 |
 This is an "irresistible fable" that has become "synonymous with celebrating
Christmas." A guy who looks like Santa is hired at Macy's. He says his name
is Kris Kringle and gets everyone to have the Christmas spirit except his boss
and her daughter. Then Kris is put on trial and everyone has to confront the
question of "do you believe in Santa?" They note that Edmund Gwenn got a Best
Supporting Actor Oscar and that the movie also won for Best Original Story and
Best Screenplay. It is a "timeless tale of faith, love, and
imagination." 1947, 97 minutes, DVD
I knew that this movie would be okay when in the opening scenes, we see a Santa
Claus too wasted to sit up, laying down on his float right before the big Macy's
Thanksgiving Parade started. You always have to be a little wary with these
Christmas movies, because if you don't watch it, they'll lather on the
sentiment and
the feel-good goo so thick that you'll be ashamed to admit having watched the
dang thing let alone liking it. Now, I'm not going to sit here and tell you
that there isn't some degree of sentimentality and Christmas miracle (well look
at the title and that will clue you in right away) gar-bage going on here, but
they manage to keep it in check with enough harder edge activities that you
don't
mind being so mindlessly manipulated by it all. A good portion of the harder
edge stuff comes from the bowl full of jelly, hisself, Kris Kringle. Edmund
Gwenn won an Oscar for his portrayal of the real deal Santa Claus that for some
reason has escaped an old folks home and decided to wreak his holiday brand of
havoc on the capitalist pigs at Macy's, as well as firing up a little girl's
imagination, which has been stymied by her workaholic and very sensible mother.
Kris isn't the jolly shrinking violet that someone like say, Frosty the
Snowman was. Frosty of course was all fine and dandy until it got too warm
outside then he was boo-hoo-hooin' all the way back to his fortress of solitude
at the north pole or something. Always impressed me as being a bit of a
fair-weather friend if you ask me. This Kris Kringle dude though has a pretty
solid handle on things and doesn't mind getting in someone's face and cutting a
promo on them if they require it. He's got no use for drunken Santa imposters,
pop psychiatry, and doesn't mind going to trial to prove he is the one and only
Santa. That's no small feat. Going to trial is always a crap shoot. You
don't know if you can count on your no good brother-in-law to lie on the stand
for you, your lawyer won't ever return your calls, and the judge is usually
biased in favor of that lazy, fat-assed ex of yours that spends all your child
support on beer and cigs. So, you can imagine the respect I had for Santa when
he refused to cop a plea even though he had one of those freebie lawyers from
legal aid.  The movie begins with Doris Walker, single crabby mother, in charge of making
sure that none of the drunks in the Macy's parade get carried off by the
Underdog balloon and she finds Kris Kringle hassling this drunken Santa Clause.
Like all those classic movies where the understudy goes on after the star
breaks her leg or is killed by the Phantom, Kris steps into the roll on a
moment's notice and does a splendid job. We already know that he's Santa
because he tried showing the drunk Santa how to use the whip properly on the
reindeer (Mrs. Claus, you are one lucky lady!) and because he was busybodying
around a shop window trying to tell some pimply faced clerk in what order the
reindeer should be displayed. Doris has this little girl named Susan. She's
played by a very young and not yet drowned Natalie Wood. Doris was divorced
quite some time back, so she pretty much hates the world and manifests this by
raising her kid not to have any kind imagination and more importantly not to
believe in Santa Claus. That really shows how short sighted she is, because
most parents will tell you that the real fun is leading your kid on for several
years that there is a Santa Claus and then dropping the bomb on them that they
were just lying to them all along, just like when they told their kid they
loved them. Good times. Good times. So Susan is one of those street wise
kids that knows it all and thinks everything is bunk and that the world is
round and all that. Of course, deep down, she is still just a kid, in spite of
her mother's efforts to grind all of that out of her and Susan pretty much is
taken by Kris right away and kind of starts thinking that maybe there is
something to this Santa Claus thing. Backstage in the Macy's locker room,
Santa has an encounter with a young janitor named Chucky or something. Chucky
is one of those chubby, ugly do-gooders that likes to dress up as Santa and
hand gifts out to the kids at the Y. Santa is all for this, since anything is
better than having a drunk run around dressed like you and passing out on
parade floats. Santa encourages Chucky to keep up the good work. Chucky is
pretty much the reason that Santa has to go to court, but I assure all of you
it has nothing to do with a "locker room encounter" of any type.  Doris and Susan live in an apartment building along the parade route, which as
most of us know is a great place to meet eligible young attorneys who are prone
to take on cases of wrongfully accused Santas. In this case, there is this guy
named Fred who has been sucking up to Susan in an effort to get into her
mamma's drawers. I know what you guys out there are thinking: There has to be
an easier way. Well there isn't, so just suck it up and get interested in
Barbie Dolls and Holly Hobbie. Susan and Fred seem to be working together to
get her frigid, I mean reserved, mom to invite this sap over for dinner. Of
course Susan does her part in asking Doris to let her new buddy Frank come
over, but then asks Frank in front of Doris if that was the way he wanted her
to do it. Whoopser! Thanks for playing Frank! Luckily, Doris doesn't want to
hear Susan cry and moan all night, so she lets the guy come over anyway.
You've probably already gone ahead and identified this burgeoning relationship
as the love interest that is going to need a little help from Santa. I can
just hear old Kris Kringle say to Frank, "So how did the date end?" and "Let's
see who the audience voted for." Back at Macy's, they've decided to hire Kris
on as the department store Santa, since he comes with his own beard and
costume. He immediately shows himself to be one of those Santa's that plays by
his own rules, by promising kids toys their parents can't find, then telling
the parents to go get them at someplace other than Macy's, and even by speaking
Dutch! Does Janet Ashcroft know that this guy is speaking in foreign tongues?
For reasons that elude me at the moment, the people at Macy's are a bit
disconcerted that the dude they are paying to move overstocked merchandise
(there's a great scene where the scummy store manager is telling him to push the
toys they bought too many of) is sending the mindless consumer out to places
with better deals. Before they can put him on suspension though, the customers
tell them that they think it's great that Macy's has their best interests at
heart and that they will be buying all their stuff at Macy's from now on
(unless Santa tells them not to). The higher ups immediately see this as a
wonderful public relations opportunity, but Doris has already gone and fired
his fat ass. I wasn't exactly sure what she fired them for, but I think it was
because he was causing little Susan to ask too many uncomfortable questions
about why her mom is such a mean old hag. At some point, Santa has to pass some type of mental health exam to get his job
back or something. This is given by some pud at Macy's who fancies himself a
psychologist. He is a nasty old man and doesn't take kindly to the fact that
Santa is passing his dumb tests all the while making comments about what an
unhappy, nasty little man he must be. Santa's doctor from the old farts' home
where he escaped from, shows up and says that Santa won't hurt anyone, but that
it might be a good idea if he lived with someone in the city so that they could
keep an eye on him and give him a ride to work. Through the machinations of
the plot too ridiculous to tell, somehow Santa ends up rooming with Frank.
This allows Santa to hang out with Susan and teach her the importance of
pretending and stuff. She also tells Santa that the only thing she wants for
Christmas is this really sweet house in the suburbs. Sounds like every other
woman to me. Santa realizes that this is a tall order, even for an old crazy
guy like him, but I think we all can see where this is headed so lets get back
to Santa and his episode of workplace violence. It all starts innocently
enough when he's having lunch with Chucky (doesn't this dude have presents to
make and wrap?) and Chucky starts talking about how he's not going down to the
Y anymore because the store counselor (the one who gave Santa the mental exam)
told him that the only reason he did those good deeds is because he has a guilt
complex and is trying to make up for the bad stuff he did. Santa asks him what
he did that was so bad and Chucky tells him that he doesn't know, but that the
counselor told him they would have enough sessions until they dug it out of
him. Santa is enraged that this goon is practicing his armchair brand of
psycho babble on this kid and causing problems where there were none to begin
with. He goes off to confront the guy and Santa sets him straight, telling him
that he has no business playing his amateur headgames with poor little Chucky.
Then, just to make sure he's got his point across, he whaps the guy over the
head with his umbrella or cane or something and leaves. This dude ends up with
a big welt on his head and demands that Santa be committed since he's a menace
to society. They haul Santa away and he intentionally fails all the tests at
the nuthut because it's obvious that the world has turned into one giant
reindeer
turd sandwich.  Frank shows up and gives Santa a pep talk about how important it is that Doris'
kid stays happy so that Frank can get with Doris. They decide they there are
going to fight the commitment hearing and Frank embarks on an effort to prove
Kris Kringle really is Santa. It's a pretty good gimmick, putting Santa on
trial and the film does a good job of showing that it isn't the actual truth of
whether this guy is Santa or not, but whether people believe that he is Santa.
Frank also isn't above using lots of tried and true lawyer tricks to get his
client off, either. He puts on the prosecutor's own son to testify that Kris
is Santa and then he has the post office haul all those letters to Santa in and
dump them on the judge's bench. Like somehow the fact that the post office is
willing to get rid of all these letters to the first loser that claims to be
Santa is proof of anything other than the post office doesn't want all those
things cluttering up the dead letter office. What's great about this movie is
the underlying cynicism that pervades it. Santa has to go to court to prove
he's real? Only in America! The only reason the judge declares him to be
Santa is because he's concerned about his decision's ramifications on his
re-election bid? Only in America! Macy's only puts up with Kris sending
people to other stores, not because they have the best deal, but because it
gives Macy's good publicity? Only in America, baby! And what is the ultimate
dream gift for a little girl who has lost her faith and isn't sure what to
believe in? A brand new crib with a really big yard and a swing! What
happened to world peace and an end to hunger? Of course she gets it, because
Frank wins his big Santa case, buys a house out in the suburbs and I guess
somehow manages to convince Doris that a lawyer who just won the trial of the
century isn't such a bad catch at all. The movie was enjoyable and its message
that we could all benefit (you've just won a house!) from having a little faith
is a good one. Thankfully, Santa is portrayed as a guy who is trying hard to
make people believe again, but isn't about to suffer fools gladly. The best
scenes are anytime that Edmund Gwenn is on the screen. He looks like a real
Santa. Maybe not as big and fat as you would have thought Santa was, but he's
got that
crinkly-eyed look that says this Santa not only has a heart, but guts, too.
Maybe Frank's character is a bit much with all his babble about believing and I
don't think it's ever a good idea to live with your client, especially if he's
some type of escaped mental patient. You could also argue that Doris is a
be-otch for no reason and that she is won over far too easily at the end, but
Natalie Wood gives you the goods as the kid who desperately wants to believe in
spite of what her worthless mother has tried to hammer into her. When you've
got a Kris Kringle who's beating people up, getting acquitted, speaks Dutch,
and sets you up with a sweet new pad, it's not hard to understand how she's
able to learn to get some of that good old fashioned American-style Christmas
cheer into her. Recommended for greedy little brats everywhere!
Reviews © 2004
MonsterHunter
|
|
