George Seaton (1)Critiques

At the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the actor playing Santa Claus is discovered to be drunk by a whiskered old man. Doris Walker, the no nonsense special events director, persuades him to take his place. He proves to be a sensation and is quickly recruited to play Santa at the main store. While he is successful, Doris learns that he calls himself Kris Kringle and he claims to be the actual Santa Claus. Despite reassurances by his doctor that he is harmless, Doris still has misgivings, especially when she has cynically trained herself, and especially her six-year-old 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 among the rampant commercialism around him and succeeding in improbable ways. When a raucous conflict with the store's cruelly incompetent therapist, Granville Sawyer, erupts, he finds himself held at Bellevue where, in despair, he deliberately fails a mental examination to ensure his commitment. All seems lost until Doris' neighbor, Fred Gailey, reassures him 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.

The real Santa is hired by Macy's to play the department store's Santa in the Thanksgiving Day parade, but has to prove in court that he is who he says he is.

2024 movie #45. 1954. A frumpy (Grace Kelly?!) is married to a washed up alcoholic stage actor (Crosby) who is fighting to hang on to his last chance star acting job. Kelly won her only Oscar for this film. Beating out sure favorite Judy Garland (A Star is Born).

Il film (storica ricostruzione delle apparizioni mariane di Lourdes a Bernadette Soubiros del 1858) è tratto dal libro "Sonata per Bernadette" di Franz Werfel, scritto da quest'ultimo mentre si trovava a Lourdes nel 1940, aiutato da una organizzazione cattolica a scappare dall'Europa Nazifascista per via delle sue origini ebraiche.

Experiences of two Air Force sergeants during the 1948 Berlin Airlift. (fonte: Imdb)

Acting: 5.0; Theme: 5.0; Language: 5.0; Content: 5.0; Overall: 5.0

After a divorced New York mother hires a nice old man to play Santa Claus at the Macy's Christmas parade, she is startled by his claim to be the genuine article. When his sanity is questioned, a lawyer defends him in court by arguing that he's not mistaken.

***December 15, 2021***
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Well acted, clever plot. Black and white.

In this psychological war-drama an Army Major is captured by the Germans during World War II. They attempt to brainwash him into believing the war is over and that he is safe in an Allied hospital, so that he will divulge Allied invasion plans. (fonte: imdb)

Un commerciante specializzato nella vendita di petrolio, boicottato dagli alleati a causa dei suoi rapporti di lavoro con i nazisti, accetta di spiare i tedeschi per poter salvare la propria reputazione. L'uomo passa tutte le informazioni ottenute a Collins, un esperto dell'intelligence britannica. (fonte: Wikipedia)

Nella lista nera della seconda guerra mondiale, un operatore petrolifero svedese opta per aiutare gli alleati britannici, infiltrandosi e ispezionando la Germania nazista.

The Marx Brothers try to save a sanitarium.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: A

Enjoyment: B

GPA: 2.6/4½

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Helen Hayes - 1971

A man who claims to be Santa Claus gets a sanity hearing.

Cute and amusing. Surprisingly, it doesn't feel very Christmassy for a movie that has so much to say about Christmas.

Concept: A
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: A
Cinematography: D
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C

Enjoyment: B

GPA: 2.9/4½

Tear-jerker, based on true story. Uneven production values.
IMDB: "A war correspondent who was stationed in Paris during WW II married a French girl who was murdered by the Nazis. After the war he returns to to try to find his son, whom he lost during a bombing raid but has been told is living in an orphanage in Paris."

Christmas classic

Tells the story of Bernadette's vision of the Virgin Mary in Lourdes in 1858.

A war correspondent who was stationed in Paris during WWII married a French girl who was murdered by the Nazis. After the war he returns to to try to find his son, whom he lost during a bombing raid but has been told is living in an orphanage in Paris. (fonte: Imdb)

BERNADETTE

(1947)
Starring: Maureen O'Hara, John Payne Director: George Seaton Rating NR