History Film / MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet

* TheRuntAtTheEnd: At the climactic moment of the film, a parade of burly bailiffs stream into the courtroom each toting two large bags of mail; the parade ends with a smaller bailiff carrying a single bag.

* InsistentTerminology: When Fred Gailey has Mr. Macy on the stand, and asks him if he's the owner of one of the biggest department store chains, Mr. Macy corrects him, "*The* biggest."

* CigarChomper: Charlie, Judge Harper's campaign manager, is never seen without a cigar in his mouth (though, as he points out to the guard in court, it isn't lit).

* ChewOutFakeOut: Mr. Macy reveals his knowledge of the store's new Santa sending people to other stores in a loud rant that makes him seem angry, with only to reveal that if anything he is upset that no one else came up with the idea sooner.

* BrooklynRage: In one scene with Kris, a harried woman (played memorably by Thelma Ritter) is about the most "New Yawk" character in 1940's film: she has the accent, brusqueness, and short temper down to a science.

* HateSink: Mr. Sawyer.

* LastSecondWordSwap: Mr. Shellhammer comes up with the idea of getting his wife drunk to make her more receptive at taking in Kris as a boarder, and tells Doris he'll call when his wife is "plaster -- er, feeling better".

* OhCrap: Doris has this reaction after Mr. Macy has heartily congratulated her on hiring Kris. She'd just gotten through firing him.

* TakeThisJobAndShoveIt: When Fred's law firm orders him to drop the case, he walks out on the spot. He justifies it to Doris as wanting to open his own practice soon regardless.

* ThanksgivingEpisode: The story begins on Thanksgiving Day, with Kris being pressed into service for the Macy's parade.

** In 1973, Sawyer just thinks Kris is a fascinating case study and when his first exam doesn't go well, he plots to have Kris committed so he can have another chance to perform a psychiatric examination on him. Kris turns this around on him by deliberately failing the exam to force him into a public trial where he can prove his ideals to the world. Sawyer gets fired again.

* RomancingTheWidow: Or the divorcee at least. In the 1947 version, Fred Gailey admits he was spending so much time with Susan because he hoped being friendly to her would help him to meet her mother. Bill Schafner in 1973 doesn't have any ulterior motives in befriending Susan, but does start to romance her mother once they meet up. In 1994, although Bryan and Dorey are already dating before the movie begins, we do get evidence that this trope is still in effect - especially given Dorey's sudden cold shoulder when Bryan proposes marriage. All three films portray the romance as necessary for the divorcee to learn to love and believe in others again.

** [[HonestCorporateExecutive R.H Macy]] who gently chides Doris and Shellhammer for not consulting with the advertising department beforehand, but congratulates them for the success of their(actually Kris') goodwill policy and expands it, giving them and Kris a generous bonus as well. He's furious when Sawyer has Kris committed and stands up for Kris in court, firing Sawyer for his malicious actions.

* SweetAndSourGrapes: At one point, Kris instructs a frustrated woman who's been trying to find a fire engine toy for her son to check Schoenfeld's Department Store, as Macy's doesn't have any in stock. This seemingly breaks the cardinal rule of retail -- never, ''ever'' give your competition business -- and goes against the orders of Julian Shellhammer, the head of the toy department and Kris's boss. It seems like things will end badly for Mr. Kringle... until the grateful woman tells Julian that she's so impressed by Kris's commitment to giving her son a good Christmas that she'll be doing ''all'' of her shopping at Macy's from now on. By losing out on one sale, the store thus gains a loyal, lifetime customer, which is about the best gift any business can receive.

* SweetAndSourGrapes: At one point, Kris instructs a frustrated woman who's been trying to find a fire engine toy for her son to check Schoenfeld's Department Store, as Macy's doesn't have any in stock. This seemingly breaks the cardinal rule of retail--never, ''ever'' give your competition business--and goes against the orders of Julian Shellhammer, the head of the toy department and Kris's boss. It seems like things will end badly for Mr. Kringle...until the grateful woman tells Julian that she's so impressed by Kris's commitment to giving her son a good Christmas that she'll be doing ''all'' of her shopping at Macy's from now on. By losing out on one sale, the store thus gains a loyal, lifetime customer, which is about the best gift any business can receive.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: With a holiday twist. Besides Fred and Kris himself, most of the characters in the film are [[EnlightenedSelfInterest simply looking out for themselves]]. What's actually pretty brilliant is the fact that lots of cynical players and actors end up accidentally helping Kris out for reasons of their own -- the judge's desire to be re-elected, the postal workers' desire to get rid of the Santa letters, and the NYC newspapers' desire for a juicy story. Without all those people's utterly self-serving actions, Fred would have lost the case.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: With a holiday twist. Besides Fred and Kris himself, most of the characters in the film are [[EnlightenedSelfInterest simply looking out for themselves]]. What's actually pretty brilliant is the fact that lots of cynical players and actors end up accidentally helping Kris out - the judge's desire to be re-elected, the postal workers' desire to get rid of the Santa letters, and the NYC newspapers' desire for a juicy story. Without all those people's utterly self-serving actions, Fred would have lost the case.

* SweetAndSourGrapes: At one point, Kris instructs a frustrated woman who's been trying to find a fire engine toy for her son to check Schoenfeld's Department Store, as Macy's doesn't have any in stock. This seemingly breaks the cardinal rule of retail--never give your competition business--and goes against the orders of Julian Shellhammer, the head of the toy department and Kris's boss. It seems like things will end badly for Mr. Kringle...until the grateful woman tells Julian that she's so impressed by Kris's commitment to giving her son a good Christmas that she'll be doing ''all'' of her shopping at Macy's from now on. By losing out on one sale, the store thus gains a loyal, lifetime customer, which is about the best gift any business can receive.

* YourCostumeNeedsWork: Averted. Multiple people make a point of observing that Kris and his outfit are a cut above Macy's usual run of store Santas. Even little Susan, after seeing him in the Thanksgiving parade, tells her mother "He's much better than last years".

* YourCostumeNeedsWork: Averted. Multiple people make a point of observing that Kris and his outfit are much better than Macy's usual run of store Santas.

* YourCostumeNeedsWork: Averted. Multiple people make a point of stating that Kris is doing a much better job than Macy's usual run of store Santas.

* CourtroomAntic: Fred Gailey's work in the hearing such as arguing Kris is sane because he is the one and only Santa Claus (as legitimized by the post office sending him what would otherwise be dead letter mail; also Fred entering this evidence at the eleventh hour in a very disruptive fashion), putting the prosecutor's son on the stand to make him concede a legal point and of course the parade of mailbags at the end. Justified in that the Judge was worried about the political fallout from this hearing if he was forced to rule against Kris and was more than willing to give Gailey as much chance to legitimately win as he can.

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Though Fred genuinely believes Kris is the real deal and attempts to put up a legitimate case, he has nothing against using unprofessional guilt trips and manipulation of the sentimentality of Christmas to hinder prosecution (perhaps most blatantly his CourtroomAntic of using the opposing lawyer's own son to prevent him stating his claim). He ends up HoistByHisOwnPetard by the ending, where he and Doris are left buying Susan's dream house thanks to Kris.

* TakeAThirdOption: Twist on this: Fred's CourtroomAntic has put the prosecutor in the position of admitting before an open court ''and his son'' that there is no Santa Claus. The prosecutor responds by basically saying, "Okay, maybe there is a Santa Claus, but that's not the point. The point is this man claims to be Santa Claus. So, prove to this court that he is." In so doing, he actually manages to steer the case back on point and put Fred on the defensive. And he almost wins.

An important subplot revolves around Doris, the store PR manager who hired Kris, and her young daughter Susan. Susan has never believed in Santa Claus because her [[BrokenBird bitter divorced mother]] doesn't want her to indulge in fantasies, but meeting Kris causes both of them to start wondering. There's also a romance subplot between Doris and Fred, Kris's defense attorney.

The original film version, released in 1947, was directed by George Seaton and starred Creator/EdmundGwenn as Kris Kringle, Creator/MaureenOHara as Doris Walker, Creator/NatalieWood as her daughter Susan, and Creator/JohnPayne as lawyer Fred Gailey. It was a box office success, won three UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s (for Gwenn's supporting role, Seaton's screenplay, and Valentine Davies' original story), and is shown on television around Christmas each and every year.

** This trope is taken UpToEleven with the "goodwill war" between R.H. Macy and Mr. Gimbel, the respective heads of their stores. Kris's policy of sending customers to other shops spreads throughout Macy's, and Gimbel retaliates by doing the same on a national level, with Macy responding in kind. Though the two are technically missing out on sales and helping their rivals, they also generate a massive amount of good publicity, which translates to massive profits from new, dedicated shoppers (something no amount of money could buy).

** Judge Henry X. Harper. He's an honest man who wants to do the right thing but knows exactly how badly the case could blow up on him. In spite of this conundrum, he upholds his duty throughout the trial.