Miracle on 34th Street turns a department-store job into a legal test of Santa Claus. These 120 questions cover the 1947 classic, its courtroom miracle, the 1994 remake, and details even Mr. Sawyer would probably overanalyze.
Kris Kringle Arrives at Macy’s in the 1947 Film
Q: In what city does the 1947 Miracle on 34th Street take place?
A: New York City.
Q: What parade opens the 1947 film?
A: The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Q: Who notices that the parade Santa is intoxicated?
A: Kris Kringle notices it.
Q: Who is responsible for organizing the parade?
A: Doris Walker organizes it for Macy's.
Q: Who plays Kris Kringle in the 1947 film?
A: Edmund Gwenn plays him.
Q: Who plays Doris Walker?
A: Maureen O'Hara plays her.
Q: Who plays Susan Walker?
A: Natalie Wood plays her.
Q: Who plays attorney Fred Gailey?
A: John Payne plays him.
Q: Why does Doris hire Kris at the parade?
A: She needs an immediate replacement for the intoxicated Santa.
Q: What job does Macy's offer Kris after the parade?
A: He becomes the store's main Santa Claus.
Q: What surprising claim does Kris make about himself?
A: He says he truly is Santa Claus.
Q: What language does Kris use with a young Dutch girl?
A: He speaks Dutch with her.
Q: Why is the Dutch girl delighted to meet Kris?
A: She feared Santa would not understand her because she did not speak English.
Q: What unusual shopping advice does Kris give customers?
A: He directs them to other stores when Macy's lacks the requested item.
Q: How does Macy's management first react to Kris's referrals?
A: Managers are alarmed that he is sending customers to competitors.
Q: How do customers react to Macy's honest referral policy?
A: They praise the store and promise greater loyalty.
Q: What does R. H. Macy decide after hearing the positive response?
A: He adopts the helpful referral policy as company practice.
Q: Where do Doris and Susan live?
A: They live in an apartment near Central Park.
Q: Who lives in a neighboring apartment?
A: Fred Gailey lives nearby.
Q: How does Fred meet Susan?
A: He becomes friendly with her and brings her to watch the parade from his apartment.
Q: Why has Doris taught Susan not to believe in fairy tales?
A: Doris wants her daughter to be realistic and protected from disappointment.
Q: What holiday figure does Susan initially believe is imaginary?
A: She believes Santa Claus is make-believe.
Q: What does Susan notice about Kris's beard?
A: She discovers that it is real.
Q: What does Kris begin teaching Susan?
A: He teaches her imagination, playfulness, and faith.
Q: What facial expression does Kris help Susan practice?
A: He teaches her how to pretend she is a monkey.
Q: What special gift does Susan ask Kris to provide?
A: She asks for a specific house for her and Doris.
Q: What image does Susan show Kris?
A: She shows him a picture of her dream house.
Q: What does Susan promise if Kris gets the house?
A: She says she will believe he is Santa.
Q: What romantic interest develops around Doris?
A: Fred falls in love with her.
Q: Why does Fred admire Kris?
A: He believes Kris's kindness and the idea he represents deserve a fair defense.
Mr. Sawyer, Bellevue & the Courtroom Miracle
Q: Who is Granville Sawyer?
A: He is Macy's personnel psychologist.
Q: What does Sawyer think about Kris's claim?
A: He considers Kris delusional and potentially dangerous.
Q: Whom does Sawyer unfairly upset during an employee evaluation?
A: He upsets Alfred, a young employee who enjoys playing Santa for children.
Q: How does Kris react to Sawyer's treatment of Alfred?
A: He confronts Sawyer and strikes him with an umbrella.
Q: What does Sawyer do after the umbrella incident?
A: He uses it to argue that Kris should be committed.
Q: Where is Kris taken for evaluation?
A: He is taken to Bellevue Hospital.
Q: Why does Kris intentionally fail part of his examination?
A: He becomes discouraged and believes Doris helped arrange his commitment.
Q: Who decides to represent Kris?
A: Fred Gailey becomes his attorney.
Q: What legal question must the court resolve?
A: It must determine whether Kris is legally insane for claiming to be Santa Claus.
Q: Who presides over the hearing?
A: Judge Henry X. Harper presides.
Q: Who prosecutes the case?
A: District Attorney Thomas Mara prosecutes it.
Q: What political problem worries Judge Harper?
A: Declaring Santa nonexistent could anger families and voters.
Q: Who warns Judge Harper about the public consequences?
A: His political adviser, Charlie Halloran, warns him.
Q: What does Fred declare as his defense position?
A: He declares that Kris actually is Santa Claus.
Q: Whom does Fred call to testify about Santa's existence?
A: He calls District Attorney Mara's young son.
Q: What does Mara's son say about Santa Claus?
A: He says Santa exists because his father told him so.
Q: How does that testimony complicate the prosecution?
A: Mara cannot discredit his own son's belief without embarrassing himself.
Q: What evidence does the judge demand next?
A: He asks Fred to prove that Kris is the one and only Santa Claus.
Q: Which federal organization becomes central to Fred's proof?
A: The United States Post Office Department.
Q: Who suggests sending Kris a letter at the courthouse?
A: A postal employee learns that mail addressed to Santa can be delivered there.
Q: What happens to letters addressed to Santa Claus?
A: Postal workers send bags of them to Kris at the courthouse.
Q: What does Fred argue the delivered mail proves?
A: The federal government recognizes Kris as Santa by delivering Santa's mail to him.
Q: What happens when the mailbags are brought into court?
A: They cover the judge's bench and provide the decisive evidence.
Q: How does Judge Harper rule?
A: He dismisses the case and recognizes Kris as Santa Claus for the proceeding.
Q: What makes the postal argument legally clever?
A: It lets the judge rely on an official federal action rather than personally defining Santa.
Q: How does the crowd respond to the ruling?
A: The courtroom celebrates Kris's victory.
Q: What happens to Sawyer's position at Macy's?
A: His misconduct is exposed, and Macy orders him dismissed.
Q: What sacrifice does Fred make to defend Kris?
A: He leaves his law firm after a dispute over taking the case.
Q: Why does Doris initially question Fred's choice?
A: She fears he is risking practical security for an impossible case.
Q: What does Doris learn from Fred and Kris?
A: She learns that faith can be meaningful even when certainty is impossible.
The House, the Cane & 1947 Cast and Production
Q: Where do Doris, Susan, and Fred go on Christmas Day?
A: They drive to a gathering arranged around Kris's holiday plans.
Q: What route does Kris suggest for their drive home?
A: He gives Fred directions that take them past Susan's dream house.
Q: What does Susan see beside the road?
A: She sees the exact type of house she requested.
Q: What does Susan do when she sees the house?
A: She runs inside, believing Kris delivered it.
Q: What sign indicates that the house is available?
A: A for-sale sign stands outside it.
Q: What does Fred suggest to Doris at the house?
A: He suggests they marry and buy it together.
Q: What object does Fred find near the fireplace?
A: He finds Kris's distinctive cane.
Q: Why does the cane surprise Fred?
A: Kris could not have known Fred would take that exact route unless he had arranged it.
Q: What question does Fred ask after finding the cane?
A: He wonders whether he may have been wrong to doubt Kris.
Q: Who directed the 1947 film?
A: George Seaton directed it.
Q: Who wrote the screenplay?
A: George Seaton wrote the screenplay from Valentine Davies's story.
Q: Who created the original story?
A: Valentine Davies created it.
Q: Which studio released the film?
A: 20th Century Fox released it.
Q: When did the film open in the United States?
A: It opened in June 1947, despite its Christmas setting.
Q: Why was the film released during summer?
A: Studio head Darryl F. Zanuck believed more people went to movies in warmer weather.
Q: How did early advertising handle the Christmas plot?
A: Some promotions emphasized the cast and story without revealing the holiday focus.
Q: What title was used for the film in the United Kingdom?
A: It was released there as The Big Heart.
Q: Which Academy Award did Edmund Gwenn win?
A: He won Best Supporting Actor.
Q: Which screenplay Oscar did George Seaton win?
A: He won Best Screenplay.
Q: What Oscar did Valentine Davies receive?
A: He won for Best Original Story.
Q: For which major Academy Award was the film nominated?
A: It was nominated for Best Picture.
Q: How old was Natalie Wood during production?
A: She was eight years old during much of the filming.
Q: What did Natalie Wood reportedly believe about Edmund Gwenn during filming?
A: She initially thought he might really be Santa Claus.
Q: Were scenes filmed at the actual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade?
A: Yes, footage was filmed during the real 1946 parade.
Q: Why did the parade footage require careful planning?
A: The production had one chance to capture the live annual event.
Q: Which real department store is portrayed as Macy's rival?
A: Gimbels is the principal rival.
Q: Who plays R. H. Macy in the film?
A: Harry Antrim plays him.
Q: Who plays Judge Harper?
A: Gene Lockhart plays him.
Q: Who plays District Attorney Mara?
A: Jerome Cowan plays him.
Q: What does the film suggest retail competition can become?
A: It suggests competition can reward honesty and customer service rather than selfishness.
The 1994 Remake, Other Adaptations & Version Differences
Q: In what year was the best-known theatrical remake released?
A: It was released in 1994.
Q: Who plays Kris Kringle in the 1994 film?
A: Richard Attenborough plays him.
Q: Who plays Dorey Walker in the remake?
A: Elizabeth Perkins plays her.
Q: Who plays Susan Walker in the remake?
A: Mara Wilson plays her.
Q: Who plays attorney Bryan Bedford?
A: Dylan McDermott plays him.
Q: Who directed the 1994 remake?
A: Les Mayfield directed it.
Q: What is the fictional department store in the 1994 film?
A: Cole's Department Store.
Q: Why does the remake not use Macy's as its main store?
A: Macy's declined to participate, so the story uses Cole's.
Q: What rival company tries to take over Cole's?
A: Shopper's Express pursues the takeover.
Q: Who plays the rival executive Victor Landberg?
A: Joss Ackland plays him.
Q: What is the name of the intoxicated original Santa in the remake?
A: Tony Falacchi is the fired Santa.
Q: How does Falacchi later hurt Kris's case?
A: He provokes Kris into a confrontation that is recorded and used against him.
Q: What does Susan ask Kris for in the remake?
A: She asks for a father, a baby brother, and a house.
Q: What relationship does Bryan have with Dorey?
A: He is her boyfriend and later proposes marriage.
Q: What does Susan want Bryan and Dorey to do?
A: She wants them to marry.
Q: What inscription inspires the 1994 courtroom solution?
A: The words In God We Trust on American currency inspire it.
Q: What argument does Bryan make from that inscription?
A: The government recognizes belief in God without requiring physical proof, so the court can similarly allow belief in Santa.
Q: How does the judge rule in the remake?
A: He declares that Santa exists in the person of Kris Kringle for the case.
Q: What happens to Cole's after Kris's public victory?
A: Public support helps protect the store from the takeover.
Q: What clue suggests Susan's wishes may come true?
A: She finds the dream house and notices signs that Dorey may be pregnant.
Q: How does the 1994 ending differ from the 1947 cane clue?
A: It emphasizes Susan's three wishes rather than Fred finding Kris's cane.
Q: What 1955 television anthology adapted the story?
A: The 20th Century-Fox Hour presented a televised version.
Q: Who played Kris in the 1955 television adaptation?
A: Thomas Mitchell played Kris.
Q: What 1959 television production also retold the story?
A: A live NBC adaptation aired in 1959.
Q: What 1973 format gave the story a musical television version?
A: A television movie titled Miracle on 34th Street used a musical adaptation.
Q: Who played Kris in the 1973 television movie?
A: Sebastian Cabot played him.
Q: What Broadway musical was based on the story?
A: Here's Love, later often presented as Miracle on 34th Street: The Musical.
Q: Who wrote the Broadway musical?
A: Meredith Willson wrote its music, lyrics, and book.
Q: Which character name changes from Doris to Dorey in 1994?
A: Susan's mother receives the updated name Dorey Walker.
Q: What theme remains constant across the major versions?
A: Kris challenges a practical family and a skeptical legal system to make room for faith, generosity, and imagination.
How Did You Score?
If you knew Fred’s legal strategy, Susan’s dream house, and both rival department stores, the court finds you festive beyond a reasonable doubt. Please celebrate without redirecting Macy’s customers.
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