The Great Rupert is a treasure starring Jimmy Durante. The movie is about aging vaudevillian performers falling on hard times, and the delightful antics of a squirrel who inadvertently showers them in blessings. The squirrel is very life like, but was actually done by animatronics, and is not really a trained pet squirrel. (As someone who has both been on movie sets and lived with a squirrel, I can tell you that making a movie with a squirrel cooperating on this level would be a miracle in itself).

The Amendola family are desperate to find accommodations, out of work acrobats, they are carrying all their worldly possessions. At the same time, Joe Mahoney who has a well trained squirrel named “The Great Rupert” as part of his act, must hit the road in search of work. He releases his squirrel into the park to fend for himself in the wild. The “Great Rupert,” used to living indoors, sneaks inside just as the Amendolas are taking possession of a tiny apt below their stingy landlord Mr. Dingle. He makes his home in the space between the two households.

As Christmas approaches the Amendolas fear eviction and Mrs. Amendola prays for a miracle. Suddenly money falls from the ceiling and they are able to pay their bills. Unbeknownst to them, Mr. Dingle is hiding the proceeds from his investments from the government inside his wall. Just where the “Great Rupert” has made his bed. Rupert, seeing the paper as a nuisance throws it away and the Amendola’s profit. The story is more about what should be done with good fortune than anything else, a different lighter take on the same theme as Scrooge.

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Christmas in Connecticut is a romantic Christmas tale warns of the pit-falls of lying. A successful food columnist has created a fictional life for herself, living on a farm in Connecticut with a husband and small child, In reality she lives alone in an apartment in the city and can’t cook. It is war time and a war hero takes inspiration in her writing, thinking of home. Her publisher thinks that a televised special with her cooking a welcome-home feast for him would be a great moral booster both at home and overseas. (Ironically. it was released just after the war ended when men were all returning home, and women were going back to their kitchens).

Christmas in Connecticut is a comical blend of mistaken identity, best laid plans that go haywire and wise elders who know what’s best for their loved ones. Barbara Stanwyck stars as Elizabeth Lane. With the help of her uncle Felix Bassenak, who is a chef, she uses her column to give his recipes a life of their own. In a desperate attempt to save her job and that of her editor, Elizabeth hatches a plan to continue her charade by marrying a friend who just happens to own a farm in Connecticut.

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They borrow a neighbor’s baby to show the producer and are just about to be wed (in secret) when the war hero Jefferson Jones arrives ahead of schedule. Lane falls in love at first sight and the judge is dismissed. Another baby is brought in the following day, and when it’s mother arrives to claim it, the producer Alexander Yardley thinks that it is being kidnapped. What’s more, a case of mistaken identity has Elizabeth and Jefferson spend the night in a jail cell. When they return her producer is livid, thinking she is the most irresponsible woman he has ever met. She comes clean with her duplicity and he fires her. But before he leaves, Felix entices him into the kitchen with one of his recipes and then suggests that his niece has other job offers. Alexander afraid to loose out on a good thing, rehires her and soon after Jefferson declares his love making her Christmas in Connecticut, one to remember.

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Miracle on 34th Street is all American Christmas classic that reminds us that anything is possible with a little faith in our fellow man. It is heartwarming and highlights many of the season’s traditions under a backdrop of progressive thinking and the conflicts that ensue, This black and white holiday movie has been both remade and colorized, but here we are offering Miracle on 34th Street in it’s original beauty.

Natalie Wood stars as Susan Walker a show stealing, very practical matter-of-fact child who being raised by a single Mom (Maureen O’Hara) is all too familiar with the realities of life. The story of Miracle on 34th Street is ultimately a romance, but it centers around a certain Kris Kringle played by Edmund Gwenn (aka Santa Claus) who is hired by O’Hara to be the Macy’s Parade Santa. He is super popular with the public as he speaks even to the foreigners in their native languages, and has a real beard and will direct parents to other stores, instead of pushing merchandise they don’t want. But he really gets into hot water when he declares that he is the real deal, not just some department store stand in.

It turns into a highly publicized court case that ensues which threatens to see Kris locked up in an insane asylum . John Payne playing lawyer Fred Gailey, comes to the old-timers defense. He is the neighbor to the Walkers and with the encouragement of Susan is spending more time with them, but he is desperate to find a suitable government authority to recognize Kris Kringle as the real Santa before Christmas.

Miracle on 34th Street is a feel good movie that’s filled with vintage ideals and nostalgia. A simple time when shopping for gifts was a pleasure and had to be done in a bricks and mortar store. Plus the American Dream wasn’t out of reach for most people. So for purely a feel good about life, Miracle on 34th Street scores an 8/10

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