Miracle on 34th Street is a 1947 English-language Comedy Drama film written and directed by George Seaton and produced by William Perlberg under the banner of 20th Century Fox. At the Macy's Department Store Thanksgiving Day parade, the actor playing Santa is discovered to be drunk by a whiskered old man. Doris Walker, the no nonsense special events director, persuades the old man to take his place. The old man proves to be a sensation and is quickly recruited to be the store Santa at the main Macy's outlet. While he is successful, Ms. Walker learns that he calls himself Kris Kringle and he claims to be the actual Santa Claus. Despite reassurances by Kringle's doctor that he is harmless, Doris still has misgivings, especially when she has cynically trained herself, and especially her daughter, Susan, to reject all notions of belief and fantasy. And yet, people, especially Susan, begin to notice there is something special about Kris and his determination to advance the true spirit of Christmas amidst the rampant commercialism around him and succeeding in improbable ways. When a raucous conflict with the store's cruelly incompetent psychologist erupts, Kris finds himself held at Bellevue where, in despair, he deliberately fails a mental examination to ensure his commitment. All ms lost until Doris' friend, Fred Gaily, reassures Kris of his worth and agrees to represent him in the fight to secure his release. To achieve that, Fred arranges a formal hearing in which he argues that Kris is sane because he is in fact Santa Claus. What ensues is a bizarre hearing in which people's beliefs are reexamined and put to the test, but even so, it's going to take a miracle for Kris to win. Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com). Miracle on 34th street stars Maureen O'hara in the lead role along with an ensemble cast including John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, Gene Lockhart, Natalie Wood, Porter Hall and William Frawley. The screenplay is written by George Seaton. The music was composed by Cyril J. Mockridge along with Alfred Newman and Cyril Mockridge. Cinematography was done by Lloyd Ahern and Charles G. Clarke and editing by Robert L. Simpson. The film has a running time of 96 minutes. It was released on 2nd October 1947 and it received positive reviews from critics when it was released and became successful at box office. Miracle on 34th Street was made on a budget of $0 million and it was a super hit at box office gross of $46 million. Distribution rights for the film were acquired by 20th Century Fox.