7/10
A thrill for early TV audiences, and for us years later, not bad for a shortened version of the Christmas classic.
22 December 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Best known for his feisty role as Pop O'Hara in the epic "Gone With the Wind", Thomas Mitchell was a delightful character actor whose old world spirit made him a fan favorite. To be cast as Kris Kringle, the Macy's Santa who claims to be the real deal, was an inspired idea for T.V. anthology series, and he grabs the role with gusto just as young Sandy Descher does his beard. Equally as lovable but forgotten in this role thanks to the Oscar Winning performance of Edmund Gwenn, Mitchell is even more jolly thanks to his Irish charm and holiday spirit. Descher is perhaps a more natural actress than Natalie Wood who sometimes seemed forced and cloying in her attempts at acting. Teresa Wright lacks the warmth of Maureen O'Hara, even in that character's initial cynicism, you could tell that O'Hara was laying on her emotions while Ms. Wright is far less glamorous and thus seems icier even as the character warms up to Mitchell's charms.

Taking over the John Payne part is that Mr. "Sands of the Hour Glass" himself, MacDonald Carey, who would dress up on occasion as "Days of Our Lives'" Tom Horton. His performance is nicely layered as he manages, along with Mitchell, to warm up Descher to the joys of childhood, and breaks through Wright's frozen form as he romances her much to Ms. Descher's delight. Also very funny are Hans Conried as the head of personnel, John Abbott as an ultra-nervous psychiatrist, Ray Collins as the perplexed judge and Don Beddoe as Mr. Macy himself.

I am not much of a Santa Claus fan in the year 2015 as the obsession with going crazy to find the perfect gift and the lack of the real meaning of Christmas has been over-shadowed with his presence and not in the old-fashioned manner. However, in growing up, there was a correlation between Santa and the real meaning of Christmas, and here, it is given more than just the slightest hint that Santa believes in more than just gift giving, just as the hints would be made about the very first Christmas by Mickey Rooney's Santa in "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". This helped remind me of what joy I used to feel at Christmas and returned my somewhat missing holiday spirit.

While this isn't a classic in the sense of the original version (and greatly overshadowed by it), it is certainly remarkable and nicely done in the sense that at this time, the movie had not been made ready for T.V. broadcast. Probably still shown in repeat movie theater runs, it would be held for years in addition to other holiday classics. So even at just 45 minutes, this is perfectly joyous and to see Mr. Macy and Mr. Gimble shaking hands and laughing over the irony of it really does bring out the true meaning of what the real Father Christmas wanted: Peace and joy and good will between men. If big business rivals can shake hands on the holidays, why can't the rest of us?
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