I watched MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET for the first time last year -- I know! -- and I was shocked at just how compelling a guy who believes he is Santa Claus could be. That character is crafted and performed in such an interesting way. There's not an ounce of winking at the camera going on; Kris works in fact precisely because he is 100% straightforward. He is Kris Kringle, whether people believe it or not.
And most of the film just follows the ripples caused by his presence. His unambiguous goodness draws out the best in others, including rival businesses. But the film also gives him a struggle of his own, and a quest which comes from that. He's here to see if the world has gotten as dark and empty as he fears. It's a nice layer; it gives his story an unexpected poignancy. In a sense his plight is the same as children who begin to doubt whether Santa exists; he's desperate to find some reason to continue to hope.
But then two-thirds of the way through the film, suddenly the film completely shifts to a courtroom drama in which the focus is now on Judge Harper, a character we have no real connection to, and the political damage that institutionalizing Kris could bring him, which we don't care about.
On one level the writers might argue this is the key beat in Kris' journey, the moment the people will reveal once and for all whether the world is worthy of his continued hope. I think what's more likely is that they thought the film needed more drama, and who doesn't like a courtroom for that? And in shifting the focus they more or less cut Kris out of the action. He simply sits there watching the proceedings. The camera barely cuts to him; he's now that marginal.
The set up of a film, the Act One, is more than the thing that gets you into the action. It's the contract between us the filmmakers and the audience. This is who you'll be riding along with, and this is the kind of adventure you can expect.
By cutting Kris out of most of the last third of the film (and really Doris, the woman who has been helping him, too), the creators breaks that contract. And they didn't need to. If there's going to be a hearing, you want Kris to be the one who talks last, and you want his words to be loving and wise and have the impact we've seen them have in the past--or, at the least, for him to clearly surrender to their judgment and see that humility impact the court.
For me that's the key takeaway--that a good set up/contract will create a way forward in the end. It might not be obvious at first. But don't lose your nerve. If you built it right--and writers Valentine Davies and George Seaton really did--there will be a path.
