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Aug 21, 2023 · Here's the untold tale of America's favorite Christmas movie, from Scut Farkus' anachronistic braces, to the present state of Ralphie Parker's boyhood home.
- Ziah Grace
- Invaluable Wisdom from The Voice Behind A Holiday Classic
- Lesson 1
- Lesson 2
- Lesson 3
- Lesson 4
- Lesson 5
- Lesson 6
- Lesson 7
- Lesson 8
- Lesson 9
Oh, life is like that. Sometimes, at the height of our revelries, when our joy is at its zenith, when all is most right with the world, the most unthinkable disasters occur. – A Christmas Story (1983, dir. Bob Clark) “OK, folks, the granddady of ’em all, the big one, the queen mother of all Christmas movies – and a veritable cornucopia of yuletide ...
The writer is paramount. Taken from over 25 years of Christmas Eve broadcasts, the (mostly) fictionalized reminiscences of talk radio pioneer Jean Shepherd and (highly) fanciful accounts of his Depression-era upbringing in Northern Indiana continue to resonate anytime one mentions “leg lamp”, “Flick’s tongue”, or “Little Orphan Annie secret decoder...
Dreams are often better left unrealized. Close viewers of the next 90 minutes will note the dreamy expression on little Ralphie Parker’s face, brilliantly expressed by child actor Peter Billingsley. There are only two moments in this film where this blissful state isn’t almost immediately followed by crushing despair, and this is the first. The moc...
In the eternal struggle between kids and parents, kids are always on the losing end. Ralphie’s glum digestion of sad oatmeal evokes one of the cruel truths of childhood: a kid will never win. A kid can plot, cajole, plead, or scheme, but in the end a kid’s best efforts are wasted by a fundamental lack of control over his or her destiny. Furthermore...
…especially when the opponent is your mother. Though my own mother passed away almost 25 years ago, her airtight, inarguable logic will continue to haunt my own poor attempts at decision-making until I myself am no more. Like life itself, it simply is not fair that the bonds of motherhood are anchored in an irrefutable, unyielding rectitude. (It do...
Children inevitably become their parents. And more specifically: the weaker, usually male parent. To this day, speaking of myself, a steady stream of profanity will pour forth unbidden from quivering lips at the mildest provocation: lost keys, wrong directions, stubbed toe, whathaveyou. (A literal curse, moreover, that can apparently be traced alon...
If a kid won’t eat, it’s really not worth resorting to trickery. Bringing back vivid memories of my own younger brother, dressed dolefully in his Cub Scouts uniform, refusing to eat a bowl of chili into the late hours of the evening, I’m really glad in retrospect that my parents did not use some cheap ruse to get him to eat. Zach may have missed hi...
Life’s victories are not only small but absurd. On air or in the pages of Playboy, Shep’s Old Man’s misplaced enthusiasm over winning the famed Leg Lamp was heralded as “the birth of pop art”, but in A Christmas Storyis correctly contextualized as a brilliantly-lit blight on Cleveland Street. Shining brightly forth in its unutterable folly, the “so...
Disasters occur well beyond one’s ability to adequately cope with them. An eternal klutz myself, as is my own Old Man, it is tempting in all such situations to shift blame to fate, the elements, inadequate lighting, the clumsiness of others, or whathaveyou. Otherwise, though, and despite the dire consequences for a child of 9, it is often easier to...
Punishment rarely fits the crime. Though I had been familiar with this arcane treatment from a very young age, “washing your dirty mouth out with soap” was frequently threatened but never implemented as a child whose word choice was often more suited to the backroom of bars than a suburban household. If it had, however, cruel and unusual though the...
Dec 20, 2023 · While Bob Clark’s A Christmas Story isn't a totally biographical film, there are many things about the classic that actually happened. Here they are.
- Bob Clark
- Melinda Dillon
- Philip Sledge
- Although Set In Indiana, A Christmas Story Was Filmed In Cleveland And Toronto. The events of A Christmas Story all take place in the fictional town of Hohman, Indiana, but the movie was actually filmed in two different cities, neither of which were in the Hoosier State.
- All Of The Snow In A Christmas Story Had To Be Made For The Production. Practically every exterior scene in A Christmas Story features snow-covered ground (or snow falling like in the final sequence), but there was one problem, there was no snow in the forecast in Cleveland.
- Bob Clark Initially Passed On Peter Billingsley Because He Thought The Actor Was Too Obvious Of A Choice For Ralphie. It is hard to imagine anyone but Peter Billingsley taking on the role of Ralphie in A Christmas Story, but that was almost the case.
- The Hilarious Flagpole Scene Was Pulled Off Thanks To A Hole And A Vacuum Tube. The triple-dog dare flagpole scene is not only one of the most memorable scenes from A Christmas Story, it’s also one of the most iconic moments in the history of cinema.
- Christopher Fiduccia
- Operations Specialist
- All Three Leg Lamp Props Were Broken On Set. Since the leg lamp has become such an iconic image not just for A Christmas Story, but Christmas in general, many people would love to have their own lamp for the holiday season.
- A Second Fantasy Scene With Black Bart Was Cut. Many scenes in A Christmas Story are fondly remembered, but among these scenes is the fantasy sequence.
- The Success Of Porky’s Allowed A Christmas Story To Be Made. While A Christmas Story is a heartwarming tale that the entire family can enjoy, Bob Clark’s previous film was not.
- Bob Clark Thought Of The Film While Picking Up A Date. Filmmakers often have odd inspirations for why they make a film, but Bob Clark actually thought of A Christmas Story while he was picking up a date.
Dec 10, 2021 · 28 Surprising Things About 'A Christmas Story' Even the Biggest Fans Don't Know Watch closely when you tune in this holiday season. By Amanda Garrity and Janaya Wecker Updated: Dec 10, 2021
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A Christmas Story is a 1983 Christmas comedy film directed by Bob Clark and based on Jean Shepherd's semi-fictional anecdotes in his 1966 book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, with some elements from his 1971 book Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories and Other Disasters.
