See, I'm not a complete holiday cynic!
Because this movie is for the believers. The people who still think there can be miracles, and believe in magic, and get a thrill from twinkle lights and new-fallen snow.
This 1947 classic hinges on faith, love, and the wisdom of simple things. And it has, like a lot of post-WWII movies, the idea that maybe children have the right idea about how the world should be, because adults have just mucked it up.
Speaking of mucking things up, I do have to point out that you should either watch the *original,* black-and-white version of this movie, or don't watch it at all. Ted Turner will burn in the special hell for putting his crayons on this film. Colorized movies .... grrrrr ....
Maureen O'Hara gets to play a no-nonsense working single mother 30 years before they were chic, and Natalie Wood handles the key role of Susan with gravity and sweetness. But it's Edmund Gwenn who steals the show (and won a much-deserved Oscar) as Kris Kringle. Without his gentle performance full of humor and charm, "Miracle" would have been quickly-forgotten fluff.
Weird trivia: William Frawley (Fred on "I Love Lucy") has small roles in both this and "It's a Wonderful Life," probably the two best-known holiday films ever.
I believe ... I believe. It's silly, but I believe.
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