A Christmas Story

**A Christmas Story** is a 1983 American Christmas comedy film directed by Bob Clark, which was released on November 18, 1983 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

It is based on Jean Shepherd's 1966 book, "In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash" with some elements of his 1971 book, "Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories."

## Plot

Set in the 1940s, a young boy named Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) tries to convince his parents (Melinda Dillon & Darren McGavin), his teacher (Tedde Moore) and Santa Claus (Jeff Gillian) that a Red Ryder BB gun really is the perfect Christmas gift for him.

## Cast

* Peter Billingsley as Ralphie Parker
* Jean Shepherd as Adult Ralphie (voice)
* Ian Petrella as Randy Parker
* Melinda Dillon as Mrs. Parker
* Darren McGavin as Mr. Parker (The Old Man)
* Scott Schwartz as Flick
* R. D. Robb as Schwartz
* Zack Ward as Scut Farkus
* Yano Anaya as Grover Dill
* Tedde Moore as Miss Shields
* Jeff Gillen as Santa Claus

## Production

The screenplay for "A Christmas Story" is based on material from author Jean Shepherd's collection of short stories, "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash." Three of the semi-autobiographical short stories on which the film is based were originally published in Playboy magazine between 1964 and 1966.

Shepherd later read "Duel in the Snow, or Red Ryder nails the Cleveland Street Kid" and told the otherwise unpublished story, "Flick's Tongue" on his WOR Radio talk show, as can be heard in one of the DVD extras.

Bob Clark states on the DVD commentary that he became interested in Jean Shepherd's work when he heard "Flick's Tongue" on the radio in 1968.

According to Bob Clark, additional source material for the film came from unpublished anecdotes that Jean Shepherd told live audiences "on the college circuit." While shooting scenes in Cleveland in early 1983, he told a reporter that it had taken him ten years to get the film into production.

Principal photography for "A Christmas Story" began on January 14, 1983 and ended on March 24, 1983. Filming took place in Cleveland, Ohio and Ontario, Canada although the film's setting takes place in Hammond, Indiana.

In the film's DVD commentary, director Bob Clark mentions that Jack Nicholson was considered for the role of the Old Man. He expresses gratitude that he ended up with Darren McGavin instead, who later appeared in several other Bob Clark films.

He cast Melinda Dillon in the role of Ralphie's mother, Mrs. Parker on the basis of her similar role in the film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."

Some 8,000 actors auditioned for the role of Ralphie including Keith Coogan, Sean Astin, Wil Wheaton and Peter Billingsley (who was ultimately given the role).

According to Bob Clark about Peter Billingsley's audition: *"He walked in, and he had us from the beginning."*

Clark initially wanted him for the role of Ralphie, but decided that he was *"too obvious"* a choice and auditioned many other young actors before realizing that Billingsley was the right choice after all.

Ian Petrella was cast in the role of Ralphie's little brother, Randy immediately before filming began.

According to Peter Billingsley, not many major studios were interested in a story about a little boy in the 1940s who wanted a BB gun for Christmas. He said the studio agreed to make "A Christmas Story" if Bob Clark agreed to make a horror film.

The people of Cleveland, Ohio were incredibly cooperative during filming. They donated antique vehicles from every corner of the city which helped to enhance the authenticity of the production design.

During the filming in downtown Cleveland, the antique automobile club members whose cars were used were given a route to follow on Public Square. They were instructed to continue circling the square until otherwise instructed. Road salt was a major concern for the car owners and the cars were pressure-washed after each day's filming and parked underground beneath the Terminal Tower.

Tedde Moore (who played Miss Shields) was eight months pregnant at the time of filming. Her character could not be shown as an unmarried mother in the 1940s, so the filmmakers padded the rest of her to match her belly, making her just appear stout.

For the scene in which Flick's tongue sticks to the flagpole, a hidden suction tube was used to safely create the illusion that his tongue had frozen to the metal.

Darren McGavin ad-libbed the profane rants while fighting with the furnace. McGavin said that he speaks gibberish the entire time because it was almost impossible for him to ad-lib angry words without actual profanity and did this in order to ensure a "PG" rating for the film.

The parade scene was filmed just outside Higbee's on Cleveland's Public Square at 3:00 in the morning. The parade was filmed at night because during daytime, the 1960s Erieview Tower and Federal Building were visible, as was the BP Tower, under construction at that time.

In 2005, the original home used for the exterior shots of the Parker family home was put up for auction on eBay, and avid fan of the movie Brian Jones purchased it directly from the seller for $150,000.

Jones then spent the following year restoring the home to the way that it looked on screen. The exterior was completely restored and the interior was renovated to match the interior of the home shown in the film (parts of the interior were actually filmed in a Toronto studio).

On November 25, 2006, the home finally opened its doors as a tourist attraction. Jones spent close to $500,000 in preparation for this grand opening. In addition, he also purchased a house across the street and converted it to a gift shop and museum dedicated to the film and the house.

"A Christmas Story" was released just before Thanksgiving and became a surprise hit.

By the time Christmas rolled around, the film had already been pulled from most theaters because it had been "played out", but after complaints were lodged at the theater owners and the studio, the film played on select screens until after the first of the year in 1984.

## Box Office

"A Christmas Story" grossed $2,072,473 during its opening weekend. Overall, it grossed $20,653,717 on an estimated budget of $3,300,000.

## Critical Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, "A Christmas Story" has an approval rating of 89% based on 57 reviews with an average rating of 8.53\10. The site's consensus reads: *"Both warmly nostalgic and darkly humorous, A Christmas Story deserves its status as a holiday perennial."*

On Metacritic, the film has a score of 77 out of 100 (based on 8 critics) indicating "generally favorable reviews."

Roger Ebert of the Chicago-Sun Times wrote: *"It is pitch-perfect, telling the story through the enthusiastic and single-minded vision of its hero Ralphie, and finding in young Peter Billingsley a sly combination of innocence and calculation."*

TV Guide Magazine said: *"The cast is wonderful--especially [Darren] McGavin, [Peter] Billingsley and [Ian] Petrella--the laughs are nonstop if rarely subtle, and the whole thing deserves to become a Christmastime classic."*

Noel Murray from The A.V. Club said: *"The affection audiences feel for A Christmas Story is related to the holiday spirit, yes, but specifically to Clark and Shepherd's awareness of how the true meaning of Christmas manifests in the real world, where a warm meal on a cold, dark day—and a surprising moment of parental grace—can ease a troubled mind."*

James Berardinelli from ReelViews wrote: *"It's those moments and others and the way they are tied together by [Jean] Shepherd's tongue-in-cheek narration that cements A Christmas Story as one of those rare must-see holiday movies, even for those who don't celebrate Christmas."*

Vincent Canby of The New York Times said: *"Though Mr. [Peter] Billingsley, Mr. [Darren] McGavin, Miss [Melinda] Dillon and the actress who plays Ralphie's school teacher are all very able, they are less funny than actors in a television situation comedy that one has chosen to watch with the sound turned off."*

J.R. Jones from the Chicago Reader wrote: *"Director Bob Clark teamed with nostalgic humorist Jean Shepherd for this squeaky clean and often quite funny 1983 yuletide comedy, adapted from Shepherd's novel In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash."*

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) said: *"Needless to say, what's refreshing about A Christmas Story is subversive to the sepia-toned and loving references to the forties which director Bob Clark has provided for the film. The fictional Parker family that Shepherd has written about for 20 years is not as gentle or gauzy as they first appear. It's possible to imagine them so preoccupied with their own problems, whether dealing with the neighbor's dogs or winning a mail- order contest, that they could forget Christmas altogether."*