Miracle on 34th Street Reviews & Ratings - IMDb IMDb 112 out of 113 people found the following review useful: Sweet movie not without social comment from San Jose, CA 15 September 2004 This is certainly a lovely warmhearted movie, but since other reviewers have described the plot in detail, I'll move on to other topics. I love movies like this for the insight they provide into the customs of a lost era. Watch the clothing - everybody is so dressed up! - women in dresses, gloves, and hats, men in hats and suits. Notice that when O'Hara enters a room filled with Macy's executives, even though they are the bosses and she is lower management, they all stand up instantly. The social satire, most on display in the courtroom scenes, also is very 1940s. Apparently audiences of that era took a kind of genial corruption in the judicial system in stride. Business leaders, like "Mr. Macy" were expected to be sharp and profit-oriented, but also decent people like the rest of us. It's a much more nuanced view than the "businessman as criminal villain" so common in today's movies.

The character played by Maureen O'Hara probably needs explanation for modern viewers. Late 1940s audiences knew that the social and economic situation of a divorced working woman with a child was much more precarious than it is now. Divorce was still somewhat shocking - this is brought out neatly in the movie when her would-be lover does a double take when he learns from her daughter about the divorce - he probably had assumed she was a war widow. Divorced moms were still rare in the middle classes. Society universally agreed that women should stay home to raise their children. Economically, women in management positions were still very rare, couldn't expect promotion, and were last hired, first fired. I think O'Hara's performance brings out these qualities in a way that the audience of the 1940s would have understood easily. The character's stiffness, fear of losing control, and anxiety about her job make a great deal of sense. It would have been nice to see a few scenes showing her loosening up, perhaps at dinner with her boyfriend; no doubt those got left on the cutting room floor. I really like the scene where Santa talks to the little Dutch orphan.

First, this scene also must have resonated with the audience; in 1947 the western European countries had only started to recover from World War II, and probably many Americans were familiar with the idea of adopting a war orphan, just as many sent CARE packages. Second, by making Santa fluent in Dutch, the writer cleverly left the viewer thinking that hey, he might really be Santa Claus (isn't Santa Claus fluent in all languages)? Some reviewers don't like the acting and think that modern actors are "better". I think the older actors aren't better or worse, just different. The audiences of the 1940s expected a certain style of acting, and the directors and actors gave that to them. Then as now, Hollywood paid top dollar and got very talented people, but like all of us they were shaped by their own time and place, more particularly the requirement to make movies that audiences would like. Move Maureen O'Hara to 2004, or Tom Cruise to 1947, and you'd see them acting in the style of that decade. Was the above review useful to you?

61 out of 69 people found the following review useful: Classic holiday fare Author: Boyo-2 21 November 2001 Its very easy to see why this movie won the Oscar for Screenplay that year. Its very intelligent and has a lot to say about several topics - how to raise a child, how a person of questionable sanity gets treated, how greedy businessmen are, how politics play out in a courtroom..and what to do with all that damn mail addressed to Santa Claus! Its also very mature in some ways - Doris (Maureen O'Hara) is divorced and the mother of Susie (Natalie Wood). Doris has raised Susie to be very practical and to think for herself, but she neglected to teach Susie one thing - how to be a child, when you ARE a child. Enter Mr. Gayley (John Payne), a struggling lawyer who befriends Susie as a way to get to know her Mom better. Doris works at Macy's and is organizing their Thanksgiving Day Parade, when the Santa they've hired is intoxicated. In a pinch they hire the REAL Kris Kringle to appear in the parade.

He ends up being such a big hit that he gets hired to work at Macy's also. He is not the traditional employee, however, and this comes to light when he sends a customer (the venerable Thelma Ritter) to ANOTHER STORE! Schoenfeld's, he says, has what she's looking for. Then he is overheard, by the store manager no less, sending another customer to GIMBELS! Don't want to give away any more, but the movie is touching, dramatic and hysterical - Doris on the phone with her co-workers' wife, who has been given too much liquor, is worth a million bucks alone. Whenever I want to make my sister laugh, I do a pretty decent imitation of her saying "HELLO?" Also, I can sing the song Kris sings to the girl from Rotterdam..the girl who is so thrilled that Kris can communicate with her in her language. Susie overhearing this is beginning to think that Kris might be the real thing, and she's a pretty hard nut to crack, for a little kid.

See it, own it, memorize it..and pity the 31 souls in 'User Ratings' who gave this a '1', which is ridiculous but it takes all kinds I guess. Was the above review useful to you? 54 out of 57 people found the following review useful: Santa is in New York! from Fairview, Oregon 9 December 2003 The movie starts out in a festive atmosphere. It is Thanksgiving and the employees of Macy's department store are busy with preparations for the annual Thanksgiving day parade. Doris. Walker (Maureen O'Hare) is in charge of the parade. She anxiously hires Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) to replace the man she hired to play Santa Claus when she discovers the original Santa is too intoxicated to even get on the float. Kris does such a good job that Mrs. Walker asks him to stay on in the role and be the department store's Santa. She soon has serious doubts about her decision when she discovers that her new Santa really believes he is Santa Claus. Mrs. Walker is working, single mother, who works for Macy's Department Store in New York City. Natalie Wood plays her daughter, Susan.

As the result of a failed Marriage, Doris raises her daughter to accept reality. There is no room for fantasy or make believe in her life. Susan is a quiet, child who acts more like a grown up than a 6 year old. She has difficulty using her imagination, and has become just as skeptical as her mother. Since Kris, believes that "the important thing is to make children happy," winning the affection of Susan and her mother is his main objective. Whether or not Kris is the real Santa Claus, there is no doubt that he seem to have an influence on almost everyone he meets--except for Macy's staff psychologist .Mr. Sawyer believes that Kris is delusional, and has him committed to thrown into a mental institution. In order to get out, Kris must face a court hearing, where not only is his sanity questioned, but the state of New York will decide if there really is a Santa Claus. Fred Gailey (played by John Payne) a neighbor of Doris Susan Walker agrees to represent Kris.

The predictable end to the story is that Fred and Doris become attracted to each other, and as Fred works hard to secure Kris' freedom, Doris finds herself not only believing in Kris, but also in believing in fantasy. Maureen O'Hara portrays Doris Walker with poise and sophistication. Although the movie is over 55 years old, the idea of a single working mom trying to raise her daughter after a bitter divorce, tells a story that is relevant by today's standards. Natalie Wood does such a good job at playing as the bright six year old, Susan, that you can almost imagine her going straight from being a baby to being an adult. John Payne, as Fred Gailey, predictably plays the handsome attorney who falls in love with Mrs. Walker. Even though it seems a bit unbelievable, this movie is all about fantasy, so we'll allow a bit of romance. Finally, Edmund Gwenn's portrayal of Santa Claus is so believable, that you almost believe that truly is the jolly old elf himself! This reviewer would give the movie a 5 out of 5 rating. It is a Christmas classic that will be remembered for years to come as one of the best Christmas movies ever filmed.

The message of the movie is not about the real meaning of Christmas, nor is it about the commercialism that has overshadowed the holiday for years. The message of the movie is that make believe and fantasy play an important role in our live. Without them we would have no basis for our hopes and dreams Was the above review useful to you? 54 out of 61 people found the following review useful: A Visit From St. Nicholas from brighton, ma 14 November 2001 The great Edmund Gwenn shines as Kris Kringle, an elderly, eccentric man who may or may not be the real Santa Claus. Little Natalie Wood thinks he is, though, and that's all that matters. This movie, written by Valentine Davies, has become, along with It's a Wonderful Life, a Christmas classic, and deservedly so. It is not, I imagine, in the same league as the Capra film (what is?), but it's an awfully good little movie in its own right; and while it presents its characters and issues pleasingly it does not push the envelope too much in any one direction, as one can respond to its whimsical little story any way one pleases.

Like so many films of the immediate postwar period it stresses the faith and wisdom of small children (as,--literally--opposed to adults); and its message is that children are perhaps wiser than we think. Considering the mess that grownups had made of the world in the previous two decades it must have been difficult for movie audiences of the time to disagree. Indeed, much of the mood of the postwar era was based at least partly on this premise, as children became central to our culture as never before. Their whims and wishes became paramount. Perhaps, in the end, too much so. One can see the start of all this in Miracle On 34th Street, whose gentle message still rings true today, every year, in the waning days of December. Was the above review useful to you? 34 out of 36 people found the following review useful: "You'd Better Watch Out, You'd Better Not Cry.................." from Buffalo, New York 22 October 2007 ...............Santa Claus has come to town. Or at least that's what a gentlemen appropriately named Kristopher Kringle played by Edmund Gwenn complete with full white beard is claiming.

He makes his appearance at the Thanksgiving Day Parade as sponsored by R.H. Macy's Department Store and finds the Santa hired for the occasion, Percy Helton, full of a little too much Christmas cheer already. In charge of the parade is one of Macy's middle level executives, Maureen O'Hara, who fires Helton and hires Gwenn right then and there. Gwenn's obvious sincerity makes him an ideal Santa Claus for Macy's and for us. He spreads the real meaning of Christmas around even has Macy's declaring a holiday truce with its rival Gimbel's. That's a part of Miracle on 34th Street that might be lost to viewers today. Gimbel's was Macy's big department store rival and it's flagship store in New York stood across 34th Street at the time. Gives a meaning to the title that is lost on today's audience. But wiser and more sophisticated folks like the majority of us know there ain't no such thing as Santa Claus. Even Maureen O'Hara knows that and imparts it to her daughter Natalie Wood. Gwenn's just a kind old man in a white beard.

But when his sanity is questioned, Gwenn's belief becomes a matter for the courts where Gwenn is ably defended by O'Hara's boyfriend, lawyer John Payne. Like that other holiday classic It's A Wonderful Life, Christmas is never complete without seeing Miracle on 34th Street. Though New York has changed considerably since 1947 the year I made my earthly debut, the film has lost absolutely none of its charm. Edmund Gwenn won the Best Supporting Actor of 1947 and in doing so, beat out his best friend, Finlay Currie, who was up that year for playing Magwitch in Great Expectations. The two had met in stock companies in their native Scotland and were friends right up to when Gwenn passed away in 1959. The Oscar was the high point of his career. Maureen O'Hara in her memoirs says that Miracle on 34th Street holds a special place in her affections. In fact until Gwenn died, she had hopes of doing some kind of sequel.

She bonded on stage with young Natalie Wood who later played her daughter in Father Was A Fullback also and kept in contact with her right up to her death in 1981. Maureen also had a deep affection for John Payne who she made four films with and says was one of the nicest men in the world. One story she related was on the set of another film they made, Payne was served with divorce papers right on the set from his then wife, Anne Shirley. She said he broke down and cried like a baby. If it weren't for the fact she was married, she said she definitely could have gotten something going with Payne. In the supporting cast note the presence of one grinch in the person of Porter Hall who played one of his patented nasty little meanies. His meddling and general misanthropy cause Gwenn to have that trial in the first place. Look for a bit role from Jack Albertson as the postal employee who inadvertently saves the day. Also making her film debut is Thelma Ritter as the mother of a child looking to meet Santa Claus, the one official Santa Claus, courtesy of Macy's Department Store.

Although Miracle on 34th Street has been remade several times over the years, this one is the genuine article. As genuine as the fact that Macy's has the official Santa Claus as certified by a higher authority. One thing has always puzzled me though. How long did it take Edmund Gwenn to grow that beard for the part? Was the above review useful to you? 32 out of 34 people found the following review useful: The Genuine Article, Still A Miracle from San Francisco, CA USA 25 December 2001 There's a "legend" connected with this film, one which has recently gained new life via AMC: Supposedly, upon completion of principle filmmaking, 1947's "Miracle On 34th Street" then had to be submitted to the heads of Macy's and Gimble's department stores who -- had either man withheld approval -- could have cost 20th Century Fox a small fortune in rewrites and reshootings.

Frankly, in view of the fact that much of "Miracle" had already been shot on location in Macy's New York City store (to say nothing of the fact that studio heads of that era -- or any era, for that matter -- were notoriously prone not to take such financial risks), this "legend" is likely just so much "hype," otherwise known as "nonsense." Thankfully, this is the only trace of phoniness attached to this jewel of a movie. "Miracle On 34th Street" is just that, in every sense of the word: a miracle. Take a perfectly-crafted, thoughtful screenplay. Add an impeccable cast (from top-to-bottom, by the way; catch, just as one example, Thelma Ritter's uncredited turn as "Peter's Mother"). Throw into this mix an on-location "shoot" (along with Macy's, there's the store's actual 1946 Thanksgiving Parade, footage in a post office facility and a courthouse) which gives this film a nice sense of verisimilitude . . .

just in case you're not already prepared (courtesy of Edmund Gwenn, in a totally-deserved Oscar-winning performance) to recapture your belief in Santa Claus. "Miracle On 34th Street" is many things: a celebration of the Christmas spirit, a heartfelt plea against the "over-commercialism" (even in 1947)of Christmas, an examination of faith itself . . . just to name a few. It works on every level. Every bit as well today, 54 years after its initial release, as then. Don't waste your time with the remakes -- both on TV as well as theatrical productions (and the less said about an abortive 1963 Broadway musical adaptation, "Here's Love," the better.) Go for the original film. Go for the genuine article. Again and again and again. Was the above review useful to you? 21 out of 25 people found the following review useful: Holiday Combination That Works Well from Ohio 8 December 2004 Still among the most worthwhile of the familiar holiday movies, this classic version of "Miracle on 34th Street" has a combination of cast, story, and production that works well.

Maureen O'Hara, young Natalie Wood, and Edmund Gwenn would probably have carried it pretty well by themselves, and they are joined by a very good supporting cast. The screenplay is nicely done, bringing out the fantasy elements of the story without letting it become trite. Gwenn, who played many solid character roles, gets the chance here to play a role for which he was ideally suited, and it works very well. O'Hara and Wood make a good pair to balance him out. The supporting cast gets some very good moments of their own, especially Gene Lockhart and William Frawley, whose scenes are entertaining while also offering some occasionally pointed commentary. The style of the production is well-suited to the material, offering an innocently upbeat story without overdoing it on sentimentality. For all that this style of the production and acting are out of fashion, they are able to capture a theme like this in a worthwhile way that is simply not possible with the kind of false "sophistication" that permeates so many present-day movies. That's not to say that this is some kind of masterpiece, which it is not and did not try to be.

Instead, it's a light, enjoyable, positive movie that does make a worthwhile point or two. That kind of feature will always find an appreciative audience somewhere. Was the above review useful to you? 24 out of 31 people found the following review useful: Edmund Gwenn as Santa: a deserving Oscar winner from las vegas, nv 22 November 2001 A perfectly-cast Christmas confection that surpasses all expectations and really does make viewers laugh and tear up. Corny? Yes. Overacted? In some scenes, yes. Dated? Perhaps. But the message of belief, ultimately, is timeless and the silvery black and white cinematography is wonderful. And yes, there's Edmund Gwenn as the department store Santa who really is. A most deserving recipient of the Supporting Actor Oscar, Gwenn seems like an incredibly nice man--maybe because he never has to force kindliness; more than that, he has an innate happiness and twinkle that comes from within. He truly glows in this part. Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Thelma Ritter (in a wonderful bit) and precocious Natalie Wood are also excellent in this classic fairy tale.

It is a film without artifice. It glows, too. **** from **** Was the above review useful to you? 19 out of 25 people found the following review useful: It makes you want belive that Santa Claus really exists from Troutdale, OR 8 December 2003 Miracle On 34Th Street was a great Christmas movie. The major conflict of the movie was whether or not Santa Claus really existed. The movie begins with Kris Cringle (Edmund Gwen) walking by a store with a man setting up a display of reindeer and notices that they are not in order. Kris tells the man politely how to fix them in the right positions, but the man gives him a strange look and goes back to work. Kris Cringle believes himself to be Santa Claus although most everyone else thinks he is crazy. Even little Susan (Natalie Wood) thinks he is a fake and doesn't believe in any fairytales'. Her mother, Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara), taught her that to believe in fairytales' is childish and impractical.

Kris is later made a part of the Macy's parade when the Santa Claus that was supposed to be in the parade is found drunk. When asked if he had ever had any experience, Kris replied, `Many times.' Doris makes him the department store Santa Claus at Macy's where he tells many people that he is the real Santa Claus. As more people find out about Kris Cringle calling himself Santa Claus', they get upset saying that no such person really exists. Many people took it more literally and said that it would be impossible for reindeer to fly or for anyone to live in the North Pole. He is forced to take a mental examination and the doctor convinces Doris that Kris is mentally ill after he gets in a fight. Kris is arrested and taken to court and his lawyer is Mr. Gailey who starts to believe, along with Doris and Susan, the he actually is Santa Claus. I thought that this was a really good holiday movie that focus on something that all of us as little kids went through- believing or not believing in Santa Claus. It even feels like I should believe in Santa after watching it. I thought that Edmund Gwen was a really good actor and perfect for his part.

He played his role very innocently, which made him very believable as Santa Claus. Natalie Wood was a great actress who played very well the typical role of the cynical child. The acting and the plot was very well written. It was a very innocent movie that is entertaining for all types of audiences. Was the above review useful to you? 17 out of 22 people found the following review useful: Feel Good Movie from Oregon 11 December 2003 It's amazing to me when one single movie can brighten your spirits, Miracle On 34th Street is one such movie that has the ability to do just that. A viewer can't help but to wear a smile after watching, which is what makes for a great film. There was nothing bad about this film at all. The acting and the sets were very good. And the whole spirit of Christmas shone throughout the entire movie. Like I said above, that acting in this movie was superb. Edmund Gwenn playing the role of Kris Kringle was marvelous. He seemed to be happy and jolly throughout the whole movie, all the qualities one thinks of when thinking about Santa, Edmund Gwenn embodied.

He even made a believer out of me, well, not really, but close. Natalie Wood as Susan Walker had so much talent for someone her age. The emotion that she put into her role was so great that I kept forgetting that she was only a child. As for the sets, all of them were well done, but the set that stood out the most was definitely the courtroom scene. The detail that went into the making of that set was so good, it surpassed all the other sets in the movie by far. Personally, I love Christmas movies and am really critical of what ones are good and what ones I'd have rather gouged my eyes out than have to watch. Luckily, Miracle On 34th Street was not one of those movies. The spirit of Christmas was portrayed really well, this was one movie that one couldn't help but feel warm and toasty after viewing. What is probably one of the greatest things about this movie is that it is one that the whole family can enjoy, and more importantly enjoy together. On a scale of 1- 10, Miracle On 34th Street is undeniably a 9, one movie that I wouldn't mind watching over and over again.

Was the above review useful to you? Page 1 of 16: Edmund Gwenn - Biography - IMDb Edmund Gwenn Jump to: Overview (5) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (1) | Trivia (8) | Personal Quotes (1) Overview (5) 5' 5" (1.65 m) Mini Bio (1) There are very few character actors from the 1930s, '40s or '50s who rose to the rank of stardom. Only a rare man or woman reached the level of renown and admiration, and had enough audience appeal, to be the first name in a cast's billing, a name that got marquee posting. Charles Coburn comes to mind, but there aren't many others. However, one who made it was Edmund Gwenn. Gwenn was born Edmund Kellaway in Wandsworth, London, on September 26, 1877. He was the oldest boy in the family, which at that time meant he was the only one who really mattered. His father was a British civil servant, and he groomed Edmund to take a position of power in the Empire.

However, early on, the boy had a mind of his own. For a while, his inclination was to go to sea, but that ended when one of his forebear's in the Queen's Navy was court-martialed for exceeding his "wine bill". In addition to that, Edmund had poor eyesight and perhaps most importantly, he was his mother's darling, and she kept having visions of shipwrecks and desert island strandings. As for the civil service, to the boy it seemed like a "continent of unexplored boredom". He attended St. Olaf's College and would attend King's College in London as well. Surprisingly, he excelled at rugby and amateur boxing. Meanwhile, he developed a strong inclination to the stage, partly because of his admiration for the great English actor, Henry Irving . A major roadblock to that ambition, however, was his father, who, at that time, was stationed in Ireland.

When Edmund broke the news to his father that he had chosen acting as a career, there followed "a scene without parallel in Victorian melodrama." His father called the theatre "that sink of iniquity." He predicted that, if Edmund went into theatre, he would end up in the gutter, and then literally "showed him the door." Years later his father would admit he had been wrong, but that didn't help the young man during an all-night crossing from Dublin to England during which he had time to reflect. He was penniless. His experience consisted of a few performances in amateur productions, and he knew that if he failed, there was no going back home. However, in 1895, at the age of eighteen, he made his first appearance on the English stage with a group of amateurs just turned professional, playing two roles, "Dodo Twinkle" and "Damper", in "Rogue and Vagabond". For a long time afterward, he refused to go on stage without a false beard or some other disguise, fearing someone would recognize him and tell his father (it's a bit ironic, by the way, that Edmund's younger brother Arthur would also become an actor using the name of Arthur Chesney ).

During the next few years, roles were hard to come by but, by 1899, he made his first appearance on the West End in London in "A Jealous Mistake". This was followed by ten years in the hinterlands acting with stock and touring companies, gradually working his way up from small parts to juicier roles. While with Edmund Tearle's Repertory Company, which toured the provinces, he played a different role each night. It was excellent training, in that he acted in everything from William Shakespeare to old melodrama. About this time, he married Minnie Terry, niece of the more famous actress Ellen Terry , a marriage that evidently was short-lived. Most sources list it as beginning and ending in 1901, perhaps only for a matter of days or even hours. From that point, Gwenn would remain a bachelor for the rest of his life. He seems to have preferred not going into any details about the marriage and divorce, and Minnie Terry, who outlived Gwenn, apparently never mentioned what happened, at least not publicly. That same year, however, he went to Australia and acted there for three years, not returning to London until 1904.

There, he took a small part in "In the Hospital", which led to his receiving a postcard from George Bernard Shaw , offering him a leading role as "Straker", the Cockney chauffeur, in "Man and Superman". Gwenn accepted (by this time he was Edmund Gwenn) and the play was a success. Shaw became a sort of professional godfather for him. He appeared in "John Bull's Island", "Major Barbara", "You Never Can Tell", "Captain Brassbound's Conversion" and "The Devil's Disciple", all by Shaw. He spent three years in Shaw's company, years which he called "the happiest I've ever had in the theatre". From 1908 until 1915, he performed in new plays by noted playwrights of the time, including John Masefield 's "The Campden Wonder", 'John Galsworthy''s "Justice" and "The Skin Game", J.M. Barrie 's "What Every Woman Knows" and "The Twelve Pound Look", as well as Henrik Ibsen 's "The Wild Duck" and Harley Granville-Barker 's "The Voysey Inheritance".

By this time, World War I had started and Gwenn, despite his poor eyesight, was inducted into the British Army. Most of his time during "The Great War" was spent drawing supplies up to the front lines, while under fire. He was so successful at this task that, after a year as a private, he received a steady stream of promotions until eventually becoming a captain. After the War, he returned to the stage and, in 1921, made his first appearance in the US in "A Voice from the Minaret" and "Fedora". He would return to America in 1928 to replace his friend, Dennis Eadie , who had died while in rehearsal for "The House of Arrows", but for most of this time, he was in England doing more stage roles and two dozen British films. His first appearance on screen was in a British short, The Real Thing at Last (1916) in 1916, while he was still in the army. His next film roles were in Shaw's How He Lied to Her Husband (1931) and J.B. Priestley 's The Good Companions (1933).

He was also in Unmarried (1920) in 1920 and a silent version of "The Skin Game" ( The Skin Game (1921)) as "Hornblower", a role he would reprise in 1931 for a talking version ( The Skin Game (1931)) directed by Alfred Hitchcock . From then on, Gwenn was to work steadily until the end of his life. He appeared in English stage plays and films, eventually doing more and more on Broadway and in Hollywood. For example, he played the amiable counterfeiter in "Laburnum Grove" in 1933 (later to become the film Laburnum Grove (1936) in which he would star) and then with the entire British company brought it to New York. He was also a huge success in "The Wookey" in 1942, playing a Cockney tugboat captain. That same year, he appeared as "Chebutykin" in Anton Chekhov 's "The Three Sisters", with Katharine Cornell , Ruth Gordon and Judith Anderson .

In such illustrious company, Gwenn was hailed by critics as "magnificent" and "superlatively good". In 1935, RKO summoned him to Hollywood to portray Katharine Hepburn 's father in Sylvia Scarlett (1935). From then on, he was much in demand, appearing in Anthony Adverse (1936), All American Chump (1936), Parnell (1937), and A Yank at Oxford (1938). In 1940, he was the delightful "Mr. Bennet" in Pride and Prejudice (1940), then made a 180-degree turn by playing a folksy assassin in Alfred Hitchcock 's Foreign Correspondent (1940). The year 1941 brought Cheers for Miss Bishop (1941), One Night in Lisbon (1941), The Devil and Miss Jones (1941) and Scotland Yard (1941). Then came Charley's Aunt (1941), in which he romanced Jack Benny , masquerading as a woman.

Other important films included A Yank at Eton (1942), The Meanest Man in the World (1943), The Keys of the Kingdom (1944) and Between Two Worlds (1944). In 1945, he played villain "Albert Richard Kingby" in Dangerous Partners (1945). There is a peculiar scene in this film, which makes one wonder what director Edward L. Cahn was thinking. James Craig and Signe Hasso , the hero and heroine, are being held by the villainous Gwenn in a room, when Gwenn comes in to interrogate them. In the midst of this, the 33-year-old, 6'2" Craig punches the 68-year-old, 5'5" Gwenn in the belly and then forces the doubled-over Gwenn to release them. Admittedly, Craig and Hasso must escape, and Gwenn's character is pretty evil, but knocking the wind out of the old man makes Craig seem like a bully and far less sympathetic.

After "Dangerous Partners", Gwenn was in Bewitched (1945), She Went to the Races (1945), Of Human Bondage (1946), Undercurrent (1946), Life with Father (1947), Green Dolphin Street (1947) and Apartment for Peggy (1948). In Thunder in the Valley (1947), he played one of his most unlikable characters, a father who beats his son, smashes his violin and shoots his dog. Then in 1947, he struck it rich. Twentieth Century-Fox was planning Miracle on 34th Street (1947). It had offered the role of "Kris Kringle" to Gwenn's cousin, the well-known character actor Cecil Kellaway , but he had turned it down with the observation that "Americans don't like whimsy". Fox then offered it to Gwenn, who pounced on it. His performance was to earn him an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor (at age 71) and, because it is rerun every Christmas season, he would become for many their all-time favorite screen Santa.

Accepting the award, Gwenn said, "Now I know there is a Santa Claus". He beat out some stiff competition: Charles Bickford ( The Farmer's Daughter (1947)), Thomas Gomez ( Ride the Pink Horse (1947)), Robert Ryan ( Crossfire (1947)) and Richard Widmark ( Kiss of Death (1947)). As soon as he got the part, Gwenn went to work turning himself into Santa Claus. Though rotund, Gwenn didn't feel he was rotund enough to look like the jolly old elf most people expected after having read Clement Moore 's "The Night before Christmas", in which Santa "had a broad face and a little round belly / That shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly." He could of course wear padding, but he resisted that as too artificial. So he put on almost 30 pounds for the role, a fair amount for a man of his short stature, and added nearly five inches to his waistline. The problem was that after the film was finished, Gwenn found it hard to lose the extra weight.

"I've been stocky all my adult life," he said, "but now I must accept the fact that I'm fat." As was his nature, he didn't get upset, and instead was able to laugh about it. Six years later, when playing an elderly professor in The Student Prince (1954), he had a scene in which he entered the Prince's chamber, struggling with the buttons of a ceremonial uniform. The line he was given was, "I'm too old to wear a uniform," but Gwenn suggested a change which stayed in the finished film, "I'm too old and fat to wear a uniform." Gwenn had lost his hair early on, and had no more concern about it than he did about his portliness. In a fair number of films, such as Pride and Prejudice (1940), he appears bald, but he also played many roles with a toupee if he felt that worked better for the character. He would select a hairpiece that helped achieve the look he was after for the role.

As regards the rest of his appearance, Gwenn is commonly listed as 5'6" tall, which may have been accurate when he was a younger man, but by the time he was a Hollywood regular he appears to be at least two inches shorter. Plagued by weak eyesight since his youth, Gwenn wore a pince-nez for a while, and then glasses, off-screen and sometimes on. Though he enjoyed fine clothes, he does not seem to have been in the least bit vain about any physical shortcomings he may have had. He looked a bit like a benign clergyman, perhaps of the Anglican faith, an image enhanced by his soft, almost soothing voice. He once said he was "always short and stocky, and not a particularly handsome thing. I could never play romantic leads." After "Miracle on 34th Street," however, Gwenn was a star and constantly in demand, especially when the role called for a kindly eccentric. Gwenn remained a British subject all his life. When he first moved to Hollywood, he lived at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. His home in London had been reduced to rubble during the bombings by the Luftwaffe in World War II.

Only the fireplace survived. What Gwenn regretted most was the loss of the memorabilia he had collected of the famous actor Henry Irving. Eventually Gwenn bought a house at 617 North Bedford Drive in Beverly Hills, which he was to share with his secretary and "confidential man", Ernest C. Bach, and later with former Olympic athlete Rodney Soher. The year 1950 brought a pair of interesting films. In Louisa (1950) he and Charles Coburn were romantic rivals for the hand of Spring Byington . In one scene Gwenn socks Coburn in the jaw, though Coburn later bests him in arm wrestling. Gwenn wins Byington's hand in the end. He was also delightful in Mister 880 (1950) as a kindly counterfeiter. Gwenn received his second Oscar nomination for his performance, though this time he lost out to George Sanders in All About Eve (1950) He did, however, win the Golden Globe Award. In 1952 he appeared in Sally and Saint Anne (1952) as Grandpa Patrick Ryan, affecting an Irish brogue for the role.

He played football coach Pop Doyle, teamed up with a chimpanzee, in Bonzo Goes to College (1952). "The Student Prince" followed in 1954, as did the science-fiction classic Them! (1954). This film raises an interesting observation. The year before, Cecil Kellaway had appeared in another sci-fi classic, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953). Watch the two films together and you'll see that the two cousins are playing essentially the same role, that of an elderly scientist with a lovely daughter who is able to provide the hero, and the audience, with some scholarly background on the dangers they face. The two actors could easily have switched roles. "Them!" is noteworthy, too, in that it was a particularly physically painful part for Gwenn. By this time he was 77 and suffering from advanced arthritis. Several scenes in the movie were filmed in the desert, where the temperature often reached 110 degrees. The costumer had outfitted him in a wool suit for some of the early scenes.

Joan Weldon , who played his daughter, has noted that Gwenn was in great discomfort and almost certainly could not have continued without the help of his valet, Ernest. The next year Gwenn was in It's a Dog's Life (1955) and The Trouble with Harry (1955). His film work has some interesting patterns. "Dog's Life" was at least the third time Gwenn made a film centered on a dog. He had already co-starred with Pal as Lassie in Lassie Come Home (1943) and Challenge to Lassie (1949). "Harry" was Gwenn's fourth picture directed by Alfred Hitchcock , the others being "The Skin Game", Strauss' Great Waltz (1934) and "Foreign Correspondent". Gwenn's last feature film was The Rocket from Calabuch (1956), shot in Spain and released in 1958, when he was 81.

As for TV, his most memorable role may have been as a snowman that comes to life in a Christmas night telecast on The Ford Television Theatre (1952) from a story by Nathaniel Hawthorne , "Heart of Gold". Gwenn's final days were spent at the Motion Picture Home in Woodland Hills, California. Having endured terrible arthritis for many years, he had suffered a stroke, and then contracted pneumonia, from which he died at age 81 on September 6, 1959. His body was cremated, and his ashes are buried in a vault at The Chapel of the Pines in Los Angeles. Gwenn had appointed Rodney Soher as the executor of his will, in which he had left Minnie Terry one-third of his estate, his sister Elsie Kellaway a third, and Ernest Bach a third, in addition to his clothes, shoes, linens, ties and luggage. However, for some reason, while he was spending his last days at the Motion Picture Home, Gwenn signed a codicil to his will, in which he said he had given Bach the lump sum of $5000, and that was all he was to receive.

After Gwenn's death, Bach challenged the codicil, claiming that Gwenn was not of sound mind while in the Home and that some unnamed person--possibly referring to Soher--had unduly influenced Gwenn to change his will. The outcome is not known. There is a story that has been around for years that shortly before he died a visitor observed, "It must be hard [to die]", to which Gwenn replied, "Dying is easy. Comedy is hard". The story and the wording vary somewhat from teller to teller. Gwenn may indeed have said it, but he may have been repeating someone else. The quotation has also been ascribed to several earlier wits, including his mentor George Bernard Shaw and the famous actor Edward Keane . Gwenn's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame can be found at 1751 Vine Street. View All Critic Reviews (47) Audience Reviews for Miracle on 34th Street Fred Gailey: Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to. Don't you see? It's not just Kris that's on trial, it's everything he stands for.

It's kindness and joy and love and all the other intangibles. "Capture the spirit of Christmas with this timeless classic!" Miracle on 34th Street is every bit the timeless holiday classic I had heard it was, and is now easily my second favorite Christmas film behind only It's a Wonderful Life. This is a heartwarming and smart film that stays away from all the normal cliches that most holiday films get wrapped up in. It's original in every way, but what you have to love about it is the way it makes you feel. It makes me want to believe in Santa Clause. A man arrives in New York sporting a long white beard and claims his name is Kris Kringle. He is hired on as Macy's Santa Clause when he successfully replaces a drunk Santa Clause for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. A few people begin to think that Kris is insane because of his belief that he is Santa Clause and he is soon brought to trial for commitment to a insane asylum. The cast is fabulous in this one. Maureen O'Hara is terrific as a mother who doesn't want her daughter believing in any fantasies such as Santa Clause. John Payne gives a good performance as the neighbor of O'Hara's character and Kris's lawyer.

Natalie Wood plays Susan, the daughter who doesn't believe in Santa Clause in one of her first roles and her first major role. And Edmund Gwenn is delightful, embodying the very essence of what we would think Santa Clause to be in an Oscar winning role. Miracle on 34th Street is definitely going to be a new tradition for me around the Christmas season. I'm just a little disappointed that this wasn't always a holiday tradition for me. My parents screwed up there I guess. It's a must see movie, that has wonderful heart and beautiful and witty sense of humor. This is definitely a movie to put on your must see list. Melvin White Super Reviewer Some old fat guy shows up in New York and claims, now get this for yer holiday giggles, that he's Santa Claus! No. Really? Yer kiddin' me! Would I lie? Santa Claus. Can you believe the nerve of some people? And right around Christmas too. They oughtta lock that fruitcake up is what they should do. Where's the sensitivity? Where's the humanity? Where is the spirit of Christmas?!?

I mean, c'mon, I don't believe in Santa Claus or nuthin', but why mess wit th' minds o' dem little kids is all? I mean, who but a kid would believe? Santa Claus! Jesus! Kevin M. Williams Greatest Films of 1947 Film Genre(s), Title, Year, (Country), Length, Director, Description The Bishop's Wife (1947), 105 minutes, D: Henry Koster RKO's perennial Christmas holiday fantasy classic, a sentimental and heart-warming favorite with a screenplay by Robert Sherwood, from novelist Robert Nathan's work, author of Portrait of Jennie. A Best Picture Oscar nominee and beautifully photographed by Gregg Toland. Remade as The Preacher's Wife (1996) by director Penny Marshall, with Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston. After praying for "guidance," harried Episcopalian Bishop Henry Brougham (David Niven) received divine help in the form of a handsome, suave guardian angel sent from heaven named Dudley (Cary Grant).

But the charming Dudley was not there to assist with the obsessed Bishop's building and funding of a new cathedral, but to show Henry what he had been neglecting in life -- the poor and needy, the boys' choir, his parishioners and most noticeably, his lovely wife Julia Brougham (Loretta Young), who had the incredible gift, according to Dudley of "making heaven here on Earth." The debonair Dudley was there to remind the Bishop about all his greater priorities in his life - and in the meantime, found that Julia was attracted to himself. Dudley rewrote Henry's Christmas sermon, dictating while the typewriter took down his words. When Henry finally publically announced the importance of Julia in his life to Dudley ("Julia means more to me than my life, I'm not going to lose her"), the angel promptly announced his departure. The angel told Henry that he and everyone else would have no memory of his visit or existence ("When I'm gone, you will never know that an angel visited your house"). At St. Timothy's Church, the Bishop delivered Dudley's sermon on Christmas Eve at midnight, while Julia beamed at him from the pews.

From the street outside under a light falling snow, Dudley listened to the poignant and touching words, satisfied that his work was complete as he turned and slowly walked away - bringing the film to a heartfelt close. Black Narcissus (1947, UK), 100 minutes, D: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger The provocative and richly-Technicolored spiritual melodrama (with Oscar-winning cinematography by Jack Cardiff) was based on the novel by Rumer Godden. The dazzling cinematographic masterpiece told about a convent (with a school and hospital infirmary) and group of sexually-repressed British Anglican nuns in the far remote Himalayans, with breath-taking imagery of the donated exotic sultan's palace (once a bordello) with a bell tower on the edge of a precipice. The convent was led by devout and pious Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr), the Sister Superior. One of the unstable, sexually-conflicted and spurned Anglican nuns, insane Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron), was driven mad by repressed and starved sexuality and jealousy after turning mad with lust for British government intermediary, sexy yet cynical officer Mr. Dean (David Farrar).

In a sideplot, Jean Simmons portrayed a sexually-intriguing native girl named Kanchi. In the unnerving, climactic conclusion, Sister Ruth renounced her nunhood vows, adorned herself in a bright-red forbidden dress, applied matching lipstick (symbolizing her break with the nunnery), and sought to attack her rival Sister Clodagh. The cathartic scene ended when intended victim Sister Clodagh was saved from death as she grabbed hold of the belltower rope after being pushed toward the precipice by jealous and vengeful Sister Ruth, who lost her balance and fell to her death. Body and Soul (1947), 104 minutes, D: Robert Rossen One of the best, most compelling, starkly-realistic boxing sports films (and film-noirish dramas) ever produced before a rash of imitators and parodies. From a powerful screenplay by Abraham Polonsky, with impressive fight sequences (winning an Oscar for Best Film Editing) shot with roller-skating cameramen to enhance the realism. Uninspiringly remade as Body and Soul (1981), with a script updated to include African-American and Latino boxers, and notable female nudity.

In this definitive film that also served as a cautionary morality tale (told in flashback), John Garfield (in his best film role) starred as tough, naive, dim-witted but decent Charley Davis from a poor Jewish family in the slums of the Lower East Side, who chose boxing as a means to escape his life of poverty. The pugilist successfully worked his way to the top, the middleweight championship, by both fair and unethical means (his association with crooked racketeers and fight promoters) to the disapproval of his mother Anna (Anne Revere), his free-spirited Greenwich Village artist-girlfriend Peg Born (Lilli Palmer), and his loyal lifetime friend Shorty Polaski (Joseph Pevney). He blindly believed he could become independent once he made it as the champ, but then was disillusioned when his threatening, unethical, corrupt hoodish handler Roberts (Lloyd Gough) demanded 50% of the take to help him win the championship. Charley made more wrong decisions, resulting in Shorty's accidental death, a broken engagement with his girlfriend, reckless gambling, and a harmful relationship with gold-digging nightclub vamp Alice (Hazel Brooks).

He ended up indebted - and was ordered to take part in a fixed fight (he was told to fight all fifteen rounds and lose the fight by a decision) - something that would cause him to also lose his soul and self-respect. At the last minute in the sensational final sequence, he rebelled against his operators, knocked out his challenging newcomer opponent Jack Marlowe (Artie Dorrell), returned to Peg, and rejected Roberts ("Get yourself a new boy. I retire"). When Roberts threatened Charley as he left the ring, Charley mocked him with an ironically-quipped line used earlier in the film: "What are you gonna do, kill me? Everybody dies." Boomerang! (1947), 88 minutes, D: Elia Kazan This semi-documentary crime film was based upon the true story of the 1924 unsolved murder of an Episcopal priest in Connecticut. The elderly, beloved and kindly priest Father George Lambert (Wryley Birch) of Bridgeport, CT was murdered (by gunshot) during his regular evening walk at a street-corner by an unidentified killer. Police Chief Harold F. 'Robbie' Robinson (Lee J. Cobb) faced tremendous political pressure to quickly find the suspect.

There were seven witnesses to the shooting, but the killer's face wasn't conclusively seen, and there were no other clues. The Morning Record (and its ace political reporter Dave Woods (Sam Levene)) stirred up trouble by blaming the current administration for being soft on crime. Out-of-town WWII veteran and unemployed drifter John Waldron (Arthur Kennedy) was soon targeted as the suspected murderer (he was arrested in Cleveland, Ohio), although he vehemently denied being involved. Forensics evidence showed that the bullet came from his gun. He was exhaustively questioned by the police chief and lead detective Lieutenant White (Karl Malden) for two days, and gave in by signing a confession - under duress. State's District Attorney Henry Harvey (Dana Andrews), a potential candidate for governor, was assigned to try and prove Waldron's innocence - obvious, the suspect was a victim of prejudgment.During the court hearing, Harvey destroyed the prosecution's case and exonerated Waldron. He reenacted the crime seven times - proving that none of the unreliable eyewitnesses could have seen the killer from where they were positioned on the street. He also demonstrated that the intense grilling from police was unfairly brutal and that the confession was coerced.

He also submitted five expert ballistics reports that disproved the bullet came from Waldron's gun. In a dramatic Russian Roulette-styled challenge, Harvey dared Waldron's loaded gun to be fired into the back of his own head - the gun wouldn't fire (revealing that it had a broken malfunctioning pin and couldn't be fired). Waldron was freed, and although the case was reopened, the real killer was never caught. [In a scene much earlier in the film, it was surmised that Lambert's killer might have been his mentally-unstable assistant pastor.] Crossfire (1947), 86 minutes, D: Edward Dmytryk RKO's and Edward Dmytryk's noirish message drama (filmed mostly at night with low-key lighting), a taut, intelligent and exciting melodrama and murder mystery, was a rare Hollywood social issue film - a landmark film and one of the first to indict anti-Semitism, prejudice and bigotry, along with this year's Best Picture-winning Gentleman's Agreement (1947).

The blunt, honest and engrossing box-office hit was based on Richard Brooks' 1945 novel The Brick Foxhole, although in the book, the victim was homosexual. It has the notable distinction of being the first B-picture to receive a Best Picture nomination. The catalyst of the film was an incident (told in various flashbacks) that occurred one drunken evening, when a group of recently-discharged soldiers on leave were partying in a Washington DC hotel nightclub with Miss Lewis (Marlo Dwyer) and her Jewish boyfriend, war hero civilian Joseph "Sammy" Samuels (Sam Levene). After some of them went to the man's apartment, there appeared to have been an argument - and later, Miss Lewis found Sammy's body. Subsequently, an investigation into the mysterious murder was conducted by a lead civilian cop, crusading district attorney Capt. Finlay (Robert Young), with help from laconic military cop Sgt. Peter Keeley (Robert Mitchum). When questioned as a suspect, ex-cop and GI veteran-soldier "Monty" Montgomery (Robert Ryan) claimed that he and another friend, civilian redneck Floyd Bowers (Steve Brodie), were with ex-WPA artist and Corp.

Arthur "Mitch" Mitchell (George Cooper) in Samuels' apartment. The night's comings and goings were relayed by the suspects, in flashback, to the officers. In an abrupt move to throw off the police and silence one of the potential witnesses against him, "Monty" beat and hanged Bowers with a necktie, leaving him presumed dead. The evidence seemed to be pointing, however, towards Mitch who was suffering from post-war depression and drunkenness. Although he could not provide a convincing alibi - Keeley firmly believed in Mitch's innocence. It was soon revealed, under interrogation, that the bigoted and unhinged "Monty," who openly despised Jews, had the proper motive to murder the Jewish boyfriend with his bare hands - but his hate crime needed to be proven. After piecing together the puzzling events, Finlay set a trap for the violent, crazed and unstable "Monty," who was also suspected of murdering Bowers, with the help of Monty's other friend Leroy (William Phipps). Leroy told "Monty" that Bowers was alive and wanted to meet with him at a specific address (deliberately incorrect).

When "Monty" arrived at the right address for best buddy Floyd, he revealed his obvious guilt. "Monty" fled from police and was shot dead by Finlay on the street as the film concluded. Dark Passage (1947), 106 minutes, D: Delmer Daves Director Delmar Daves adapted David Goodis' 1946 novel of the same name for this film. The noir was similar in plot to The Fugitive (1993) and The Shawshank Redemption (1994). It was another drama teaming Bogart and Bacall (their third of four films together, following To Have and Have Not (1944) and The Big Sleep (1946)), although one of their lesser ones. Unique in that Bogart's complete face was not viewed for over an hour (obscured by shadows or bandages), when he finally removed facial bandages. The gimmicky, full-of-unlikely coincidences film was shot in an unorthodox way - from his subjective POV (looking through his eyes).

In this thriller-noir, con Vincent Parry (Humphrey Bogart) - a lifer in prison for murdering his wife Gert, escaped from San Quentin by hiding in a barrel. He conveniently joined up with attractive and wealthy artist Irene Jansen (Lauren Bacall), sympathetic to his plight to prove his innocence, because her recently-executed father was also falsely accused for a similar crime. Her evil friend Madge Rapf's (Agnes Moorehead) testimony had helped to frame Parry in the first place. To deter attention and mask his identity, Parry underwent plastic surgery on his face from Walter Coley (Houseley Stevenson), and changed his name to Alan Linell. Then with faithful Irene's help, he attempted to clear his name and prove that he didn't kill his wife. He was doggedly pursued by small-time, blackmailing hood Baker (Clifton Young), who argued and gun-played with Parry at Fort Point and fell to his death from a cliff. To make matters worse, Parry was also framed for the death of his close friend George Fellsinger (Rory Mallinson). In the conclusion, it was revealed that Madge had killed both Parry's wife and George.

When Parry confronted Madge to force her to sign a confession, she struggled with him, stumbled and fell from a window. In the unusual happy ending (for a film noir), Parry fled with Irene to Paita, Peru where they danced in an oceanside nightclub to the song Too Marvelous for Words. A Double Life (1947), 103 minutes, D: George Cukor Cukor's noirish psycho-melodrama, with an excellent script of sharp dialogue by the husband-wife team of Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, also had an Oscar-winning score by Miklos Rosza. It told about famous Broadway matinee-idol actor Anthony John (Oscar-winning Ronald Colman in a career-topping role) whose stage roles were taking over his obsessed, off-stage personal life. The veteran actor knew that there would be disastrous consequences during his performance of different roles - for example, he had divorced his ex-wife Brita (Signe Hasso) two years earlier while acting in a Chekov play. He feared what would happen in real life if he took the role of Shakespeare's jealous Moor named Othello, with Brita as his leading lady Desdemona.

It was a torturous role for him, as every night on stage, he was forced to strangle his wife due to jealousy. During these pressurized performances, his jealousies overtook him. When he feared that Brita was in love with somebody else, their publicist Bill Friend (Edmond O'Brien), he was compelled to act as Othello. He strangled his lover-mistress Pat Kroll (Shelley Winters in a star-making role), a pathetically-lonely, mid-20s slutty waitress he had met in an Italian restaurant. The curtain-falling conclusion of Othello blurred the boundary between art and life when the delirious actor stabbed himself to death on-stage. The Farmer's Daughter (1947), 96 minutes, D: H.C. Potter Not to be confused with the 1940 film of the same name starring Martha Raye. It was based on the Finnish play Juurakon Hulda by Hella Wuolijoki that was purchased by David O. Selznick, potentially for Ingrid Bergman. Later created as a TV series in 1963 starring Inger Stevens.

In this delightful and smart romantic comedy (with a Cinderella theme), Loretta Young (in an Oscar-winning signature role) starred as Katrin Holstrom, the Swedish daughter of stalwart Minnesota farmer (Harry Shannon). In the big city of Washington DC where she was planning to attend nursing school, lecherous painter-acquaintance Adolph Petree (Rhys Williams) swindled her out of her savings. With nowhere to turn, she became the maid-servant or housekeeper (and lover) of US Congressman Glenn Morley (Joseph Cotten) and his powerful politico mother Agatha (Ethel Barrymore). Learning how the political game was played by her association with him and crusty butler Joseph Clancey (Charles Bickford), the feisty, independent-minded, and common-sensed Katrin decided to improve politics. She ran as a Reform candidate in an opposition party against the corrupt political machine (and its replacement candidate for a deceased officeholder) - it was very similar to the conclusion of many Frank Capra films. As a result, although there was a smear campaign to discredit her, she won the election and went to Congress with Glenn.

Gentleman's Agreement (1947), 118 minutes, D: Elia Kazan The compelling and controversial film (at the time) was adapted by Moss Hart from Laura Z. Hobson's best-selling novel (originally serialized in Cosmopolitan), although now somewhat dated in its impact. It was the top grossing picture for 20th Century Fox in 1948, and one of the first Hollywood films to confront the problem of anti-Semitism, bigotry and religious prejudice. This morality tale was one of a number of films that explored serious social issues in the 1940s. The film's title referred to the "gentleman's agreement" practice of Gentiles (non-Jews) discriminating against Jews. Kazan's startling, Best Picture-winning sober drama was a powerful, sentimental and melodramatic story about a non-Jewish magazine reporter-journalist Philip Schuyler Green (Gregory Peck), a recently-divorced single father.

He had writer's block about a new assignment - an expose-article on the subject of anti-Semitism for his liberal Smith Weekly magazine publisher John Minify (Albert Dekker) - until he decided to go undercover and pose as a Jew (with the name Phil Greenberg) to have a first-hand experience. Predictably, he encountered prejudice, scorn and hatred. His son Tommy (Dean Stockwell) was bullied in school (and called names such as "dirty Jew and stinking kike"), and his complacent, close-minded socialite girlfriend Kathy Lucy (Dorothy McGuire), niece of Smith Weekly's editor, was snubbed by her Darien, Connecticut friends. Green experienced religious abuse and bias when rejected for a hotel room. The magazine's sharp-tongued fashion editor, a counterpoint to Green, was Anne Dettrey (Oscar-winning Celeste Holm), and his childhood Jewish friend was Dave Goldman (John Garfield). Deeply-rooted prejudice and underlying anti-Semitism were revealed in his friends, colleagues, and casual acquaintances. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), 104 minutes, D: Joseph L.

Mankiewicz Joseph Mankiewicz' charming, turn-of-the-century romantic fantasy, was based on the 1945 R.A. Dick (Josephine Leslie) novel with a script by Philip Dunne. It later became a TV series. It told about a young and independent, strong-willed but lonely widow Lucy Muir (Gene Tierney) with a young daughter Anna (Natalie Wood) in Victorian England. She discovered a salty, hot-tempered naval sea captain Daniel Gregg (Rex Harrison) as a ghostly presence in her English seaside Gull Cottage, in the town of Whitecliff-by-the-Sea. Windows and doors opened on their own, candles blew out and there was disembodied laughter. The source of the spookiness was undoubtedly Gull Cottage's former owner who was haunting the bedroom and thoughts of Lucy in his non-flesh-and-blood form. The film's tagline asked: "Is Lucy Muir's love really a ghost, or is it a man of flesh and blood she yearns for?" She refused to be scared by the ghostly denizen of the spiritual world, however, and struck up a strong bond with some romance.

When she acquired debts, he helped her to be a "ghostwriter" - composing a successful, best-selling novel of autobiographical memoirs about his own life, titled Blood and Swash, that she transcribed from his dictations. In the meantime, she was charmed by smooth-talking cad Miles Fairley (George Sanders), an author of children's books. Gregg's jealousy was sparked, and she became uncertain of the captain's motivations when he warned her about the adulterous suitor. The ghostly sea captain decided to bid good-bye to Lucy while she slept. He told her that she must find her own way in life - and that she was only dreaming of a sea-captain haunting the house. In the transcendent, tearjerking final scene many years later, white-haired, elderly widow Lucy died in her British seaside cottage's armchair when Captain Gregg reappeared and greeted her with outstretched hands: "And now, you'll never be tired again, come Lucia, come my dear." Rejuvenated and young again, she walked off, hand-in-hand with him downstairs and through the front door into the afterlife with him.

Miracle on 34th Street (1947), 96 minutes, D: George Seaton A popular, perennial favorite Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday film adapted from Valentine Davies' original story. A sentimental and appealing Frank Capra-esque morality fantasy tale (similar to Meet John Doe (1941) ) about the struggle between faith and doubting cynicism, as well as between the holiday spirit of generosity and materialistic commercialism. When a Macy's New York City Thanksgiving Day parade Santa Claus was discovered to be intoxicated by a white-whiskered, kindly old man calling himself Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn), Kringle was hired by special-events parade organizer and divorced, workaholic single mother Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara) to be the store's new Saint Nick. The emergency in-house replacement - the new, grandfatherly jolly fellow from the North Pole, proved to be a smash hit following the parade. The most touching moment was Kringle reassuringly singing a song to a frightened, refugee Dutch girl in her native language. But some doubts were raised when he endorsed and sent customers to other rival, competing department stores, such as Gimbels, when Macy's didn't have the desired merchandise.

Problems also arose when Kringle claimed he was the real Santa Claus, although Doris was reassured by the store's psychologist Mr. Sawyer (Porter Hall) that Kringle's 'insane' fantasy was harmless. Doris' doubting, equally cynical, wide-eyed, and precocious second grade daughter Susan (Natalie Wood) also thought Kringle was only a fairy-tale. After further investigation, Kringle's work application revealed he was a nursing home resident in Great Neck, Long Island, where the resident Dr. Pierce (James Seay) also claimed that 'Santa' was delusional but not dangerous. Psychiatrists from Bellevue Hospital threatened to have him committed and put away in a mental institution, but Kringle's twinkly-eyed earnestness and wholesomeness removed the doubts of even the skeptical Doris and Susan. The film climaxed with the famous court hearing on Kringle's insanity between the two department stores -- Macy's (legally represented by Doris' handsome bachelor lawyer-friend Fred Gaily (John Payne), her love interest) and Gimbels. Before Kringle was committed to Bellevue, Fred had convinced Judge Henry Harper (Gene Lockhart) to hold a hearing.

State's District Attorney Thomas Mara (Jerome Cowan) was sure that he had won the case when Kris decisively declared that he was Santa Claus. Fred needed to prove his case that it was wrong to vilify Santa Claus, and at the same time acceptable to have faith in the red-suited character and believe in the power of imagination (and the Christmas spirit). On his side was the idea that it would cause a backlash to rule against Kris Kringle. Fred produced sacks of thousands of post office letters addressed to Santa Claus. His argument was that the US government agency's recognition of these letters was "positive proof" of Santa Claus' existence. The judge agreed and he dismissed the case, and Kringle was released.

Monsieur Verdoux (1947), 124 minutes, D: Charles Chaplin Chaplin's ahead-of-its-time Bluebeard crime drama and black comedy, based upon the notorious French killer named Henri Landru, was subtitled: "A Comedy of Murders." The subversive and satirical film, taken from an idea by Orson Welles, was considered controversial and unsettling in its post-war time period, and became a box-office failure - although has now attained the status of a cult-classic. It was Chaplin's first film in seven years (after The Great Dictator (1940)), and very different from his popular "Little Tramp" character. The film told about a straight-laced Parisian bank clerk-teller named Henri Verdoux (Charlie Chaplin), who had an invalid, wheelchair-bound crippled wife Mona (Mady Correll) and young son Peter (Allison Roddan) to support.

Around the time of the Great Depression after he lost his job of 35 years, the suave, dapper, cynical, middle-aged and unemployed Verdoux became a notorious serial killer murderer and bigamist whose preferred modus operandi was to marry middle-aged wealthy women, murder them, and appropriate their money. He used several aliases (e.g., Varnay, Bonheur, and Floray, etc.) in order to marry almost a dozen women simultaneously. The comedic highlight of the film was that one of the would-be victims, widowed Annabella Bonheur (scene-stealing, big-mouthed comedienne Martha Raye) kept winning lotteries, and also proved challenging to eliminate for Verdoux. His murder attempts continually failed due to her fortunate good luck. When the stock market crashed and the banks failed, Verdoux found that he was broke. He turned himself into the police after being suspected by a victim's relative. He was put on trial - and before being convicted, he delivered a courtroom speech about how society was hypocritical ("As a mass murderer, I'm an amateur by comparison").

He argued that world wars, dictators, and mass genocidal killings were sanctioned by society and other countries, but his own crime of killing only a few out of necessity (in order to survive) brought about a sentence of death by guillotine. Odd Man Out (1947, UK), 116 minutes, D: Carol Reed Carol Reed's searing, exciting and suspenseful (melo)-drama was a rich character study about a doomed man-on-the-run - it was a great example of a post-war British film thriller. It began with the following crawl: "This story is told against a background of political unrest in a city of Northern Ireland. It is not concerned with the conflict between the law and an illegal organisation, but only with the conflict in the hearts of the people when they become unexpectedly involved." An Irish rebel, an IRA nationalist gunman named Johnny McQueen (James Mason in one of his best performances), was badly wounded and dying after a daring, unsuccessful payroll holdup attempt at a mill-factory, presumably in Belfast (Northern Ireland). The failed robbery, including McQueen's killing of a man, was originally designed to fund his underground operations.

When accidentally left behind by the getaway driver, he desperately struggled to avoid capture. When he couldn't make it back to his hideout - the house of Kathleen Sullivan (Kathleen Ryan in her debut film) and her Grannie (Kitty Kirwan), he sought shelter in the city's ghettos, deserted buildings, pubs, and back alleys (and even in a junkyard bathtub). As the British dragnet around him closed in tighter, for eight tense hours, he was pursued in a manhunt by the police and others - all with their own motives of either helping him or turning him in to the authorities for profit. They included his IRA buddy-partners Pat and Nolan (Cyril Cusack and Dan O'Herlihy) who wanted to rescue him, cabdriver "Gin" Jimmy (Joseph Tomelty), a crazed and eccentric homosexual painter Lukey (Robert Newton), his loving girlfriend Kathleen, and Catholic priest Father Tom (W. G. Fay) ready to deliver last rites.

In the film's visual religious symbolism of crucifixion, McQueen became a Christ-like figure as a condemned man slowly approaching death - he and Kathleen were shot dead by police in the film's violent finale as he attempted to escape on a ship at the waterfront.

Question: Give the name of the character played by Oscar winning actor Edmund Gwenn in the 1947 film "Miracle on 34th Street".
Answer: Kris Kringle