REVIEW: MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1994)
Mark R. Leeper
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1994 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: A remake of a classic holiday film
adds a few touches that the story did not need and
basically just opens the story to a generation who won't
watch black and white. There are far worse remakes, but
isn't that faint praise? Rating: 0 (-4 to +4)
There are basically two reasons to remake a film. One reason is
that movie theaters need something to thread into their projectors.
Here the urge is often to try to get the product made as quickly as
possible and to use as the blueprint a film that has already proven to
be an audience pleaser. One can only hope that the filmmaker will
treat the original material with respect, particularly if the original
is a well-liked film. The other reason for remaking a film is that
sometimes a filmmaker can discover a new slant on an old story and can
bring something fresh to the story. And these reasons are in large
part in conflict since the first requires speed, the second slows down
the process.
The new MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET feels like it was made for both
reasons. The holiday season is coming and those projectors are hungry
to be fed. What does the new version add? Primarily what it adds is
color. The original has become a great children's film that only
adults will watch. Why? Because it is real, real old, from the days
before people knew that movies need color, dude. The choice seems to
be to colorize, to remake, or to just stop telling the story to
children. Then I saw this film with absolutely the wrong audience, a
collection of film fans who obviously would have grown up with the
original and knew not to equate monochrome with bad filmmaking. To
much of that audience this film was a purely redundant remake.
I suppose I feel much the same way. But I do admit it generally
did treat the material with a degree of respect. So often films for
children have gunplay or people kicking other people or attempted
rapes, etc., ad nauseum. But in this film, besides an attempted
corporate takeover by some shadowy bad guys, which admittedly I could
have done without, this is a likable and a faithful retelling.
Kriss Kringle (played by Sir Richard Attenborough) is back on 34th
Street. This time he is not in Macy's Department Store but in a
foundering store called Cole's. (Macy's reportedly wanted no part ofa
remake that would claim they were in financial trouble. Other stores
were anxious but none on 34th Street.) Kriss is the best department
store Santa Claus that any store could have, with just one drawback.
Kriss actually thinks that he is Santa Claus. And what is more he is
able to convince others of his insanity. One of the people he would
like to convince is the store's hard-nosed special projects director,
Dorey Walker (Elizabeth Perkins), and her wide-eyed daughter Susan
(Mara Wilson). But who does nor know the plot of MIRACLE ON 34TH
STREET, one of the perennial holiday classics.
Kriss is played by Sir Richard Attenborough, formerly of JURASSIC
PARK. He is still trying to give children something real, but this
time around it is something that won't bite them. Where Edmund Gwen
was smiling and pleasant, Sir Richard genuinely radiates joy. His
short beard is a bit of a problem, particularly since young Susan
claims he looks like all the pictures of Santa Claus, but otherwise he
is more satisfying in the role by objective standards. Mara Wilson
plays young Susan, the wide-eyed premature realist. Wilson is not the
beautiful child that Natalie Wood was, but does seem to show an
intelligence far beyond her seven years of age. Elizabeth Perkins and
Dylan McDermott play Dorey Walker and her suitor Bryan Bedford. Each
know they have to out-act their predecessor in the previous film and
probably do.
I do not remember the original giving much explanation why the
mother has her attitudes on the danger of living in fantasy. This
version gives a fairly thin explanation, but at least it is there. In
some ways it strengthens the new version, but the explanation is alsoa
bit downbeat for a children's film. The happy climax of the film
trades the original's piles of mail for crowds of people and a much
better legal argument. Strictly speaking, the happy ending of the
court case is far less contrived in this version, not that it will be
as satisfying to youngsters.
It is hard to know exactly how to rate a remake. Do you pretend
you never saw the original? If so, then this is a fairly good film.
But, if like most people, you have seen the original, there is not a
whole lot new to offer. Overall, I suppose I will rate it from the
latter point of view and give this a 0 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mark....@att.com
berardinelli,james
Copyright 1994 James Berardinelli
Rating (0 to 10): 6.6
Date Released: 11/18/94
Running Length: 1:53
Rated: PG (Nothing offensive)
Starring: Richard Attenborough, Elizabeth Perkins, Dylan McDermott,
Mara Wilson, J. T. Walsh, James Remar, Robert Prosky,
Joss Ackland
Director: Les Mayfield
Screenplay: George Seaton and John Hughes based on the 1947
screenplay by George Seaton; story by Valentine Davies
Cinematography: Julio Macat
Music: Bruce Broughton
Released by Twentieth Century Fox
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
Every year around the Christmas season, it seems impossible to
turn on the television without seeing either George Seaton's MIRACLE ON
34TH STREET or Frank Capra's IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. Like Handel's
"Messiah", evergreen trees, red suits, and the seemingly-endless
barrage of carols, these films have become indicative of the time of
year.
Considering the wide availability of MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET, it's
curious why HOME ALONE's John Hughes targeted the movie for a remake.
This isn't some obscure title gathering dust on video store shelves.
Writer/producer Hughes and his director Les Mayfield have taken an
audacious--and some would argue ill-advised--step in remaking such a
highly-visible and often-rerun motion picture. (There was also a 1973
made-for-TV version that I know little about.)
The result is similar to the case of Warren Beatty's recent LOVE
AFFAIR. While certainly enjoyable, the film doesn't attain the level
of its predecessor, and there aren't enough changes to infuse this
movie with a sense of freshness or originality. The touches added to
modernize the story are mostly minor (like Kriss Kringle appearing on
GOOD MORNING AMERICA) and often ineffective.
For 1994's MIRACLE, Cole's department store has replaced Macy's on
New York's 34th Street, but little else has changed. The movie opens
with a white-bearded Kriss Kringle (Richard Attenborough) berating an
inebriated Santa for providing a bad example for the millions of
children who will watch him in the annual Cole's Thanksgiving Day
parade. When the drunk then makes a fool out of himself, parade
director Dorey Walker (Elizabeth Perkins) decides that she needs an
emergency replacement. Given Kriss' "genuine" appearance, he is her
first choice. His subsequent success on the parade route leads to the
Santa job at Cole's, where his uncanny ability to communicate with
children and adults leads to a huge leap in holiday sales for the
floundering department store.
The message of MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET is one of hope for a society
which has become increasingly jaded and cynical: that, even in the
'90s, men and women can still look beyond their selfish interests to
see--and react to--the needs of others. Kriss Kringle is not just a
red-suited man sitting in a department store, but a symbol of all that
is good about Christmas. If people can no longer believe in Santa
Claus and all he represents, argues the film, the world has become a
sad and hopeless place.
Dorey and her young daughter Susan (MRS. DOUBTFIRE's Mara Wilson)
are both non-believers. For them, Santa Claus is a myth passed down
from parents to children. This lack of faith leeches away the magic of
the season for them. Kriss, with the help of Bryan Bedford (Dylan
McDermott), Dorey's neighbor and would-be-suitor, decides to teach them
to accept who he claims to be.
Because of the unprecedented financial windfall his presence has
brought to Cole's, Kriss becomes the focal point of a power play by the
owner of a rival department store (played by the so-easy-to-dislike
Joss Ackland). The aim of Shopper's Express is to discredit Kriss by
having him declared insane. This leads to a trial where Bedford, as
Kriss' attorney, must try to prove that his client is the real Santa
Claus.
The most significant change made to the 1994 script is the manner
in which Bedford chooses to verify Kriss' identity (it has something to
do with a $1 bill). Inferior to the method used in the 1947 version
(where the post office forwarded Santa's mail to Kriss), the remake's
resolution relies upon an argument founded on tenuous logic,
diminishing the effectiveness of the court proceedings
Casting for 1994's MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET varies from ineffectual
to inspired. Richard Attenborough's finely-tuned, low-key portrayal of
Kriss Kringle recalls Edmund Gwenn's Oscar-winning performance without
copying it. Young Mara Wilson is not only winsome, but a far more apt
performer than her predecessor, Natalie Wood. Unfortunately, Elizabeth
Perkins and Dylan McDermott, who function more as ciphers than
legitimate personalities, pale in comparison to the 1947 edition's
Maureen O'Hara and John Payne.
MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET remains a solid family feature (for those
who don't mind its seasonal--albeit essentially non-religious--theme),
with no vulgarity, nudity, or violence. Even in this newest
incarnation, the film maintains its appeal, especially for those
willing to suspend both disbelief and cynicism. MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET
is unrepentantly nostalgic, sentimental, and manipulative, yet for
those very reasons (which typically sink any "serious" production),
it's difficult to dislike. The magic of the original, although
possibly diluted, has not been dispersed.
- James Berardinelli (bla...@cc.bellcore.com)