Tonight's Movie: Miracle on Main Street (1939)

This holiday season I've finally caught up with a relatively little-known Christmas "B" film, MIRACLE ON MAIN STREET (1939).

I've been interested in this movie ever since learning about it from Jeremy Arnold, author of CHRISTMAS IN THE MOVIES. He included the film in his book, which also led to the movie being shown on Turner Classic Movies.

Following a well-done montage of Christmas celebrations around the world, this 78-minute film begins on Christmas Eve "in the Old Spanish Quarter of Los Angeles," perhaps meant to be around Olvera Street.

Jim Foreman (Walter Abel) has just become engaged to the brittle Nina (Jean Brooks, billed as Jeanne Kelly), though it's foreshadowed the marriage may not end well. And indeed, that later proves to be the case.

Elsewhere on Christmas Eve, Dick Porter (Lyle Talbot) and his wife, an exotic dancer named Maria (Margo), aren't finding much business and end up on the run when they attempt to rob an undercover cop.

Maria escapes into a church, where she finds an abandoned baby boy has been left amidst the church's Nativity scene. A letter left with the baby implores someone to give him a good home.

The baby proves to be Maria's ticket to leaving the church without being suspected as one of the robbers, as the police officer on guard ignores the young mother carrying her infant.

Little does Maria know that Dick is about to abandon her and that the baby will be the key to her turning her life around. She finds she can't give him up and determines to earn an honest living to support him.

Months pass and eventually Jim, grieving the quick end of his marriage, will become involved with Maria and the baby, coming to love them both.

Maria's landlady (Jane Darwell) and an alcoholic doctor (William Collier Sr.) also become part of the lives of Maria and her baby, improving their own lives in the process.

It's always a delight to discover a new-to-me Christmas film, and I found this movie, written by Frederick Jackson, based on a story by Samuel Ornitz and Boris Ingster, to be quite moving.

The script adeptly balances humor, pathos, and a sharp edge, as Talbot's Jim is an absolute heel whose eventual return threatens Maria's future with the baby. I found MIRACLE ON MAIN STREET quite enjoyable and will definitely be watching it during future Christmas seasons.

Margo does a very nice job in the lead, believably conveying Maria's transformation and quickly engendering audience sympathy.

Darwell and Collier are excellent in support. I liked that Collier's doctor doesn't descend into the maudlin but turns his life around, just as Maria has. He provides pithy commentary on the goings-on, and Darwell likewise has some terrific sarcastic lines.

Darwell, incidentally, was also in another recently discovered Christmas film released the same year, INSIDE STORY (1939). I saw INSIDE STORY at Cinecon it September, and in a fun coincidence it was introduced by Jeremy Arnold.

The supporting cast of MIRACLE ON MAIN STREET includes Wynne Gibson, Veda Ann Borg, Willie Best, Dorothy Devore, and Pat Flaherty.

This was the first U.S. film directed by Hungarian director Steve Sekely. It was filmed in black and white by Charles Van Enger. The film was produced by Grand National Pictures and distributed by Columbia Pictures.

Margo also starred with Arturo de Cordova in a Spanish-language version of this story, EL MILAGRO DE LA CALLE MAYOR, which was released by a different studio, 20th Century-Fox. (That studio also released the Spanish-language 1935 film INSURE YOUR WIFE! which I saw at Cinecon several years ago.) I'd love to have the chance to see it.

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Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet...

...The Warner Archive Collection has announced a great Blu-ray lineup for January, including RED DUST (1932), MANPOWER (1941), THE VERDICT (1946), THE NARROW MARGIN (1952), BY THE LIGHT OF THE SILVERY MOON (1953), and FOR THE FIRST TIME (1959).  Can't wait!

...Speaking of the Warner Archive, Movie Zyng is having a great year-end Warner Archive sale -- both Blu-rays and DVDs -- through December 21st. Use the checkout code WARNER2025 with a minimum purchase of three discs and receive 30% off; orders of $70 and over qualify for free shipping.

...Coming in February from Kino Lorber Studio Classics: A Jack Benny double feature Blu-ray set with ARTISTS AND MODELS (1937) and MAN ABOUT TOWN (1939).

...And "coming soon" from Kino Lorber: DEATH OF A GUNFIGHTER (1969) with Richard Widmark, Lena Horne, and John Saxon.

...On the way to Blu-ray from Universal in January: MA AND PA KETTLE COMPLETE COMEDY COLLECTION containing 10 films, starting with THE EGG AND I (1947).

...Leonard Maltin previews several new film books.

...Now available from McFarland: ASSEMBLY-LINE AUTEUR: THE PRE-CODE FILMS OF WILLIAM WELLMAN by David Meuel, which I first mentioned here in July. I've enjoyed other books by the author and have just ordered a copy.

...Published in September by the University Press of Mississippi: TOO FAST, TOO SHORT: THE LIFE OF DIANA BARRYMORE by Jennifer Ann Redmond, also mentioned back in July.

...Here's the lineup for the "To Save and Protect" series to be held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York from January 8th through February 2nd, 2026.

...Some of the latest reviews by the always-interesting Glenn Erickson posted at Trailers From Hell include I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING! (1945) from Criterion, KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL (1952) from Film Masters, and Columbia Noir #7: Made in Britain from Powerhouse Indicator. 

...I always enjoy perusing the latest viewing lists at Phyllis Loves Classic Movies. Great to see her exploring Randolph Scott Westerns! I'm also very fond of CIRCLE OF DANGER (1951) with Ray Milland and Patricia Roc.

...At Shadows and Satin Karen Burroughs Hannsbery has reviewed two Joel McCrea films, FOUR FACES WEST (1948) and STRANGER ON HORSEBACK (1955).

...Thanks to Keith Buczak for being a great source of info on upcoming Disney-related books. Some of the latest titles I've learned about from him include BEFORE THE BIRDS SANG WORDS by Ken Bruce, about Disneyland's Enchanted Tiki Room attraction, and TICKET TO RIDE: AMERICA'S THEME PARK TRAINS by Barry R. Hill. I was also recently alerted by Old Mill Press about the upcoming JOHN CANEMAKER: AN ANIMATOR'S GARDEN, to be published next month.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please visit my December 6th column.

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Tonight's Movie: The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1939) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

The unique comedic mystery THE GRACIE ALLEN MURDER CASE (1939) has just been released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Gracie plays her patented dimwitted persona as she becomes mixed up in a murder mystery involving Bill (Kent Taylor), who's employed at a perfume company owned by Gracie's Uncle Ambrose (Jed Prouty).

Gracie accidentally implicates Bill as the killer of a gangster (Lee Moore), and we're off to the races.

The great detective Philo Vance (Warren William) is called in to investigate the case, managing to eventually set matters right, no thanks to Gracie.

A little of Gracie goes a long way, with the character front and center for the majority of the movie's 78 minutes. Her imbecilic persona becomes as exasperating for the audience as she is for the other movie characters. That said, she also has some genuinely funny moments, so the movie is kind of a mixed bag in that regard.

The production is buoyed by its supporting cast. William returns to a role he played in THE DRAGON MURDER CASE (1934) and serves as a serious counterweight to Gracie's lightheaded nature. Donald MacBride plays Vance's friend, District Attorney Markham.

In addition to favorites Kent Taylor and Ellen Drew, who admittedly don't get to do much, the supporting cast is packed with familiar faces including Jerome Cowan, Richard Denning, William Demarest, Irving Bacon, Lillian Yarbo, James Flavin, and H.B. Warner.

Spending time with the cast is what sold the movie for me; while I wouldn't revisit this film with great frequency due to Gracie being a wearing presence, I would nonetheless watch it again thanks to all the great faces surrounding her.

The screenplay by Nat Perrin and two uncredited writers was based on a story by S.S. Van Dine. The movie was directed by Alfred E. Green and filmed in black and white by Charles Lang.

Print and sound quality are excellent. Disc extras consist of a commentary track by Bernie Prokop, plus a gallery of half a dozen trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet...

...Chris Yogerst has reviewed Scott Eyman's new biography of Joan Crawford at his Substack blog, Adventures in the Archive. I was able to have Eyman sign the book at Larry Edmunds Bookshop a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to good luck, I was also able to have Stephen C. Smith sign his new book HITCHCOCK AND HERRMANN the same evening.

...New from Kristen Lopez, author of BUT HAVE YOU READ THE BOOK?: POPCORN DISABILITIES: THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF DISABLED REPRESENTATION IN THE MOVIES. It's just been published by Bloomsbury Academic.

...I'm looking forward to the latest Disneyland history book coming next month from the Old Mill Press: A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR: THE STORY OF THE UPJOHN PHARMACY IN DISNEYLAND by Stephen M. Hall. I've preordered! Thanks to Keith Buczak for the tip.

...Kino Lorber is having a sale through Christmas Eve.

...The Margaret Lockwood film THE WHITE UNICORN (1947), aka BAD SISTER, sounds fascinating. Josephine Botting has reviewed it for the BFI.

...A delightful older Christmas post from the blog Streamliner Memories: "Merry Christmas From the Railroads."

...Spotted last week in the gift shop at The Autry: THRILLERS, CHILLERS, AND KILLERS: RADIO AND FILM NOIR by Frank Krutnik. It was published earlier this year by Rutgers University Press.

...Colin has reviewed Humphrey Bogart in DEADLINE - U.S.A. (1952) at his blog Riding the High Country.

...The Netflix offer to purchase Warner Bros. is the talk of Hollywood this week, but the whole thing raises more questions than it answers.

...New(ish) baking cookbooks which are great Christmas gift ideas: FAT + FLOUR by Nicole Rucker and COOKIES by Vaughn Vreeland for the New York Times.

...At Shadows and Satin Karen Burroughs Hannsbery reviews CRISS-CROSS, Stephen Rebello's new book on the making of Hitchcock's STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951). It's from Running Press.

...I also enjoyed Karen's writeup of SHED NO TEARS (1948) starring June Vincent of BLACK ANGEL (1945).

...Notable Passings: French actress Lise Bourdin, whose films included LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON (1957), has died at 99...Former child actor John Eimen, also known as Johnny Eimen, has passed on at 76. He worked on many TV shows over a decade, beginning in 1958.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please visit my November 22nd column.

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Tonight's Movie: The Concorde...Airport '79 (1979) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

And so it's time to review THE CONCORDE...AIRPORT '79 (1979), the final film in the AIRPORT series recently released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber.

I've previously reviewed Kino Lorber's Blu-ray releases of AIRPORT (1970), AIRPORT 1975 (1974), and AIRPORT '77 (1977).

It should be noted that each of these films has also been released by Kino Lorber in 4K editions.

When I reviewed THE CONCORDE...AIRPORT '79 in 2013 I called it "a gem of a bad movie."

The other three films may be goofily improbable at times, but they're quite well executed despite that, with strong lead performances by actors such as Jack Lemmon in the '77 edition. Those films make the viewer want to suspend disbelief and "go with" the plot, even if it involves trying to lower a pilot into a flying airplane or a plane being underwater in the Bermuda Triangle.

AIRPORT '79 is the only one I'd call truly a bad film, including awful special effects and stupid plot lines -- as in Alain Delon setting up copilot George Kennedy with a hooker (Bibi Andersson) -- and yet it's still quite entertaining. In 2013 I also referred to it as "a gloriously funny unintentional comedy." Honestly, this is probably funnier than the following year's comedy AIRPLANE! (1980).

It may not be a good film, but there's never a dull moment as an evil weapons manufacturer (Robert Wagner) tries to destroy the Concorde because his newscaster mistress (Susan Blakely) is on board, along with documents proving he's been up to no good.

The entire plane of passengers just happen to be in his way and will have to be killed as well.

The plot absurdities include the Concorde being repaired and reboarded not once but twice after attempts to shoot it down...who needs debriefings or figuring out the who, how, and why of the missile attacks?!

And so it's on to Moscow, and this time the cargo hold door has mysteriously blown open, which begins the process of tearing the plane into pieces...fortunately a ski patrol can lay out a runway for the Concorde high in the snowy Swiss Alps. It's truly got to be seen to be believed.

This 113 minutes of silliness was written by Eric Roth from a story by producer Jennings Lang. (Lang's wife Monica Lewis has a small role, as she did in the previous film.) It was directed by David Lowell Rich and filmed by Philip Lathrop.

The cast includes an ill-used Mercedes McCambridge and Martha Raye, along with David Warner, Sylvia Kristel, Eddie Albert, John Davidson, Andrea Marcovicci, Jimmie Walker, Cicely Tyson, Charo, Avery Schreiber, Sybil Danning, and Nicolas Coster.

The Blu-ray print is from a new HD master from a 4K scan of the original 35mm camera negative. It features 5.1 Surround sound.

This Special Edition comes with a cardboard slipcase. Extras consist of the trailer; a gallery of five additional trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber; and a commentary track by Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson.

As silly as this movie is, I've enjoyed it twice now and would definitely watch it again. I recommend it, along with the rest of the AIRPORT movies.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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TCM in December: Highlights

It's amazing to realize it's already the last month of the year!

Here's a look ahead at some of the programming coming to Turner Classic Movies in December.

Merle Oberon is the December Star of the Month. Her films will be shown on the first four Tuesday evenings of the month, starting on December 2nd. Please note there will not be a separate Star of the Month post for December.

Complete information on the many Christmas movies showing this month may be found in my post TCM in December: Christmas Movies. Christmas films will be shown throughout the month, culminating in a marathon from December 19th through Christmas Day. This post also covers New Year's programming.

Noir Alley films will be show on December 6th and 7th (CRY OF THE CITY), December 13th and 14th (CASH ON DEMAND), and December 27th and 28th (ODD MAN OUT).

CRY OF THE CITY is a particular favorite of mine which I highly recommend. Victor Mature, Richard Conte, and Debra Paget star.

The TCM Spotlight theme on Thursday evenings is "Divine Intervention." Films shown will include I MARRIED AN ANGEL (1942), CABIN IN THE SKY (1943), THE BISHOP'S WIFE (1947), and CAROUSEL (1956), to name just a few.

Other themes of interest this month include a two-night celebration of Hanna-Barbera animation and three evenings which showcase Art Deco style.

Here are just a few additional highlights from a packed December schedule. Please click any hyperlinked title to read my extended review.

...The first evening of Merle Oberon films, on December 2nd, includes the highly regarded THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL (1934), costarring Leslie Howard.

...THIS COULD BE THE NIGHT (1957) is a warm-hearted comedy about a teacher (Jean Simmons) who takes a second job working on the books at a nightclub and discovers a "found family" of good friends. The movie's spirit makes it perfect for the Christmas season. Robert Wise directed. It's on December 3rd.

...Later in the evening of the 3rd, the Hanna-Barbera tribute includes the TCM premiere of the cartoon short A CHRISTMAS STORY (1972) and a trio of MGM musicals featuring live action/animated sequences: ANCHORS AWEIGH (1945), DANGEROUS WHEN WET (1953), and INVITATION TO THE DANCE (1956).

...There are several very good films airing as part of the "Divine Intervention" series on December 4th, including the classic HERE COMES MR. JORDAN (1941) starring Robert Montgomery and Claude Rains.

...A December 5th birthday tribute to Agnes Moorehead, who was born December 6th, 1900, includes the lovely OUR VINES HAVE TENDER GRAPES (1945), featuring Moorehead and Edward G. Robinson in atypical roles as farmers who are the parents of young Margaret O'Brien. The movie includes a Christmas sequence, making it perfect seasonal viewing.

...The December 6th Musical Matinee features Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray in SWING HIGH, SWING LOW (1937). TV prints are often not very good, though an excellent 35mm print exists at UCLA, so we'll have to see how this one looks.

...One of my favorite musicals, YOU WERE NEVER LOVELIER (1942), shows on December 7th. Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, and Jerome Kern music. What more could one want?!

...On December 9th TCM celebrates films released 70 years ago, in 1955, including the MGM musicals KISMET (1955) and THE GLASS SLIPPER (1955).

...The second evening celebrating Hanna-Barbera, on December 10th, includes several TCM premieres, including CHARLOTTE'S WEB (1973). The voice cast features Debbie Reynolds.

...Dick Van Dyke turns 100 on Saturday, December 13th. TCM will show three of his films for the occasion, including a very special TCM premiere of MARY POPPINS (1964).

...There's a terrific Esther Williams double bill on December 14th: EASY TO LOVE (1953) and THRILL OF A ROMANCE (1945).

...An evening of films featuring Art Deco design on December 15th includes a trio of Busby Berkeley classics: 42ND STREET (1933), FOOTLIGHT PARADE (1933), and GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 (1933). All are absolute must-sees.

...A year before WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939), Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier costarred in the romantic comedy THE DIVORCE OF LADY X (1938). They have good chemistry, and the film has a very distinctive Technicolor style. It will be shown December 16th as part of an evening of Oberon's films. (And don't miss the day of classic '50s sci-fi which precedes the Oberon lineup!)

...A day of films featuring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. on December 17th includes HAVING WONDERFUL TIME (1938) with Ginger Rogers.

...Ernst Lubitsch's classic HEAVEN CAN WAIT (1943) will air on December 18th. Don Ameche and Gene Tierney lead an amazing cast of character actors.

...The wonderful RACHEL AND THE STRANGER (1948) is part of a day of William Holden films on December 19th. Loretta Young and Robert Mitchum costar.

...An evening of films "In Memoriam" on December 26th honors several filmmakers who died this year and were not previously honored on TCM. The films include THE YEARLING (1946) with Claude Jarman Jr.

...December 28th features sseveral good comedies including MY FAVORITE WIFE (1940) with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne.

...Animal movies on December 30th include GYPSY COLT (1954) with Donna Corcoran, Ward Bond, and Frances Dee.

For more on TCM in December 2025, please check out my posts Quick Preview of TCM in December and TCM in December: Christmas Movies, along with TCM's online schedule.

TCM also has a December promo video on YouTube.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

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