The film opens with an elderly man (Richard Attenborough) sporting a fedora, glasses, and a brown coat with a cane, walking on the street as his morning routine. As he stops at a crosswalk, a young boy named Ryan pleads to his grandfather, Judge Henry Harper, to “ask him”. Henry, knowing that the man overheard Ryan, clears up the misunderstanding by saying that Ryan thinks he is Santa Claus. After an exchange of laughs, he surprises Ryan by saying, “I am”. After he leaves, a dismayed and contented Ryan states that he “should have got his autograph”.