Review of Miracle on 34th Street (1994 and 1947) – Limited Edition Score

Miracle on 34th Street (1994 & 1947)

Original Motion Picture Scores

La La Land Records brings you a Christmas Miracle this year. In December 2014 they actually brought us two Christmas Miracles! With the 2 Disc set for Miracle on 34th Street! Here’s TFG1Mike’s Review of these superb film scores!

I had never seen the 1947 film, until a few days before Christmas 2014. I had seen the 1994 remake when it came out and have seen it off and on over the last 20 years. However going back and watching the original 1947 version, I have to say I enjoyed it just a bit more than the 1994 remake. I’m not saying the 94 film is bad in any way. I just feel the 47 film is better!

Miracle on 34th Street (1994) – Disc 1

With 30 Tracks the 1994 Miracle Score has a Total Disc Time of 67:53

Bruce Broughton has an extensive composing and conducting career. With films like this one, The Homeward Bound films, honey, I Blew Up The Kid, Silverado, So I Married An Axe Murderer, Tombstone, Rescuers Down Under, Harry and the Hendersons, and Tiny Toon Adventures. The man knows film scores. When the awesome people at La La Land Records sent this to me I had no idea Broughton was the composer for the 94 Miracle film. However I’m very glad to hear his style and influences in this Christmas classic. The album kicks of with “Miracle on 34th Street (1994): Main Title” and what a start. There are bells and whistles on this Christmasy tune, and you can’t help but be happy when listening to it. There’s even a bit of whimsy in the track. With this score having 30 tracks, I’m not going to go through each one individually, however I am going to point out my favorites. The “Main Title” is definitely one of them. It pulls you into the magic of the film. The next track I like is “Miracle on 34th Street (1994): The Secret” this one has some great tones in it again a very magical feel. I like the slowness of the music that starts around the 1 minute mark. There are some wonderful violins in “Miracle on 34th Street (1994): Charmin’ Armin” There is a love theme in here as well that features Dan higgins on Soprano Sax. I enjoy that track as well, but didn’t want to leave out mentioning Higgins’s part on the score. In “Miracle on 34th Street (1994): Susan’s Christmas Wish” We hear in the music the emotion behind Susan’s wish, which is such a great capture for the music. Overall the entire score Bruce Broughton gave us is wonderfully magical, and should only be listened to at Christmas time, in order to make it even more special!

Miracle on 34th Street (1947) – Disc 2

With 20 Tracks for  the 1947 Miracle Score and then Come to the Stable has 16 tracks giving this second disc a total running time of 63:38 and 36 tracks!

I’ll only be talking about the Miracle tracks in this part of the review, as I’ve never seen Come to the Stable. As you may know I prefer hearing the music in the film or whatever it may be then listening to it on it’s own. Without having seen Come to the Stable, I don’t feel like I can give those tracks a proper review. I’ll say this though the music from it is interesting, but Miracle is what shines through on this set.

Cyril J. Mockridge is the composer for the 1947 Miracle film. Because this was my first time watching the film, I wasn’t sure that it would even have a full score for the film. But on the La La Land Records release there are twenty tracks, and they are all wonderous tunes to hear. The second track is “Miracle on 34th Street (1947): Thanksgiving Day Parade (Jingle Bells/Santa Claus Is Coming to Town/National Emblem/Santa Claus Is Coming to Town/Sabress and Spurs/Jingle Bells/Visiting Santa)” a 10 minute 34 second track, that highlights the music from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade from the film. The ronal shifts through each Christmas song here are wonderfully done. The entire score here is fiolled with classic Christmas tunes for example Track 11 is “Miracle on 34th Street (1947): Deck the Hall” After exploring and hearing this score over and over for the past few days. I found that the original 1947 Miracle film is the truest testament to Christmas. For the simple reason that each scene is filled with these classic Christmas tunes we all know and love. Mockridge’s ability to time these with the film is wonderfully done. The film itself is all about believing in Santa and whether you should or shouldn’t. I mean we go from Susan and her mother not believing to believing by the end of the film. Mockridge’s music emphasizes each scene as we go along. Tracks 16 and 17 are moreso for the events of the film, rather than classic Christmas tunes. Tracks 16-20 are all specifically for the end of the film. Miracle on 34th Street’s soundtrack here is a holiday film set collection that everyone needs in their Christmas music collections!!!! You can get this awesome score from LA LA Land Records directly! So there ya have it Miracles can and do happen!!