About This Quiz
It's the film that made everyone believe in Santa again, and it remains required viewing for those looking to get into the Christmas spirit. Take our quiz to test your knowledge of "Miracle on 34th Street"!The film opens at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, where a drunken Santa is quickly replaced by a man who claims to be the real deal.
Doris Walker, played by Maureen O'Hara, is a divorced mom with a young daughter. She works as an event planner for Macy's in New York City.
Doris Walker has a daughter named Susan, who acts very grown up for a 2nd grader.
Advertisement
A young Natalie Wood played the serious and sensible Susan, who went from a non-believer to a true Santa fan.
The very mature Susan tells Santa that she doesn't want anything from him for Christmas and informs him that her mother will surely bring her sensible gifts.
Santa converses easily with a young Dutch girl, making Susan consider for the first time whether he could actually be Santa Claus.
Advertisement
Santa irritates the Macy's store staff when he reveals to a family that Gimbels makes the best ice skates.
Played by Philip Tonge, Julian Shellhammer serves as the head of the toy department at Macy's flagship store in the film.
Mr. Macy is convinced that it's a stroke of genius that his own marketing department came up with. When the other big stores find out, they follow Santa's suit!
Advertisement
When Santa visits her at home, Susan finally admits that what she wants most is a house and informs Santa that if she doesn't get one, then he must be just another impostor.
Santa taps psychologist Mr. Sawyer in the head with his cane, which leads police to lock Santa up in a psychiatric facility.
Thomas Mara is the District Attorney at Kris Kringle's trial. If Mara wins, Kringle will be permanently committed to Bellevue.
Advertisement
"Because my daddy told me so," is the reason Tommy Jr. gives for believing in Santa Claus. Tommy's father, of course, is the attorney prosecuting the case against Santa. On the way back to his seat, Tommy stops to tell Santa he wants a real, official football helmet. (Mr. Macy has already testified that he believes Kris Kringle is the true Santa Claus.)
"i EVEN BELIEEVE YOU WILL GET ME THE PRESENT I ASKED FOR. I HOPE YOU ARE NOT SAD. YOURS TRULY, SUSAN" her letter says.
When the U.S. Post Office delivers all of Santa's mail to Kringle, the judge in his case considers this to be definitive proof that the man is the real deal.
Advertisement
At the conclusion of the film, Fred and Doris marry and decide to buy the house that Susan dreams of.
The family finds the red cane that Santa always used to carry, leading even the adults to wonder if they had come face to face with Santa Claus himself.
The movie was originally titled "The Big Heart" and was actually released under that name in the UK.
Advertisement
Studio executives knew that June movies sold more tickets, so they released the holiday movie in June to maximize the box office dollars.
Edmund Gwenn starred as Kris Kringle, the man deemed by the courts to be the real Santa Claus.
Attorney Fred Gailey, played by actor John Payne, lives next door to the Walker family.
Advertisement
John Payne, who played Fred, was such a fan of the movie that he wrote a sequel. Sadly, the film was never produced.
Santa moves in with Fred so that the Macy's staff can keep an eye on him and make sure he stays out of trouble.
Macy's declined to participate in the 1994 remake, so the iconic store was replaced by the fictional Cole's.
Advertisement
While the movie picked up a couple of remakes over the years, the most well-known was the John Hughes version, which came out in 1994.
Elizabeth Perkins took on the role of Doris, though the character was known as Dorey in the remake.
Mara WIlson, who also starred in "Matilda" and "Mrs. Doubtfire," played the role of Susan in the 1994 version of "Miracle on 34th Street."
Advertisement
Gimbels was out of business by 1994, so the Macy's-Gimbels rivalry of the 1947 film was replaced by a fictional rivalry between Cole's and Shopper's Express.
The character of Fred Gailey was replaced by Bryan Bedford, played by Dylan McDermott.
The courts ruled that if the U.S government could put "In God We Trust" on a dollar bill, then there was no reason that Kris Kringle couldn't be declared the one and only Santa Claus.
Advertisement
Susan asks for a house, a father and a baby brother. By the end of the film, she has all three.
Richard Attenborough donned the red suit to play Santa in the 1994 version of "Miracle on 34th Street."
Just one actor, Alvin Greenman, appeared in both films. He played Macy's employee Alfred in the 1947 movie and a doorman named Alfred in the 1994 film.
Advertisement