BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE MOVIE. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM HONESTThis television adaption of the story is well made. The film is quick and to the point. I just saw this for the first time and I really did enjoy it. The story seemed fresh and new but then it has been 20+ years since I have seen any version of this story.In case you don't know the story A department store Santa Claus must prove that he is, in fact, the real Santa in a court of law.You can find this version on DVD in multi-packs of films selling for bargain prices. I bought my set of 20 Christmas Movies for $12

This television version of the screen classic is less than an hour long with a great cast. Thomas Mitchell does a fine job as Kris Krinle also known as Santa Claus who is hired as the Christmas Santa at Macy's department store in New York City. Teresa Wright is great as the mother and skeptical personnel manager at the store. Her friend, neighbor, and handy attorney is played by Macdonald Carey. The film does seem rushed but fine to me because I actually haven't seen the classic film version or the updated one. This short but sweet hour is quite a treat. While the episode is a part of staged theatrical television programs that was popular at the time.

I liked this very entertaining TV version of Miracle On 34th St. Although the film had to be cut to a shorter running time, all the key scenes are there. Thomas Mitchell, Teresa Wright, Hans Conried to name a few were some of the fine actors of the time. Thomas Mitchell, one of my favorite actors appeared in such great films as Gone With The Wind and It's A Wonderful Life. I didn't care for one scene in this film.The clubbing scene with the cane didn't work for me.It was a little too much over the top for Santa Claus. The scene in the courtroom with the letters was actually a little better than the 1947 version, I thought. A nice adaptation and a decent version to add to anyone's collection of holiday films.

Thanks to the recent 'Special Edition' release of the 1947 classic "Miracle on 34th Street", this first 'remake' of the tale, included in the 'Special Features', is available for everyone to enjoy...and while it lacks the magic of the film, it is certainly entertaining in it's own right! There were, surprisingly, five versions of the Valentine Davies Christmas story produced over 47 years, each offering a different emotional 'spin' to the question, "Could Santa Exist in a Materialistic World?". The 1955 version, aired as an episode of "The 20th Century-Fox Hour", was certainly the closest in 'look' to the original (utilizing footage from the film, to help offset a tiny budget, and offering Herbert Heyes, reprising his role as Mr. Gimbel), and benefits from a first-rate cast of major stars (Teresa Wright and MacDonald Carey, who had worked together in Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt", John Ford 'stock company' stars Thomas Mitchell and Dick Foran, Orson Welles' Mercury Theater alum Ray Collins, and veteran character actors Hans Conried and Whit Bissell). While 10-year-old Sandy Descher lacked the skeptical sweetness of Natalie Wood in the key role of young Susan, veteran director Robert Stevenson, juggling a large cast and short running time, kept things moving so quickly that her shortcomings were easily overlooked.I'm a great fan of Oscar-winner Thomas Mitchell, and his portrayal of Kris Kringle is a gem, but he seems more a bearded leprechaun than Santa Claus, with a 'snap salute' greeting, and Irish mischief concealed behind those twinkling eyes! In a major divergence from the film, he actually DOES strike Sawyer (John Abbott), in front of a roomful of children, for attacking his claim of being Santa Claus (which, in the original, was a trumped-up charge to get Kris committed). Edmund Gwenn's portrayal was, and still is, the yardstick by which all "Santa Clauses" are measured...and, truthfully, no one else has ever come close.The major problem in the 1955 production isn't in the casting, however; it is in the brevity. A magical story of renewing one's sense of wonder and innocence, of rediscovering love and why we need Santa Claus, requires time to unfold, and less than an hour simply isn't long enough! Despite all of the talent involved, this version never comes across as more than an 'abridged' copy of the original, and would be easily 'passed over' without it's classic ancestor's name attached to it. But it is still fun, and worth viewing!