Miracle On 34th Street

Miracle on 34th St. (Turner Classic Movies). "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947) began life as a short story by Valentine Davies and ended up being one of the most beloved Christmas films of all time. In it, Doris, a divorcee who works at Macy's (Maureen O'Hara) raises her young daughter Susan (Natalie Wood) in a very no-nonsense manner. And that includes not believing in Santa Claus. Enter Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn), playing Macy's Santa Claus. Kringle is a sweet old man and an excellent Santa but there is one small problem - he actually believes he's Santa, which results in his being committed to an institution and lawyer Fred Gailey (John Payne) defending him. 

​ "Miracle on 34th Street" was released on May 2, 1947, despite being a Christmas film. Zanuck thought that more people went to the movies in the summer and wanted to get back his costs. He did. The low-budgeted film grossed $2,650,000 in the United States alone. It won three Academy Awards - Best Supporting Actor for Edmund Gwenn, Best Writing, Original Story for Valentine Davies, and Best Writing, Screenplay for George Seaton's adaptation. It was also nominated for Best Picture but lost to another Fox film, "Gentleman's Agreement" (1947). From: http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article.html?id=453448%7C359279