40th Christmas Anniversary

A previous post featured two popular holiday tunes, each of which hit No.1 on the Billboard Top 100 during the Christmas season — years after they debuted, both considered classics

1983 Movie Poster

This long post focuses on a classic film celebrating its 40th anniversary this year — A Christmas Story (1983) is one of our favorites. Like millions of others, we watch it every year.

For anyone not familiar with the story (is that possible?) here's a synopsis: The film is a series of vignettes involving the home, family, friends of 9-year old Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley) during the 1940 holiday season. He lives with his parents (played by Darren McGavin and Melinda Dillon) and younger brother Randy (Ian Petrella) in the fictional Midwest town of Hohman, IN. 

Before Christmas, Ralphie daydreams about his perfect Christmas gift — a  Red Ryder carbine-action, 200-shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time. This Christmas wish is thwarted by his mother, teacher and a department store Santa who taunt him with You'll shoot your eye out.

The gun wasn't a made-up product (unlike the leg lamp) but made by Daisy, only it didn’t have a compass or sundial. It's still among the most sold BB guns. Red Ryder was a popular comic strip character that debuted in 1938 and ran in some 750 newspapers, later a radio and TV show.

Other film storylines include: narrow escapes from neighborhood bullies, battles with a smoke-belching furnace, attempts to get his younger brother to eat, parental disagreements over his father's infatuation with an lamp that looks like a woman's leg, and an unpleasant visit with a department store Santa.

Humorist Jean Shepherd

The film is based on the humorous writings of Jean Parker Shepherd, born July 1921 in Chicago, IL to Jean Parker Sr. and Anne (Heinrichs) Shepherd. He grew up in Hammond, IN, which served as the model for the Parker family’s fictional Midwest town in the film. Like Ralphie, the movie's lead, Shepherd grew up on Cleveland St and went to Warren G. Harding Elementary School in Hammond, IN. 

Shepherd was a popular radio personality on KYW in Philadelphia, then on WOR in NYC where his nightly radio broadcast entertained a legion of young people, including Grenville. Many of Shepherd's semi-fictional anecdotes appeared in Playboy magazine and were collected in a 1966 book, In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash. In Playboy, the book chapter was called Duel In The Snow or Red Ryder Nails the Cleveland Street Kid. 

A Christmas Story is narrated by Shepherd as an older, adult Ralphie. This narration is a welcome tradition as the holiday wouldn't be complete without seeing the film at least once, easy to do now— it's become a marathon viewing event on cable TV.

Some well-known memorable scenes include: delivery of a major award won by Ralphie's father; its unpacking and setting up in the front window; Ralphie's letting an f-bomb slip, his imaginary shootout with Black Bart's gang, his father chased by a pack of at least 785 smelly hound dogs owned by the hillbilly neighbors, the Bumpus family; his best friend Schwartz daring friend Flick, to stick his tongue to an icy flagpole; Ralphie pummeling a bully tormentor.

Ironically, the film was almost never made. It was only made after a deal was struck between the director and MGM.

Director Robert Clark

In the late 1960s, director Robert Clark heard a broadcast of Shepherd’s recollections growing up in Indiana in the late 1930s-early 1940s. When the program finished, Clark knew he wanted to make a movie from them.

 

For years, he tried to find a studio to finance the film, none were interested. Clark, a journeyman director, specialized in low-budget B movies and directed the 1981 film, Porky’s, a teen comedy set in 1950s FL. (Its title refers to a redneck establishment in the Everglades that fronts a brothel.) It was a box office hit and the studio wanted a sequel. Clark now had bargaining power. He agreed to a sequel if the studio would let him do A Christmas Story first. 

MGM agreed. The modestly budgeted comedy ($3,300,000) was released in 1983 a week before Thanksgiving on less than 900 screens. It was a sleeper hit earning $2 million its first weekend, double by Thanksgiving weekend, a solid showing. MGM hadn't counted on it being a success and didn't scheduled distribution to more than the opening screens for the lead up to Christmas. The holiday-themed film disappeared from theaters around Christmas. It had been "played out." 

What to do? Movie goers lodged complaints at theater owners and the studio, and it stayed in 100 theaters until January 1984. Ultimately, the film collected $19 million at the box office.

TV ad for 24-hour marathon

A Christmas Story crept into the mainstream through home video and cable broadcasts which were just starting. In 1986, MGM basically gave the movie to Warner Bros. including it as part of a 50-movie, pre-1986 film library deal. Cable network TNT aired its first 24-hour marathon in 1988 as a publicity stunt, which soon became a tradition. 

As usual, the movie will air on TBS and TNT, including a 24-hour marathon that starts on Christmas Eve and ends on Christmas Day. Over 40 million viewers will tune in at some point. It's become one of the most popular holiday films on a par with It’s A Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street.

Some Christmas Story Trivia

The movie was filmed in the U.S. and Toronto, Ontario. Director Clark sent location scouts to 20 cities to find an American city resembling a 1940s Indiana town, before selecting Cleveland, OH. That decision was also based on the fact that Higbee’s (an actual downtown department store) would allow filming inside the store. (Higbee's was a stand-in for Goldblatts department store in Hammond, IN, where Shepherd grew up.)

Christmas Story House, Cleveland, OH 

The house in the movie is located outside of downtown Cleveland and the Higbee building still stands downtown. Exteriors of Warren G. Harding Elementary School were filmed at Victoria School in St. Catharines, Ontario. The tree shopping scene was filmed in Toronto. A trademark red trolley is seen driving by the Christmas tree lot. 

A Christmas Story house and museum, 3159 W 11th St, Cleveland, OH, is open year round for tours and overnight stays. It features props, costumes, film memorabilia, film photos, including toys from Higbee’s window, Randy’s snowsuit, the chalkboard from Miss Shields’ classroom and the Parker family car. 

There's minimal special effects due to the film's small budget. Some characters were locals. A child wearing goggles that Ralphie and Randy meet while waiting to meet Santa was a local extra, as was Santa, his elves, and the Wizard of Oz characters.

Shepherd’s concept for the “major award” leg lamp was based on a Nehi soda logo. The style of the leg lamp was created by production designer Reuben Freed who had never seen (or heard) of a leg lamp. Three lamps made for the movie all broke on set during filming.

One of several Nehi soda advertisements

Nehi is a flavored soft drink created in 1905. In the early 20th century, its national advertising logo typically showed a woman's legs. The skirt was high to show the stockings up to the knee, suggesting the phrase "knee-high" to illustrate correct pronunciation of the company name. Nehi is now owned by Dr. Pepper Snapple Group which limits its sales and distribution countrywide.

Director Clark & Writer Shepherd

In addition to providing voice-over narration, writer Jean Shepherd had a cameo appearance as a department store customer who sends Ralphie to the back of the Santa line. The woman standing behind him is his wife.

Director Bob Clark also has a cameo as Swede, the Parker family’s neighbor who stops to marvel at the major award leg lamp from across the street.

The Radio Orphan Annie decoder that Ralphie receives is the “Speedomatic” model, indicating that the movie takes place in December 1940. Different decoders were made each year from 1935-1940. By 1941, they were made of paper due to WW II metal shortages.

The role of Ralphie Parker’s father, was originally offered to Jack Nicholson, who reportedly was interested. Clark lobbied hard for Darren McGavin and producers, worried about Nicholson’s usually large salary, approved McGavin. 

Darren McGavin & Belinda Dillon

McGavin was 61 years old, his movie wife Belinda Dillon, was 43 at the time.

McGavin ad-libbed profane rants while fighting with the furnace, done to ensure a PG rating. He said he spoke gibberish as it was impossible for him to ad-lib angry words without using profanity.

According to Peter Billingsley (Ralphie) the string of  gibberish curses he exclaimed while beating up bully Scut Farkus were scripted, word for word, perhaps to avoid him from accidentally using real profanity.

In the dream scene when Ralphie is firing at Black Bart's bandits in the backyard, young Billingsley was chewing on real tobacco, not black licorice as cowboy actors did. The prop department had provided it to the child actor, something that shouldn't have been done. He reportedly had some after-effects.

Did you really think that Flick’s tongue was stuck to the flagpole? Fear not, it was an illusion. A piece of plastic was wrapped around the pole with a hole in it. A hidden suction tube was inserted and attached to a hidden vacuum motor. Tests have shown that a human tongue can get stuck to a frozen pole; cold metal will turn saliva into “a kind of superglue.”

Flick (Scott Schwartz) accepts dare

The Radio Orphan Annie decoder that Ralphie gets is the “Speedomatic” model, indicating that the movie takes place in December 1940. Different decoders were made each year from 1935-1940. By 1941, due to WW II metal shortages, they were made of paper.

Some of the “snow” used during the bullying scenes was actually soap flakes and fire fighters foam. Movies often use fake snow to create winter wonderlands. It's  easier to control than real snow, and easier on actors who won't freeze while delivering lines. (That was done in the snowstorm scenes in It's a Wonderful Life shot in July during very hot weather.)

Zack Ward (Scut Farkas)

The character of Scut Farkus (Zack Ward) was created for the movie and never appears in the book, there Grover Dill is the only bully who torments Ralphie and his friends. 

In a final scene, the Parker family goes to a restaurant on Christmas and a group of waiters sing Jingle Bells. Director Clark didn’t tell the actors the men were going to sing. Their reactions to the singing were genuine.

Actor Peter Billingsley took home three film props; the Red Ryder BB gun, pink bunny suit, and broken glasses. Ironically, the broken glasses weren't a prop, but his own that broke on set.

In 2022, Billingsly played Ralphie for the first time in almost 40 years reprising the role in A Christmas Story Christmas. As a grown-up, married-with-kids adult, he returns home for the holidays. The film included many original 1983 cast members, excluding McGavin and Dillon who had died. 

Your turn — Test your film knowledge with these ? (answers below). 

I triple-dog dare you! (all in fun, no prizes, just braggin' rights)

1. The Parker family eats the same meal nightly, what?
2. How is Ralphie’s father referred to in the film?
3. Finish the quote: I didn’t get a … this year
4. Ralphie puts a flyer for the BB gun in which magazine?
5. Which U.S. state was A Christmas Story set in? (mentioned above)
6. Finish the quote: Meatloaf, smeatloaf, double beetloaf. I hate ….
7. What car does Ralphie’s father drive?
8. Before getting a flat, which Christmas song were the Parkers singing?
9. Finish the quote, You used all ..... on purpose, who said it?
10. What does Ralphie call the Red Ryder BB gun in his dream?
11. Who was on the cover of the magazine Ralphie put the BB gun flyer in?
12. Which TV show was inspired by A Christmas Story?
13. How many times does Ralphie mention wanting a Red Ryder BB Gun in the film?
14. Which Christmas carol plays in the opening scene?
15. What gift does Flick plan to give his father for Christmas?
16. Ralphie uses a Little Orphan Annie decoder pin to reveal what secret?
17. What did Ralphie's mother give his father for Christmas?
18. Where did Randy hide, scared that Ralphie was going to be in big trouble?
19. What does Ralphie blurt out when helping his father change a flat? 
20. What soap is used to wash out his mouth with afterwards, name 2 other soaps mentioned 
21. What does Ralphie’s father say as Ralphie models Aunt Clara's pink bunny suit?
22. What word on the lamp crate makes Ralphie's father think it's foreign?
23. Where does Ralphie find his last present?
24. Name a present Randy gets and takes to bed
25. What was the teacher's name; what mark did she give Ralphie's theme?

Answers: 1. Mashed potatoes, red cabbage, meatloaf 2. The old man 3.Tie, 4. Look magazine, 5. Indiana 6. Meatloaf said by Randy (his brother) 7. Oldsmobile, 8. Jingle Bells 9. Glue, said by Ralphie's father to his wife 10. Ol' Blue, 11. Shirley Temple, 12. The Wonder Year, 13. 28 times 14. Deck the Halls (by Percy Faith orchestra) 15. A rose that sprays water, 16. Drink your Ovaltine 17. Blue bowling Ball 18. Under the sink 19. Oh, Fudge! (that's not the word) 20. Lifebuoy (Palmolive and Lex) 21. He calls it a pink nightmare and says Ralphie looks like a deranged Easter Bunny 22. Fragile 23. Hidden in a corner 24. Zeppelin 25. Miss Shields, C+

 

Postscript

Humorist, writer, radio personality Jean Shepherd died in 1999 at age 78.

Film director Robert Clark, 67, and his 22-year old son were killed in an April 2007 car accident in Pacific Palisades. Their vehicle collided head-on with a driver under the influence who was also driving without a license.

Belinda Dillon, who played Ralphie's film mother, died in January 2023 at age 84. Her on screen husband, Darren McGavin died in 2006, also at age 84.

You can hear Shepherd read the book chapter that became the film online (YouTube) — Jean Shepherd - A Christmas Story. On Christmas Eve 1974, Shepherd narrated on his long-running WOR-AM radio show. No visuals, just a listen from an amusing story teller.