.

I'm glad you turned round.

Just think if Mr. Macy

had seen the other one!

Just think if Mr. Gimbel

had seen the other one.

You want to ride

in the motorcycle or a car?

No. I'm going home

and get in a hot tub...

and I might stay there

until next Thanksgiving.

You should see it.

You worked so hard.

If I want to, which I doubt...

I can see it from

the roof of my apartment.

That's right,

you live down the...

Mrs. Walker!

Susan!

Susan?

- Hello, Cleo.

- Hello, Mrs. Walker.

What a beauty.

Where's Susan?

She's watching the parade.

Where? With whom?

With that Mr. Gailey

in the front apartment.

Oh, yes.

I've been keeping

an eye on her.

She can see everything

from there.

That's the 50 yard line.

He's so very fond of Susan.

When he asked me,

I didn't think you'd mind.

Well, I guess it's all right.

I'll go on in a minute.

Looks like they're

having a little trouble...

with the baseball player.

He was a clown last year.

They just changed the head

and painted him different.

My mother told me.

He certainly is a giant,

isn't he?

Not really.

There are no giants, Mr. Gailey.

Maybe not now, Suzie...

but in olden days,

there were a lot of...

What about the giant

that Jack killed?

Jack? Jack who?

Jack...

Jack!

"Jack and the Beanstalk."

I never heard of that.

You must've heard that.

You've just forgotten.

It's a fairy tale.

Oh, one of those.

I don't know any.

Your mother and father

must have told you a fairy tale.

No. My mother thinks

they're silly.

I don't know whether my father

thinks they're silly or not.

I never met my father.

My father and mother were

divorced when I was a baby.

Well, that baseball player

looks like a giant to me.

People sometimes grow very big,

but that's abnormal.

I'll bet your mother

told you that, too.

Hello.

I'm Susan's mother.

Yes, I know.

Won't you come in?

Suzie's told me quite a lot

about you. I'm Fred Gailey.

Yes, I know.

Susan's told me quite

a lot about you, too.

- Hello, Mother!

- Hello, dear.

A cup of coffee?

You must be half frozen.

- Oh, don't bother.

- It's all ready.

In that case, thanks.

What do you think of my parade?

It's much better

than last year's.

Well, I hope

Mr. Macy agrees with you.

Sugar? Cream?

Both? Neither?

Just one sugar, please.

This is very kind of you,

Mr. Gailey.

Sit down.

I want to thank you

for being so kind to Susan.

Cleo tells me you took them

to the zoo yesterday.

That's right,

but I must confess.

It's part of a deep-dyed plot.

I'm fond of Suzie, very fond,

but I also wanted to meet you.

I read someplace the surest way

to meet the mother...

is to be kind to the child.

What a horrible trick.

It worked.

There goes Santa Claus.

Oh, don't even

mention the name.

He's much better

than last year's.

At least this one

doesn't wear glasses.

This one was

a last-minute substitute.

The one I hired I fired.

Why?

You remember

the janitor last New Year's?

Ohh, yes.

Well,

this one was much worse.

Oh.

I see she doesn't

believe in Santa Claus, either.

No Santa Claus,

no fairy tales...

no fantasies of any kind,

is that it?

That's right.

We should be realistic...

and completely truthful

with our children...

and not have them growing up

believing in...

a lot of legends and myths

like Santa Claus, for example.

I see.

That's the end.

The acrobats were good.

They ought to be

at those prices.

Thanks for the coffee.

And thank you

for inviting me in.

It was a pleasure, missy.

Mother, I was thinking...

we've got such

a big turkey for dinner...

and there are only two of us.

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George Seaton

George Seaton (April 17, 1911 – July 28, 1979) was an American screenwriter, playwright, film director and producer, and theatre director. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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    "Miracle On 34th Street" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/miracle_on_34th_street_13817>.

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