Except for his interaction with the staff psychologist, Sebastian Cabot seemed an affable enough Santa Claus, but the writers removed any hint of magic from his portrayal of Kris Kringle. Speaking Spanish wasn't nearly as surprising as speaking Dutch, and the possibly divinely-inspired intervention by the post office was changed into a ruse by Bill, his lawyer (David Hartman). Given Kringle's condescension towards Dr Sawyer (Roddy McDowall), I almost didn't blame Sawyer for taunting the old man.
The little girl was cute, but not a great actress. Jane Alexander must have had a no touching clause in her contract because Karen's romance with Bill was hard to discern. At the end when he proposed, she sort of nodded while they were standing at least three feet apart - which made for a clumsy ending.
Of the supporting cast, Jim Backus was almost invisible, McDowell was fun to watch as always, the actor playing Alfred seemed more like Quasimodo at first, David Doyle played Mr Macy like Scrooge, and Tom Bosley was fairly humorous as the harried judge. The DA and the old pol were very minor characters in this version.
The little girl was cute, but not a great actress. Jane Alexander must have had a no touching clause in her contract because Karen's romance with Bill was hard to discern. At the end when he proposed, she sort of nodded while they were standing at least three feet apart - which made for a clumsy ending.
Of the supporting cast, Jim Backus was almost invisible, McDowell was fun to watch as always, the actor playing Alfred seemed more like Quasimodo at first, David Doyle played Mr Macy like Scrooge, and Tom Bosley was fairly humorous as the harried judge. The DA and the old pol were very minor characters in this version.