The Big Question...IS the Book Always Better?

The book was so much better! 

A phrase most die-hard bibliophiles proclaim when referring to a film adaptation

of a beloved story.

For years I have watched the timeless 1940's black and white classic, Miracle on 34th Street starring Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, and a young Natalie Wood, never realizing it was based on a novella of the same name.

 Author of the novella, Valentine Davies, wrote the story Miracle on 34th Street in 1947. It was adapted into a screenplay that same year and earned him an Academy Award for Best Story.
Other screen credits to his name are: It Happens Every Spring (1949),  The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954), The Benny Goodman Story (1955), and The Glenn Miller Story (1945).

While I genuinely enjoyed this 120 page short story, I found myself continually picturing images and scenes from the original film. This is one of those rare and I do mean rare cases where the movie was better than the book.
Yes, I said it...the movie was better than the book.

Can you image a more perfect casting of characters?

I certainly can't!

This is one of those unique cases where the film embodied everything the story was and more.

In the book, there is a line that Doris says to her daughter that (I think) the film took to heart and kept that concept throughout. "Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to." (Davies, 116). Miracle on 34th Street inspires you to believe and have faith in others, something we all need a little more of today. 

Fun Film Trivia:

Actress Thelma Ritter's film career began after her small part in Miracle on 34th Street. She was the exhausted mother trying to finish her Christmas shopping.

Edmund Gwenn improvised his reaction to the beard pull to get a reaction out of Natalie Wood.

 Miracle on 34th Street was ranked #9 in AFI's 2006 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time.

In her autobiography, Maureen O'Hara said that she never tires of children asking her if she's the lady that knows Santa Claus. Her answer is always the same,

"Yes I am. What would you like me to tell him?"