Miracle on 34th Street: My Review

This is my seventh year of doing Christmas movie reviews and I still enjoy writing about them just as much as watching them every Christmas Season. I am amazed at how many people in various countries choose to read my Christmas reviews in the heat of summer, maybe just to cool off, don't you think?

"Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to."

Miracle on 34th Street has always been one of my favorites, and I always find it ironic that way back when this film was made in 1947 they had to deal with the commercialization of Christmas too.

The film stars some movie greats from that era: Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, a young Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Kris Kringle. And if you look closely you will even recognize William Frawley who played Fred in the I Love Lucy sitcom of the 60's.

Mrs.Walker, played by Maureen O'Hara, is in charge of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and needs to find a quick replacement for Santa Claus who's a bit intoxicated. And what to her wondering eyes shall appear, but a genuine look-a-like Santa who really goes by the name Kris Kringle.

Kringle does such a great job playing Santa in the parade, and why wouldn't he, Mrs. Walker hires him to play Santa Claus at Macy's department store. Kris Kringle doesn't need to play Santa, because he really is, and that's how this story unfolds.

The entire story revolves around one simple word, a word we all struggle with in various ways, the word believe. Kris Kringle has the inevitable task of convincing the judicial system that he is who he claims he is and needs to get Mrs.Walker to believe in people, but also finds himself having to transform an unimaginative little girl named Suzy (played by Natalie Wood) to believe not just in him, but to believe in anything.

This past viewing of this film made me realize how much Mrs. Walker messed up her child's head.
Mrs.Walker carries with her doubts and fears, doesn't believe in people, and she passes that off to her daughter raising her not to believe in anything. As a second grader, Suzy doesn't believe in anything or anyone because her mother has shut down what all little kids need; to be able to use their imagination. Mrs. Walker in her defense explains that if she allows her daughter to believe in fairy tales she might grow up to believe in anything and everything. It is here that you can tell Mrs. Walker needs help in her parenting skills. The first step in believing as an adult is learning to believe as a child. Whether it's believing in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy, we all need to start somewhere.

"Getting children to believe in something is just the beginning of having them believing in something greater." - Me

Upon first meeting Suzy and learning of her mother's inept ways of raising her, Kris Kringle teaches Suzy how to pretend by using her imagination for the very first time as they pretend to be monkeys. It is at this moment where we can actually see Suzy being able to be just who she really is, a child.

While portraying himself at Macy's, there..I said it, he's really Santa Claus, Santa begins to have an effect on the children who sit on his lap. When one child asks for a fire engine and Kringle says yes, the child's mom steps in and says Macy's doesn't have that toy anymore. That's when Santa gets in BIG Trouble! He suggests to the mother another store to purchase her precious son's toy.

 Wait?!! If Kringle really is Santa, why would he tell the boy's mother where to purchase the fire engine? Ha! Never thought about that one, did ya'? On with the story...

At first, Kringle is in trouble for sending customers to different stores, but Macy himself catches on when customers are thanking him and his employees for their kind Christmas gesture, and Macy decides to make it their Christmas agenda. Obviously a marketing ploy to get more business. One of the more noteworthy quotes from this film comes from Kringle during the whole fiasco of sharing Christmas Spirit and helping people get what they need, no matter what store it's from,

"Christmas isn't just a day, it's a frame of mind."

 Kringle gets sent to a department store psychologist and is given an exam because he thinks he really is Santa and his employment history is checked and verifies him as being Kris Kringle. So now Santa is in a sack of trouble and Mrs. Walker's neighbor Mr. Gailey an attorney, decides to  take on the case as Kris Kringle is sent to permanently live at Bellevue Mental Hospital.

This is where we get to really see how messed up Mrs. Walker really is with her human condition. She gets upset that Gailey has quit his prestigious law firm to defend Kris Kringle, calling Gailey's resignation an idealistic binge over some lovely intangibles. Mrs. Walker just has no faith in the common good of people and it shows.  But Gailey having spent time with Kringle is convinced that he truly is Santa Claus and tells her that one day she might discover that those lovely intangibles are the only worthwhile things.

This is why I love Mr. Gailey and everything he represents. He has a heart for people, believes in the common good of people, and is willing to stick his neck out to help people. But this is also a result of Gailey having developed a relationship with Kringle. Whereas Mrs.Walker struggled with relationships on all levels due to her own failed marriage, as she so readily admits in this story.

The courtroom trial I always found to be humorous, especially when the prosecutor's young son is called to the witness stand by the defense and is asked to identify Santa Claus in the courtroom, to which young Tommy quickly points to Kringle without hesitation. The judge asks for more physical evidence to prove Santa Claus is real. With all the newspaper headlines filling their front pages with Santa on trial, the post office figures out a way to get rid of all the sacks of letters to Santa they have collecting dust in the basement. They send the sacks of letters to the courthouse. 

So Kris Kringle gets pardoned and is declared to be the one and only Santa Clause. But more importantly he's changed Mrs. Walker's heart into believing in people. Some will say it was more important in fulfilling Suzy's desire and Christmas request for a house with a tree swing, which comes into fruition in the end. But I believe it was more important for Mrs. Walker's heart to change because she has many more years of raising her daughter Suzy.  Like Mrs. Walker, we too struggle with believing in people. But as Maya Angelou would say,

"When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time."

Happy Friendsgiving

"42 to 21, like a turkey Ross is done!"

"Cheater, cheater, compulsive eater!"

Ahh, what's a little Thanksgiving amongst friends? Whether it's with family or friends there is always a Thanksgiving tradition to fall on, and for some of us in the 90's we had the television show Friends to bring us closer together. While most tv sitcoms accent Christmas, Friends was one of the few who made Thanksgiving special. After stuffing ourselves with turkey and football, Friends would come on with a humorous Thanksgiving episode to put a climax to our day before we polished off dessert with a Christmas movie.

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. I love spending it with family and friends, and always have so much to be thankful for. I think that is one of the reasons why I also enjoyed the Thanksgiving episodes of Friends, such as:

  Monica always having to add an exclamation point to every special dinner she cooked, being as precise and serious as any chef could be:

"You know Rachel, you are supposed to put those marshmallows in a concentric circle?"

"No Monica, you want to. I want to do this...." (Rachel shoves a miniature marshmallow up Monica's nose)

"Every year!" Monica exclaims.

Then we had the one where they played two-hand-touch football in between Monica's basting of the turkey.

"Chandler, you sweep to the left and get open. Rachel you go long."

"How long?"

"Long enough until you see us as tiny, little ants."

Then we had the one where Chandler had to spend Thanksgiving day in a box, just to prove to Joey how sorry he was for stealing his girlfriend.

And one of everyone's favorite, Joey gets Monica's turkey stuck on his head.

"I put it on to scare Chandler. Hurry up and get this off of me, it smells in here!"

" Well, what'd ya' think? You got your head shoved up a dead animal!"

What drew us close to all of the characters of Friends was they spent more time together than they did with their own families. They were their own little family. Today millennials are following suit, getting together with friends they haven't seen in awhile. They will meet either the day before Thanksgiving or the Friday after and call it Friendsgiving.

No matter where you live and who you spend this Thanksgiving with, may you have a blessed time with family and friends. And may you find yourself thankful for at least one thing in your life.
Here's one last favorite from Friends:

"Monica said I could make dessert this year," Rachel.

"Uh, you're gonna cook something?"Joey

"Huh, yeah, I cook." Rachel

"Offering people gum is not cooking." Chandler

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Que Dieu Soit Avec Vous

I find it ironic unfortunately of writing last week of America's lack of visibility of the American flag for fear of offending someone unless tragedy struck. And here we are today displaying our flags, feeling patriotic yet with anger as we should, as we stand in solidarity with our fellow allies in Paris, France and other parts of Europe.
And there is nothing wrong with that, as we grieve with the loss of lives in Paris, Beirut, and other parts of the world where evil has taken hold these past few days.

Somehow I think this is finally it, our true patriotism for our country and for our allies is here to stay. It's unfortunate that again it took loss of lives to stir up this once great nation. But we also need to remember to not let fear control our decisions nor our lives and the way we live them.

An early 19th century clergyman once said,

" Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously. Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky. Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones."

To my faithful readers in France and all over Europe, my prayers are with you. Stay strong.
May God be with you.

Christmas Hath No Fury

"What's the deal with Ovaltine? It comes in a round jar. It's served in a round cup.
They should call it Roundtine."

"That's gold, Jerry! Gold!"   - scene from a Seinfeld episode


This past week it was all about a red cup on social media. A red cup that didn't say Merry Christmas.
Someone allegedly complained that Starbucks Christmas cups didn't have any Christmas symbols or message on it, just the famous Starbucks logo. To me it sounds like a great marketing ploy started by a Starbucks employee or a competitor, because it went viral quickly throughout the world. And that's what the technology of today can do, it can take nothing and make it into something. Not only that, but it's free advertisement.

Have you noticed no one has complained about the McDonalds Christmas cup, which says absolutely nothing about Christmas either, yet comes in a red cup?

Hence, my thinking that this was all just a marketing ploy, and it worked!

This holiday season we need to remember not to get caught up in the so called Christmas Wars,

it's most likely a marketing ploy used by all of us on social media.

This and every Christmas should be about spending time with friends, family, celebrating the real reason for the season, and spreading love to those in need.

This photo is from a recent Night Ministry where we fed hot soup to over 100 people, some homeless, in the inner city of Chicago.

And I am sure throughout our country and world, each of us can at least find one person who is in need. Take your Christmas Spirit of love to a higher level this season. It's more fulfilling than that cup of coffee in a red cup.

Reminder: Just after Thanksgiving, I will begin my 7th year of posting Christmas movie reviews. I have some new exciting one's in store for you.

Excuse Me While I Offend You

"America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand." - Harry S. Truman


After 9/11 happened back in 2001 you couldn't go half-a-block anywhere in the USA without seeing the American flag proudly displayed. It was all over America: bumper stickers, flags on cars, house porches, store fronts, flags flying high outside schools and buildings, and pretty much everyone wore at least one t-shirt displaying the stars and stripes.

And now, fourteen years later, the flag is no longer displayed proudly by many. In fact, it has been taken out of some schools along with the pledge of allegiance, universities won't display it, and in some schools students are not allowed to wear anything that symbolizes the flag, and businesses are scared of displaying it for fear of losing business, all for the sake of fearing we might offend someone.  So much for all of the we will never forget.

Our once great, proud nation has become a nation of dare I say, wusses. The American flag was created and meant for being a symbol of Americanism. Today it constitutes a symbol to only the few and proud ( sorry Marines, had to steal that one!).

Within my researching of the American flag I found that there is an extensive flag etiquette for displaying the stars and stripes. And the United States Flag Code outlines specific guidelines for the use, display, and disposal of the flag if it should be damaged. They even have listed particular days throughout the year that the flag must be displayed at full staff (15 days) and half-staff (7 days, not included funerals).

So, why do we have a United States Flag Code if we are too afraid to display it for fear of offending anyone or disallowed to display it? Your guess is as good as mine.

Harry Truman was right when he said, "America was not built on fear", but somehow over the last 14 years we've let fear take over our once proud nation, our lives, and how we live.

With all of the great men in our history who fought to bring us freedom, we have negated all of their hard work and have gone from a nation to a stagnation. Oh sure, we can hope something bad happens to our country to bring us back to being proud patriotic Americans, but none of us really want it that way. That is why it is important to fight for your freedom, for your rights, and elect leaders who want to honestly see us become that great nation that we once were.

"Fear stifles our thinking and actions. It creates indecisiveness that results in stagnation."
- Charles Stanley

Don't let fear take hold of your actions. Display the American flag proudly.

Just recently I read a story where a Seattle University is dropping the Pledge of Allegiance and the display of the American flag from a Veteran's Day service. Really? Where would our freedom be, or what's left of it, without the men and women who served and sacrificed to protect our country?

This Veterans Day I choose to proudly display my American flag and thank the veterans who have served our country well. I hope you choose to do the same as well.