A Christmas Story
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- For the Christian Christmas story, see Nativity of Jesus
| A Christmas Story | |
|---|---|
 A Christmas Story DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Bob Clark |
| Produced by | Bob Clark René Dupont Gary Goch |
| Written by | Jean Shepherd Leigh Brown Bob Clark |
| Starring | Melinda Dillon Darren McGavin Peter Billingsley Ian Petrella Zack Ward |
| Music by | Paul Zaza Carl Zittrer |
| Release date(s) | November 18, 1983 |
| Running time | 94 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Tagline: Peace, Harmony, Comfort and Joy...Maybe Next Year.
A Christmas Story is a 1983 semi-biographical film based on the short stories of author Jean Shepherd collected in the books In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash and Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories. Originally released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; Time Warner (through Turner Entertainment Co.) now has ownership of the film due to Ted Turner's purchase of MGM's pre-1985 library and Time Warner's subsequent purchase of Turner Entertainment. However, it should be noted that producer-director Bob Clark is said to still hold 20% of the film's rights.
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[edit] Plot and major credits
The film relates the tale of Ralphie Parker (played by Peter Billingsley), who wants a Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas (specifically, "an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and 'this thing', which tells time") and will go to any lengths to get it despite the numerous adult admonitions of "you'll shoot your eye out." Over the course of the film, Ralphie hides a Red Ryder advertisement in his mother's magazine, fibs about the spotting of a dangerous animal in the neighborhood, blurts his desire outright, writes a theme on the subject, and asks an impatient Santa just as the department store closes.
Subplots include the Old Man (Darren McGavin) entering a contest and winning a "major award" in the form of a leg lamp (much to his wife's displeasure), Ralphie getting his Little Orphan Annie decoder ring, and Ralphie dealing with the neighborhood bully, Scut Farkus, played by Zack Ward. There are also numerous vignettes, including the Old Man's battle with the furnace, Ralphie not saying "fudge" in a moment of stress, and disaster with the Christmas dinner, courtesy of the Bumpuses' dogs.
The movie also starred Melinda Dillon as Ralphie's mom, and Ian Petrella as his little brother Randy. The movie was written by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown, and Bob Clark and directed by Bob Clark. Shepherd appears in the film in the department store scene, when he points Ralphie to the end of the line of kids waiting to see Santa. He also provides the movie's narration from the perspective of an adult Ralphie. This narrative style was later used in the dramedy The Wonder Years.
[edit] Pole scene
One of the more famous scenes in the film involves a risky dare, which Ralph watches with the others, over whether or not your tongue immediately sticks to a pole covered with ice. When Flick responds to the "triple dog dare" and sticks his tongue, he is proven wrong, and begins to memorably scream in terror (he later is saved by firemen). The scene is still remembered as a classic moment in the film.
[edit] History and related works
Overlooked as a sleeper film when it was first released, A Christmas Story has become widely popular since and is now a perennial Christmas special. Turner Network Television owns the broadcast rights, and airs it 12 consecutive times over a 24-hour period every Christmas Eve. When TNT switched to a predominantly drama format, sister network TBS took over the marathon for 2004 and 2005.
A movie sequel involving Ralphie and his family was later made with a different cast called My Summer Story. A series of television movies involving the Parker family, also from Shepherd stories, was made by PBS, including Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss, The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters, and The Phantom of the Open Hearth.
In the year 2000, an authorized stage play adaptation of A Christmas Story was written by Philip Grecian and is produced widely in the English-speaking world each Christmas season. In 2003, Broadway Books published the five Jean Shepherd short stories from which the movie and stage play were adapted in a single volume under the title A Christmas Story, with stories including: "Duel in the Snow, or Red Ryder nails the Cleveland Street Kid", "The Counterfeit Secret Circle Member Gets the Message, or The Asp Strikes Again", "My Old Man and the Lascivious Special Award that Heralded the Birth of Pop Art", "Grover Dill and the Tasmanian Devil", and "The Grandstand Passion Play of Delbert and the Bumpus Hounds".
[edit] Settings
The story takes place in Hammond, Indiana, but much of the movie was filmed in Cleveland, Ohio. The school scenes were shot at the Victoria School in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The school was sold to developers in 2005 and has been remodeled into a women's shelter. The Christmas Tree purchasing scene was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, as it was the only location that still used red PCC streetcars - in fact, TCC streetcars can be seen during the scene. Ralphie beating up the neighbourhood bully were also filmed in Toronto, as was the soundstage filming. [1]
Higbee's department store in downtown Cleveland was the stage for three scenes in A Christmas Story. The first is the opening scene in which Ralphie first spies the Red Ryder BB Gun. The second is the parade scene, filmed just outside Higbee’s in Cleveland’s public square at 3 AM. The final scene is Ralphie and Randy’s visit to see Santa which was filmed inside Higbee’s. Higbee’s kept the Santa slide that was made for the movie and used it for several years after the movie’s release. Higbees has been known for decades for its elaborate child-centered Christmas decorations, with Santa as the centerpiece.[2]
The house, on the west side of Cleveland Ohio, where the movie was filmed was only used for exterior shots - the interiors being shot on a sound stage in Toronto. It is reported by Ohio Magazine [3] that the house was bought on eBay by an entrepreneur for $150,000. He has spent another $240,000 to renovate the house and back yard to look like the movie. It will open in November 25, 2006 as a museum with original cast members attending the grand opening. It will have some of the props from the movie, including Randy's snow suit and, of course, the leg lamp. There will also be a store where souvenirs can be bought. A local C&Y Chinese restaurant is also joining the fun by serving "Chinese Turkey" (Peking Duck), as in the film's final scene. The "fudge" flat tire was filmed down the street from the house.
[edit] Trivia
- The website angryalien.com remade A Christmas Story in their 30 Second Bunny Theater.
- According to special features on the DVD release and the Daisy company, the original Red Ryder BB gun was never available in the exact configuration ("with a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time") that Ralphie desires, despite Jean Shepherd's memories to the contrary.
- In 2006, Cingular produced a television commercial that was a parody of A Christmas Story, with Ralphie writing a theme and visiting Santa in order to get a cell phone. His mother claims, "you'll run the bill up!"
- In an episode of "The Powerpuff Girls"; "Twas the Fight Before Christmas" Buttercup mentions she wants a BB gun for Christmas, and Princess Morebucks remarks "Who would want a stupid BB gun? Besides, you'll shoot your eye out."
- Despite being a Christmas institution in the USA, the movie has never made it across the pond to the UK.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- Higbees Department Store. Retrieved on 2006-11-16.
- Feagler, Linda (November 2006). Home For The Holidays. Ohio Magazine. Retrieved on 2006-11-16.
