The Miracle on 34th Street was a TV special in 1955

 

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The 1947 Miracle on 34th Street is iconic, a holiday classic. And deservedly so. It's witty, heartwarming, with superb performances by Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle, with supporting actors that include Natalie Wood, Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Gene Lockhart, William Frawley, and Jack Albertson.

But there are others, and I want to discuss a 1955 TV version titled The Miracle on 34th Street. It's obscure but easily available. It's worth a viewing. It stars Thomas Mitchell as Kris Kringle and the cast includes Teresa Wright, Macdonald Carey, Sandy Descher, Hans Conreid, John Abbott, Whit Bissell and Dick Foran.

The Miracle on 34th Street would likely be forgotten today if not the archive of YouTube and other streaming websites. It's a brisk, lean 46-minute show, over before you know it. But it's a enjoyable near hour, a sort of homage cum remake of the 1947 classic.

Here are some key changes: Kris Kingle, played by Thomas Mitchell, does not get hired for the Macy's Parade because the other Santa is drunk. He's already the Macy's Santa. There is no character of Alfred, the teen janitor who Kris becomes a mentor to in the '47 film. Also, the very touching '47 film scene of Kris speaking Dutch to a young European orphan girl is omitted. However, Kris does advise shoppers to go to other stores, including Gimbels, if the deal is better there. And he has Descher's young Susan pull at his beard.

The omission of Alfred leads the plot with Mr. Sawyer, the unhappy Macy's psychologist, and his clash with Kris, in a different direction. Sawyer does interview Kris as part of his job, hates him and wants him fired. However, the episode where Kris knocks Sawyer over the head with his cane occurs at an assembly at Susan's' school, where Sawyer congratulates the students for not buying into supersition. During this scene, Kris, dressed in Santa garb, is -- unbeknownst to Sawyer -- behind him on the stage, mocking him.

The children can't help laughing and it's amusing for a while. Then, a flustered Sawyer berates adults who dress up as Santa. At this point, the scene takes a turn that today would seem very dark. Kris Kringle lifts his cane high and savagely brings it down on the unsuspecting Sawyer. This is a very harsh contrast to the '47 version, where a frustrated Kris sort of "pops" Sawyer on the head with his cane in his office. In the '47 version, it's clear Sawyer is maliciously feigning injury afterward.

However, this Kris Kringle really hits him hard, and frankly I think a month or two in the jail for assault might have been merited. This leads to a second point: Although Thomas Mitchell is not a bad Kris Kringle, unlike the more gentle Edmund Gwenn in the '47 version, the '54 version Kris Kingle is a bit of a looney. Mitchell's Kris Kringle occasionally has a mad look in his eyes, and he really gets angry. When Teresa Wright's Doris rushes after him to say he's not fired earlier in the film, the audience can see the deranged anger in Mitchell's eyes.

Neverthless, and happily I guess, Kris Kringle is of course exonorated by the judge. In another change from the '47 film, Doris calls the U.S. Post Office, suggesting they forward letters to Santa Claus to the court where Kris is being tried for his sanity.

One other little twist is a scene where MacDonald Carey's Fred Gailey has brought venison to a dinner with Kris, Doris, and little Susan. Doris suggests to Susan if she doesn't like venison, she'll make her eggs. Kris interjects, with a long face, that he would prefer eggs too, because well, venison being deer, he just couldn't eat that. It's a mildly amusing scene, worth a smile. 

The Miracle on 34th Street was an episode of The 20th Century Fox Hour. It's' not the only other version of Miracle on 34th Street. There was a radio version, another TV version in 1959, and two mediocre conventional movie remakes. One, a TV film, is from 1974 with Sebastian Cablot as Kris Kingle. A theatrical version in 1994 had Sir Richard Attenborough as Kris.

But none approach the classic 1947 version, which remains the version to see first and often. However, I think this 1955 TV show version is the second-best offering. And it fits within an hour, for quick viewing with the family. You can watch it here. The two clippings from The Los Angeles Times were unearthed by my friend, David Grudt.

-- Doug Gibson

Boris Karloff provides subtle chills in The Walking Dead, 1936

 

An excellent horror film to watch for Halloween season that more casual genre fans may not be familiar with is Warner Bros' 1936 chiller, "The Walking Dead," starring Boris Karloff. It was helmed by famed Hungarian director Michael Curtiz. Other chief cast members include Ricardo Cortez, Edmund Gwenn, Marguerite Churchill and Warren Hull.

There are no mindless zombies consuming human flesh in the lean mean 60-plus minute film. Karloff plays a down-on-his-luck musician ex-con in bad need of a job. He spent time in prison after being sentenced harshly by a stern judge.

This stern judge has just sentenced a corrupt politician to 10 years in prison. Gangsters who control most of the crime in the city have decided the judge needs to be murdered. Since Elmann was sentenced by the judge they want to kill him. The gangsters set Elmann up to take the fall for the judge's murder. Elmann is in a car with one of the gangster when the judge is murdered. He's there thinking he'll get a job, but he winds up charged with the murder.

Ellman's lawyer turns out to be a Mr, Nolan (Cortez) who is part of the criminal gang. Cortez gives a feeble effort at trial, resulting in Elmann's conviction and death sentence.

Ellman claimed during trial that a man and a woman were at the scene the night of the murder and can be his alibi that he did not kill the judge. That's true. They are Nancy (Churchill) and Jimmy (Hull). They work as medical assistants to Dr. Evan Beaumont (Gwenn), who is working on efforts to revive the dead. Threatened by gangsters the night the judge was murdered, Nancy and Jimmy attend the trial, but rather disgracefully never corroborate Ellman's claims.

Just before his appointed time of the execution, the pair finally reveal what they know to lawyer Nolan. However, he intentionally slowwalks getting the information to authorities and Elmann is executed.

At this point, Dr. Beaumont requests that he be allowed to try go revive Elmann's body, restoring life. Through a type of electricity procedure and a mechanized "heart," Elmann is revived. This is not done in secret. The resuscitation is big news as is the late-breaking news that Ellman is innocent. In fact, Nolan procures a $500,000 settlement for Elmann.

Karloff's Ellman is very weak and still being treated. However, he expresses disgust and anger when he sees Nolan, ordering him out of the hospital. At a larger gathering, Karloff displays disgust at Elmann's accomplices, all of whom are gang members, including the actual killer. This prompts the district attorney, (Henry O'Neill) to lay groundwork to investigate Nolan and his confederates.

At this point Karloff begins to make nocturnal visits to the gangsters, escaping the hospital. He is clearly getting weaker, and his hair has white streaks in it. He comes as a type of avenging angel, asking each gangster why they did what they did, telling them they cannot avoid responsibility.

The gangsters' reactions are a mixture of fear and panic. Most seem unable to actually shoot the unarmed Ellman, and they eventually die through a panicked accident while backing up, or through a heart attack. 

Nolan and the remaining gangsters eventually try to kill off Karloff. There is a satisfatory conclusion, set in large part at a cemetery that Elmann feels comfortable in.

This film has supernatural elements. It's strongly hinted that Karloff learned who the guilty persons were in death, during the period before he returned to life. Karloff gives a strong, understated performance, of a man full of outrage but not intending to kill his past tormenters. In fact, Elmann looks perplexed and concerned when he sees his tormenters' panicked, surprising deaths.

Cortez is an excellent actor, who was a big star then. His resume includes an early series of Perry Mason films. Gwenn, who gained iconic fame as Kris Kingle in "Miracle on 34th Street," plays a kindly "mad doctor" well. Churchill was very good in "Dracula's Daughter" but both she and Hull are kind of bland in this movie.

Curtiz's direction is strong. He moves the plot smoothly and keeps the horror from going over the top. There's no need to be gory. The creepy parts, the ones viewers remember, are the scenes of a forbidding, aging Karloff walking slowly to those who betrayed him, and observing the antagonists' panicked reactions.

This was Curtiz's third and final Warner Bros' horror film. Others were "Mystery of the Wax Museum" and "Doctor X," both superb pre-code films. "The Walking Dead" is early non-precode, and I suspect a lot of explicit scenes were cut. But I think in this case, a more subtle touch likely improved the film. Its success was solely in Karloff's hands, and he delivers a great performance.

- Doug Gibson

I want to give cult film expert Buddy Barnett credit for this paragraph. Interested persons can read a (short) "novelization" of "The Walking Dead" in the June 1936 edition of Movie Action Magazine. It's a fascinating time-capsule read. The link is here at the Internet Archive. You have to scroll to that month's issue.

Them! The first and best of the 50s giant bug movies

By Steve D. Stones

Them is 1950s sci-fi/horror at its best. The film plays on the fears of the atomic age and atomic testing. It's surprising that in today's digital age, the film has not been remade with digital giant ants. A film like Them is a masterpiece for its time, and likely would not hold up well as a remake in our age of global terrorism and the Internet.

A New Mexico state trooper, played by veteran actor James Whitmore, encounters a six year old girl wandering aimlessly through the desert. The girl is in complete shock, and will not reveal how or why she ended up in the desert. Whitmore discovers that the little girl's family trailer was attacked and destroyed during the night by something large. Only the little girl survived the attack.

The FBI is called in to help solve the mystery. In the meantime, a store owner is attacked and killed not far from where the trailer was destroyed. It appears that whatever attacked the store was looking for sugar. Whitmore's trooper companion is also killed in the attack.

FBI agent James Arness, who played Matt Dillon on TV's Gunsmoke, becomes impatient in not being able to identify what the plaster casted print taken from the destroyed trailer scene is. A father-daughter team of entomologists - Edmund Gwenn and Joan Weldon, are called in to identify the print. The two have a good idea of what the print is, but keep their findings carefully guarded until they know for sure.

While visiting a spot near the destroyed family trailer - Arness, Whitmore, Gwenn and Weldon are confronted by a large ant. This confirms Gwenn's theory that atomic testing done in the desert before the ending of World War II has turned ants into giants.

Gwenn and Weldon discover the nest of the giant ants in the desert and order that the police and military destroy it with fire. Weldon enters the burned out nest with Arness and Whitmore - only to discover that two winged queen ants and their consorts have escaped.

After a number of reports of giant ant sightings - Arness, Gwenn, Weldon and Whitmore track the two escaped queen ants and their consorts to a nest in the underground sewer system of Los Angeles. The film ends with the military once again burning up the discovered nest.

Part of the effectiveness of Them is in not showing the giants ants very often, but implying their presence in a number of scenes. Keeping in mind that this is low budget film making at its finest - implying the presence of the giant ants helps to build the tension in a number of scenes.

Actor Edmund Gwenn is superbly cast as a grouchy old scientist who is level headed and strikes down the military whenever their suggestions jeopardize catching the giant ants. Arness is also convincing as the simple simon FBI agent who is anxious to solve the case quickly. Weldon provides window dressing for the male audience, but also plays a convincing role.

A number of giant insect films were soon to follow after the premiere of Them in 1954 - such as: The Deadly Mantis (1957), Tarantula (1955), The Black Scorpion (1957) and Monster From Green Hell (1957). Them remains the best of this sci-fi sub-genre. Happy viewing!