That Scottish accent of Edmund Gwenn's could never be duplicated in this cut down made for TV version of Miracle On 34th Street and Thomas Mitchell doesn't try. Still Mitchell does a fine job as the man who thinks he's Santa Claus and convinces a lot of people he is before this is over.
What's lost here a lot is the romantic connection between Macdonald Carey playing the lawyer and Teresa Wright as the Macy's executive stepping into the familiar roles that John Payne and Maureen O'Hara made memorable. Also the scenes with mother and daughter where war widow O'Hara tries to educate daughter Natalie Wood that it's not a world for fairy tales. Sandy Descher plays Natalie Wood's part.
This is an acceptable, good, but not outstanding version of a classic.
What's lost here a lot is the romantic connection between Macdonald Carey playing the lawyer and Teresa Wright as the Macy's executive stepping into the familiar roles that John Payne and Maureen O'Hara made memorable. Also the scenes with mother and daughter where war widow O'Hara tries to educate daughter Natalie Wood that it's not a world for fairy tales. Sandy Descher plays Natalie Wood's part.
This is an acceptable, good, but not outstanding version of a classic.