When Is Natalie Wood’s Classic ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ Airing on TV This Year?

MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET, Edmund Gween, Natalie Wood, 1947,
20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection

No movie better suits the transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas than Miracle on 34th Street, the 1947 Natalie Wood film that follows the adventures of a department store Santa who just might be the real thing. Though it’s not the TV staple it once was, Miracle on 34th Street will air several times this holiday season — including a Christmas Day marathon!

Unfortunately, none of those airings will occur on network TV. But if you have cable, you have a few chances to see the film, starting on Dec. 8 at 9:45am on AMC. Then, the film will air on BBC America on Dec. 23 at 12:15pm. Then, as we get into the final stretch before Christmas, it will air on AMC on Dec. 25 at 3am, and in a Christmas day mini-marathon on Sundance TV on Dec. 25 at 10:15am, 3:15pm and 8:15pm. As for you cord-cutters don’t fret, it can be streamed on Disney+.

MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET, from left: Maureen O'Hara, Natalie Wood, Edmund Gwenn, John Payne on poster art, 1947,

Century Fox Film Corp./courtesy Everett Collection

And if you can’t make any of these airings, don’t pout and end up on Santa’s naughty list — you can stream the film with a Disney+ subscription.

Miracle on 34th Street is famous for its scenes shot during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and if those scenes feel ultra-realistic, that’s because they were actually shot during the parade in 1946. In her memoir, Maureen O’Hara, who played Doris Walker, recalled, “It was a mad scramble to get all the shots we needed, and we got to do each scene only once. It was bitterly cold that day, and Edmund and I envied Natalie and John Payne, who were watching the parade from a window.”

 

Home For The Holidays
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Home For The Holidays

November 2021

Celebrate the holidays with your favorite classic stars!

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