Miracle

I have also audited Miracle on 34th Street, the 1947 classic starring Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, and 8-year-old Natalie Wood.  You just can't do Christmas without Miracle!

My favorite scene is watching Judge Harper (Gene Lockhart, a native of London, Ontario) being submerged in letters to Santa.  It's instructive to see the U.S. Post Office providing the "authoritative evidence" required to determine if Kris is Santa.  With the USPS struggling to keep afloat these days, this scene is a reminder of how crucial a role the Post Office plays in American life.  It's a role not often or fairly acknowledged.

A few days ago some congressman was interviewed on TV regarding Health Care Reform.  He said, "We've all been to the Post Office.  Well, I don't want going to my doctor to be like going to the Post Office!"  Actually, in all my years I've found most postal employees to be pleasant, efficient, and helpful.  I think the USPS does a great job.  As for our healthcare system, I wouldn't want it to be run by people like that idiot congressman who flies into Washington, D.C., on Tuesdays and flies home on Thursdays, does little useful work, and collects $174,000 plus benefits.

I was also interested to learn that the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade shown in Miracle — probably the 1946 parade — was the real deal.  This part of the movie was filmed in "one take" by multiple cameras set up along the parade route.  Edmund Gwenn was that year's Santa.  What would they have done if it had rained? •••