Miracle on 34th Street (NBC Friday Night Special Presentation)

"Miracle on 34th Street" is the Christmas episode, broadcast November 27, 1959, of the American color anthology television series NBC Friday Night Special Presentation which showcased drama, comedy and musical entertainment (produced by TV veteran David Susskind) and occasional news special reports, while alternating once per month with The Bell Telephone Hour musical series, also in color, in the 8:30–9:30 pm time slot from September 11, 1959 until June 17, 1960.[1]

"Miracle on 34th Street"
NBC Friday Night Special Presentation episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 9
Directed byWilliam Corrigan
Written byTeleplay
by Harry Muheim
Based on the screenplay
by George Seaton
From the story
by Valentine Davies
Featured musicBinny
Cinematography byno cinematography credit
Original air dateNovember 27, 1959 (1959-11-27)
Guest appearance(s)

Plot

The story takes place between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day in New York City, and focuses on the impact of a department store Santa Claus who claims to be the real Santa.

Cast
  • Ed Wynn as Kris Kringle
  • Peter Lind Hayes as Fred Gaily
  • Mary Healy as Doris Walker
  • Orson Bean as Dr. William Sawyer
  • Loring Smith as Mr. Shellhammer
  • Hiram Sherman as R. H. Macy
  • Susan Gordon as Susan Walker
  • Lawrence Weber as Mr. Mara
  • John Gibson as Judge Harper
  • Joey Walsh as Al, post office employee
  • Arnie Freeman as Lou, post office employee
  • William Post, Jr. as Mr. Gimbel
  • Shirley Eggleston as Peter's mother
  • Frank Daly as the bailiff
  • William Griffis as first Santa Claus

Production

Casting

The movie stars Ed Wynn, a recent Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture nominee for 1956's The Great Man and soon-to-be Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nominee for that year's production of The Diary of Anne Frank.[2][3] Co-starring with Wynn were married actors and musical entertainers Peter Lind Hayes and Mary Healy who frequently performed together. Between 1949 and 1951 they were regulars on four TV shows and, during their prime decade, the 1950s, were seen almost continuously. Ten months after this broadcast, a sitcom built around their personal life, Peter Loves Mary, was on NBC's schedule for the 1960–61 season. Their marriage lasted 58 years, from 1940 until Hayes' death in 1998.

Also in the cast, playing the befuddled psychiatrist, was equally frequent TV performer Orson Bean, a regular, at the time, on the quiz show Keep Talking, and child actress Susan Gordon who, earlier that year, had worked on episodes of two other live TV series, Playhouse 90 and Goodyear Theatre as well as in two theatrical films, The Man in the Net and The Five Pennies.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]

Broadcast

Presented the Friday after Thankgiving, the live broadcast of Miracle on 34th Street was directed by William Corrigan.

Recording

The broadcast was long believed to have no surviving copies, but a kinescope was discovered at the Library of Congress where it was shown in December 2005. Susan Gordon who played Mary Healy's daughter and was ten at the time of the broadcast, attended the screening.[11] She was 56 and died six years later at the age of 62. Mary Healy lived to be 96 and died in 2015.

References
  1. Adams, Val. "SANTA CLAUS ROLE GOES TO ED WYNN Comic Gets Part in 'Miracle on 34th St.' on N.B.C.-TV — Sammy Glick Role Cast'" (The New York Times, August 7, 1959, page 47)
  2. Morse, Jim. "Ed Wynn's Recipe for Youth: He's a Firm Believer in Santa" (Toledo Blade, December 11, 1959, page 17)
  3. Morse, Jim. "Ed Wynn's Recipe for Youth: 'I'm Not an Elder Anything,' Says Clown - Turned Serious" (Toledo Blade, December 15, 1959, page 27)
  4. Photo caption: "'Miracle on 34th Street'—A bearded Ed Wynn beckons Susan Gordon. Mary Healy and Peter Lind Hayes play the parents on the N. B. C. show, Friday at 8:30 P. M." (The New York Times, November 22, 1959)
  5. Crump, William D. The Christmas Encyclopedia, 3d ed. (McFarland, 2001)
  6. Hischak, Thomas S. American Literature on Stage and Screen: 525 Works and Their Adaptations (McFarland, 2012)
  7. Terrace, Vincent. Television Specials: 5,336 Entertainment Programs, 1936-2012, 2d ed. (McFarland, 2013)
  8. R. F. S. "TV Review Ed Wynn, as Santa, Starts Yule Season" (The New York Times, November 28, 1959, page 43)
  9. Dube, Bernard. "DIAL TURNS Kris Kringle Comedy Features Ed Wynn" (The Gazette {Montreal}, November 28, 1959, page 27)
  10. Monush, Barry. "Holiday Cheer The Story of the Christmas Special" "The 'Miracle' Years" (The Paley Center for Media)
  11. Details regarding the Library of Congress screening of Miracle on 34th Street
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