It IS a Bit of a Miracle

When I was a kid, my LEAST favorite holiday movie was Miracle on 34th Street. Well, this year, that all changed.

First, I melted into tears when the little Dutch girl got on Santa's lap and he could sing the Christmas song with her. That's one of the sweetest scenes ever.

And Thelma Ritter is priceless. She has a gem of a scene where she is amazed at Macy's new policy of referring customers to other stores for the best deals. I LOVE her! She's even better in Rear Window.

The rest of the movie pokes fun at psychology, commerce, government, the courts, and the conflict between practicality and idealism. But my favorite semi-profound scene is:

The new Macy's store Santa Claus -- he calls himself Kris Kringle -- has undergone a mental evaluation by the company's intelligence tester who has determined that Kris is insane with violent tendencies.

Desperate to keep Kris at Macy's because of his popularity, the Assistant Store Manager speculates that Kris may not be so bad after all:

"Maybe he's just a little insane. Like composers. Or painters. Or some of those men in Washington."