By Michael Lyons
“A Christmas Story” takes place in Indiana sometime in the 1940’s, but it could actually take place anywhere and at any time. Its tale of Christmas and childhood is so universal that no matter when or where you grew up, “A Christmas Story” has meaning for you.
This is why the 1983 film has become a necessity of the Season and why images of a glowing leg lamp and the line “You’ll shoot your eye out!” are just a few things from the film that have seared themselves into pop culture. “A Christmas Story” isn’t just about a young boy wanting a Red Ryder B.B. gun, it’s about the wonder and magic that comes with a certain age and how the closeness of family and togetherness is the most important Christmas tradition.
“A Christmas Story” celebrates its 35th anniversary this Holiday Season. To commemorate this milestone for this classic, what follows is a list (a “Christmas list,” if you will) of fun facts about the film:
· “A Christmas Story” is based on the 1966 book “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash” by writer and raconteur Jean Shepherd. In the book, adult Ralph Parker returns to his hometown for a visit, meets up with his friend Flick and as they reminisce, each chapter relays a different story.
· Two years prior to the release of “A Christmas Story,” Director Bob Clark made the film “Porky’s.” It was a box office success, but a very un-Christmas-like, R-rated teen sex comedy that couldn’t be less like “A Christmas Story.” Clark also gave himself a cameo in “A Christmas Story,” as the neighbor who approaches The Old Man outside the house and asks about this “Major Award,” the Leg Lamp.
· Peter Billingsley, who plays the title character of Ralphie, was already well known to audiences as “Messy Marvin,” a character who appeared in a series of commercials at the time for Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup. As an adult, he went on to play in another Christmas classic, 2003’s “Elf.”
· Jack Nicholson was originally considered for the role of Ralphie’s father, The Old Man. The Studio couldn’t pay Nicholson’s salary, which actually worked out well, as it is difficult to imagine anyone but Darren McGavin in the role. He is perfect. Incidentally, we never learn the name of his character and he is even billed in the ending credits as “The Old Man.”
· In order to get actor Scott Schwartz’ (Flick) tongue to stick to the flagpole in the now infamous scene, a hidden suction tube was created inside the pole.
· The music playing in the background when Scut Farkas (Zack Ward) the bully appears is actually the theme from “Peter and the Wolf.”
· The house used for the Parker home in the film was actually in Cleveland, Ohio and was sold on eBay in 2005 for $150,000. After, the owner converted it to look more like the film and it is now a tourist attraction that includes a gift shop and museum dedicated to the movie.
· “A Christmas Story” opened November 18, 1983. It was not the success the Studio had hoped for and by Christmas that year, the film wasn’t even playing in theaters any more. However, the VHS and Cable TV industry was just beginning to take off at this time, which gave “A Christmas Story” continued life in subsequent seasons. By the mid-90’s, the film was so popular that the TBS Network began showing “24 Hours of a ‘A Christmas Story,’” in which the film was shown around the clock from Christmas Eve through Christmas Day.
· The film has inspired a non-musical stage production that tours around the country each year, as well as a big-budget Broadway musical version that went on to be nominated for three Tony Awards and was adapted into a live production for FOX TV in 2017. There has also been innumerable merchandise inspired from the film including reproductions of the Leg Lamp and Ralphie’s pink bunny pajamas.
· The tag line on the original movie poster for “A Christmas Story” read: “A tribute to the Original, Traditional, One-Hundred-Percent, Red-Blooded, Two-Fisted, All American Christmas…”
Here’s hoping your Christmas brings to you the joy, the merriment, the laughter and the warmth that “A Christmas Story” brings to all of us each year.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Sources:
“Christmas in the Movies” by Jeremy Arnold, Running Press
IMDb
Wikipedia
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