Scenes from Miracle on 34th Street, John Payne's favorite role

Some scenes from "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947) directed by George Seaton, starring Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn and Natalie Wood.

Fred Gailey (John Payne): "Look Doris, someday you're going to find that your way of facing this realistic world just doesn't work. And when you do, don't overlook those lovely intangibles. You'll discover those are the only things that are worthwhile. Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to."

Kris's patience and kindness eventually begin to win Susan over. At Macy's Susan is surprised to see Kris talking and singing with another little girl, a war orphan, in her native Dutch. Just as Susan is beginning to think maybe Kris really is Santa Claus after all, Macy's curmudgeonly human resources director - and amateur psychologist (Porter Hall) - threatens to have Kris committed as a dangerous lunatic.

Just about everything in Miracle on 34th Street plays to perfection. The ensemble cast of character actors such as Porter Hall, Jerome Cowan (as the unenviable district attorney), Philip Tonge (as Shellhammer, Doris's co-conspirator), Gene Lockhart and William Frawley (as the pragmatic judge and his no-nonsense advisor) are all marvelous. Alvin Greenman, later a respected casting director, is especially sincere and authentic as the pudgy, overtly New York-Jewish janitor Alfred, while Thelma Ritter adds similar verisimilitude as a harried shopper. O'Hara is fine as Doris, and Payne impressive as Fred Gailey.

Payne typically starred in Fox musicals before this, and Westerns for film and television thereafter, but this undoubtedly is his legacy; odd that Fox didn't cast him in more roles like this. Natalie Wood, who reportedly believed Gwenn really was Santa during filming, gives one of the best-ever child performances in an American film, though the character's jaded sophistication helps somewhat, i.e., Susan is herself "acting," grown-up that is. I'm always impressed by the film's ambiguity; Seaton and Davies are extraordinarily clever here. There's not a shred of hard evidence that Kris is anything other than an eccentric old man. Unlike most Christmas-themed movies, there are no reindeer in sight, no elves in the wings, no acts of magic. Even the famous, often misinterpreted ending leaves it up to the viewers to decide whether or not Kris Kringle and Santa Claus are one and the same. Source: www.dvdtalk.com

Today is the 24th Anniversary of John Payne's passing. Born John Howard Payne on 28 May 1912 in Roanoke (Virginia, USA), he died on 6 December 1989 in Malibu, California, USA.

John Payne was a man of seemingly insatiable interests, athleticism, dramatic talent, as well as being shy and humble, and possessed of a highly impressive work ethic. Payne was born in 1912, to a wealthy Virginia family; dad George was in real estate and construction and mom Ida, a former opera singer. They had 3 boys, George (“Billy”), the oldest, who had a troubled life, our subject John Howard, named after his great uncle, who wrote the song “Home Sweet Home”, and the youngest, Ralph, who became a minister. In October 1929, when John was 17, the family lost almost everything in the stock market crash, and father George Payne died of a stroke only three months later. Nearly everything of value in the mansion was sold or taken away to pay off debts, but Ida Payne made the best of it by renting out the rooms for parties, banquets and weddings. Although there was enough money left to pay the boys’ tuition, John not only pitched in, but was amazingly resourceful, working constantly at a wide variety of jobs to help out at home and also support himself while studying at Columbia and Juilliard. At Christmas John sold wreaths he made out of greenery that grew on the property, as well as selling fresh eggs and veggies through the year (they kept the chickens). He worked as a nanny for the neighbor children, a switchboard operator, boxed and wrestled for $25 a night, and delivered newspapers. He caddied at the golf club where the family had once been members, and for two summers he worked on cruise ships which gave him the opportunity to see Europe, the Caribbean and South America. He was into athletics at every level of school, whether it was wrestling, football, track, shooting, horse riding or other pursuits. He was well read and loved to write, and in fact writing was his primary goal—he sold pulp stories, later in life co-wrote some of his own films, and suggested good stories to the studio heads for possible adaptation (Sentimental Journey was just one). Source: hqofk.wordpress.com

Payne was given a screen test that resulted in his being cast in a supporting role in Samuel Goldwyn's prestige picture Dodsworth (1936) with Walter Huston, in which he was billed as "John Howard Payne". The film attracted attention and after a few minor roles without attaining star status, he was signed to a contract at 20th Century-Fox, where he would make his best known films. The news of Payne's signing astonished gossip columnist Jimmie Fidler, who wrote,

"The news intrigues me. John, who is a very charming young man (and lucky enough to be married to Anne Shirley), has already been under contract to Paramount and Warner Brothers, in that order. He was released by both companies. What can be in the back of Fox officials' mind in signing Payne? Do they think they are more clever than Paramount and Warners - able to do things with John where others failed? Don't get me wrong - I don't say Payne lacks possibilities. He may be another Robert Taylor in disguise. If he does a turn-about and clicks big for Fox, won't that make suckers out of Paramount and Warners? Only time will tell who that someone is." If there was a goat, it wasn't Fox. He may not have become what is now termed an "A" list star, but John Payne was kept very busy at the studio in his seven years there.

John Payne was married to Anne Shirley (22 August 1937 - 1 March 1943)

With second wife Gloria DeHaven (28 December 1944 - 21 September 1951)

With Alexandra Crowell Curtis (27 September 1953 - until his death, on 6 December 1989)

John Payne died from a heart condition on December 6, 1989, surrounded by his children (he had previously been married to actresses Anne Shirley and Gloria de Haven) and his third wife, Alexandra. As his longtime friend and former publicity man Robert Palmer told a journalist, Miracle on 34th Street was on television as the family kept vigil. "In fact, the night before he died - he was unconscious in bed - a television in the corner was playing that film. It was strange looking at him in bed like that."