Post by Rob W. Case on Dec 17, 2023 19:37:10 GMT -6
Some Christmas movies stick with us after we experience them for the first time, and grow their audience by word of mouth. Some movies end up selected for preservation by the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Some movies also get to experience all day marathons on cable/satellite television of the same movie, running over and over again, 12 times in a 24-hour period. Okay, not all movies experience this, but A Christmas Story has experienced all of these things and then some.
The Story:
The story begins when an older Ralphie Parker (voiced by Jean Shepherd) reminisces about his childhood in 1940’s Cleveland Ohio, the final days before Christmas. In this story, 9-year-old Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) wants nothing more than a Red Ryder Carbine Action Air Rifle (BB gun) for Christmas. Ralphie tries desperately to drop numerous hints to his parents. He fantasizes about it, as the hero to his family if burglars show up. He writes about it at length in his Christmas assignment to his teacher. And he talks about it to the department store Santa Claus. All of the adults in the movie have the same message for Ralphie; “You’ll shoot you’re eye out”. Meanwhile, Ralphie tries to deal with all of the quirks, perks, and jerks of life as he and his little brother Randy (Ian Petrella) tries to simply deal with the aggravations and frustrations of their parents, go to school and not get killed by the bullies, and wear that super heavy snowsuit on the way.
Ralphie’s parents also have a bunch of crazy drama going on. His Old Man (Darrin Parker) wins a contest for completing a crossword puzzle in the newspaper regarding icons in American literature, so they award him a leg lamp, but his wife (Melinda Dillon) hates it. His father is always fiddling around with the furnace, which is always acting up. Ralphie receives a Christmas present from his Aunt Clara that makes him look like “a deranged Easter bunny”. Most other notable hilarities are about kids growing up in the midst of adults who are viewed as trying to spoil their fun.
My Take:
The first time I saw this movie was in 1993, when I was very sick with the two-week flu, around the holiday season. I had an antenna black and white television in my bedroom and I watched a lot of movies and specials that were new to me to help make me feel better, and this movie aired on FOX in prime time. I just recently watched it again after all those years, and I see its appeal much more now than I did then. The movie reminds me very much of the idea behind the classic TV series The Wonder Years, where the character of Kevin Arnold, narrated by Daniel Stern, and acted by a younger Fred Savage, looked back on life in growing up in the 1960’s. This movie captures the original essence of that spirit in that it portrays life from a simpler time, and it resonates with many on that note.
A Christmas Story was based on a series of vignettes, written by Jean Shepherd, in a book called “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash”. What’s interesting about this is that the man who wrote the book that this movie is based on, actually plays the older version of Ralphie in the movie, reminiscing about his childhood years. The nostalgia that encompasses this film has an appeal that most nuclear families, in some ways, can resonate with. For example, kids usually enjoy dangerous toys. When I was a kid, my Dad once bought me a Daisy brand black steel air rifle for Christmas, but it did not shoot BB’s, just air. And that was before they put red tips on them to caution people that the gun was a toy. In resonating with the Parker family, they become not only a source of laughter, but a means to the viewer’s enjoyment as they see themselves through the eyes of Ralphie and his family. In essence, that’s why, I believe, this movie has had such acclaim with audiences for over 40 years.
The film is rated PG and runs 1 hour and 33 minutes.
To view a trailer, please click on the “Play” button below.
A Christmas Story is available on the physical formats of VHS, Betamax, Laserdisc, DVD, Blu-Ray, and 4K-UHD. It is also available on multiple streaming services, all of which can be accessed HERE.
On A Side Note:
The house that was used for filming this movie is now a museum that is dedicated to all things “A Christmas Story”, and it is in Cleveland, Ohio. For more about this house, movie props, and nostalgic goodies relating to the movie, please visit its website.
www.achristmasstoryhouse.com/
The Story:
The story begins when an older Ralphie Parker (voiced by Jean Shepherd) reminisces about his childhood in 1940’s Cleveland Ohio, the final days before Christmas. In this story, 9-year-old Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) wants nothing more than a Red Ryder Carbine Action Air Rifle (BB gun) for Christmas. Ralphie tries desperately to drop numerous hints to his parents. He fantasizes about it, as the hero to his family if burglars show up. He writes about it at length in his Christmas assignment to his teacher. And he talks about it to the department store Santa Claus. All of the adults in the movie have the same message for Ralphie; “You’ll shoot you’re eye out”. Meanwhile, Ralphie tries to deal with all of the quirks, perks, and jerks of life as he and his little brother Randy (Ian Petrella) tries to simply deal with the aggravations and frustrations of their parents, go to school and not get killed by the bullies, and wear that super heavy snowsuit on the way.
Ralphie’s parents also have a bunch of crazy drama going on. His Old Man (Darrin Parker) wins a contest for completing a crossword puzzle in the newspaper regarding icons in American literature, so they award him a leg lamp, but his wife (Melinda Dillon) hates it. His father is always fiddling around with the furnace, which is always acting up. Ralphie receives a Christmas present from his Aunt Clara that makes him look like “a deranged Easter bunny”. Most other notable hilarities are about kids growing up in the midst of adults who are viewed as trying to spoil their fun.
My Take:
The first time I saw this movie was in 1993, when I was very sick with the two-week flu, around the holiday season. I had an antenna black and white television in my bedroom and I watched a lot of movies and specials that were new to me to help make me feel better, and this movie aired on FOX in prime time. I just recently watched it again after all those years, and I see its appeal much more now than I did then. The movie reminds me very much of the idea behind the classic TV series The Wonder Years, where the character of Kevin Arnold, narrated by Daniel Stern, and acted by a younger Fred Savage, looked back on life in growing up in the 1960’s. This movie captures the original essence of that spirit in that it portrays life from a simpler time, and it resonates with many on that note.
A Christmas Story was based on a series of vignettes, written by Jean Shepherd, in a book called “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash”. What’s interesting about this is that the man who wrote the book that this movie is based on, actually plays the older version of Ralphie in the movie, reminiscing about his childhood years. The nostalgia that encompasses this film has an appeal that most nuclear families, in some ways, can resonate with. For example, kids usually enjoy dangerous toys. When I was a kid, my Dad once bought me a Daisy brand black steel air rifle for Christmas, but it did not shoot BB’s, just air. And that was before they put red tips on them to caution people that the gun was a toy. In resonating with the Parker family, they become not only a source of laughter, but a means to the viewer’s enjoyment as they see themselves through the eyes of Ralphie and his family. In essence, that’s why, I believe, this movie has had such acclaim with audiences for over 40 years.
The film is rated PG and runs 1 hour and 33 minutes.
To view a trailer, please click on the “Play” button below.
A Christmas Story is available on the physical formats of VHS, Betamax, Laserdisc, DVD, Blu-Ray, and 4K-UHD. It is also available on multiple streaming services, all of which can be accessed HERE.
On A Side Note:
The house that was used for filming this movie is now a museum that is dedicated to all things “A Christmas Story”, and it is in Cleveland, Ohio. For more about this house, movie props, and nostalgic goodies relating to the movie, please visit its website.
www.achristmasstoryhouse.com/