Christmas Watch: Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Watched:  12/23/2023

Format:  Amazon

Viewing:  Unknown

Director:  George Seaton

We watch this movie pretty much every year, and I wasn't feeling great yesterday, so I put it on as something I could kind of half-watch.  

I hope you've seen the movie, and if you haven't, I recommend you do watch it.  It's a lovely bit of Christmas Magic in convenient movie form that doesn't rely on mid-life crises or devastating the audience in order to work, Frank Capra.  

But because the movie is so well known and I've written it up before here and here and here, that's not going to be what I write up here.  Instead, we're going to get weird.

In high school, I had coaches for a few classes, including economics and a sort of life skills class, that was probably "health".  They liked to show movies, and so I saw, like, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance for absolutely no reason other than that it's a banger.  In Economics we watched It's a Wonderful Life because there's a scene with a bank run.  And in one of these classes, they showed us Miracle on 34th Street (1947).   There was no attempt to frame it as part of the curriculum, we just watched it because why not (I'm guessing there was no mid-year final).

In some ways, this movie - and finding out about Jimmy Stewart in Harvey - were kind of ground zero for me getting that "classic film" was just "film" but that we should be checking movies out from prior years, much as one reads books written in prior decades.  And "classic film", as we thought of it at the time - and as curated by American Movie Classics (now AMC) the infant Turner Classic Movies (now TCM) - was a great opportunity to watch things people thought you might get some value out of - you weren't necessarily getting straight trash of yesteryear.

But, if I'm being honest, as much as I enjoyed Miracle on 34th Street for the classic film it was, I also had not seen Maureen O'Hara before.  And, hoo boy, did she land like a ton of bricks on my not-prepared 17-year-old brain.  

Back then, I wasn't one for necessarily crushing on people in movies or TV.  I generally believed media ran by roller coaster rules of "you must be this good looking to be on TV or in movies", and I was generally aware of who was considered the sexy-folk in media in any given year.  I recall thinking, say, Linda Hamilton was a good idea, or Sean Young.  But those were relatively contemporary media stars.  But somehow Maureen O'Hara walked into the film with the largest coat I'd seen on anyone since Sean Young in Blade Runner, and my attention for this Christmas movie snapped into focus.  

I mean, clearly it was because of the slinky outfits

Anyway, that was my introduction to Maureen O'Hara.  It's possible I'd seen her in something else previously, but I don't recall.  But... after that, I started actually seeking out Maureen O'Hara movies, which was something I'd only really previously done with action heroes.  

Look, I like Miracle on 34th Street for what it is.  It's a great movie.  But it's also a reminder that my entree to classic film may have come via Maureen O'Hara: Thirst Trap.  And, of course, turned out she wasn't the only one over the years.  Longtime followers have probably followed me on this journey.

rawr

Anyway, let's just say Against All Flags is a particular highlight if you, too, want to check in on Maureen O'Hara.  

It's not the most wholesome admission, and certainly it's no longer my *only* criteria for digging into movies or figuring out what I'll watch next, but it does help.

I assume Jamie is not threatened by the elderly and dead actors of yesteryear.  You'll need to check in with her.  

Why Maureen O'Hara as a divorcee working mom seemed wildly appealing to 17 year old me is one of those mysteries we'll never solve.  I know young dudes are supposed to be excited by, like, the women of Baywatch at that age.  But, nope.  This was what fired my neurons.  

"Hey, you know there's a 17-year-old in 1992 who suddenly thinks you're a great idea?"

Before this gets creepy, I'll wrap it up.  But here's to Maureen O'Hara and very good teeth.