25 Greatest Christmas Films: #2 — ‘A Christmas Story’ (1983)
by John NolteBesides pure heart-warming entertainment value and some of the biggest laughs of any Christmas film, what makes A Christmas Story exceptional is that never before or since has there been another film like it. The offbeat, nostalgic, just shy of plumb story of Ralphie (a brilliant Peter Billingsly), a young boy determined to prevail in his Christmas quest for a BB gun, is a stand alone original. Others have tried, including a ill-conceived sequel, but none comes close. A Christmas Story is lightening in a bottle. A nostalgic look back at childhood perfectly pitched ten-degrees off center that manages to be, at the same time, all things wistful, absurd, abstract, and unforgettable.
Jean Shepard, the film’s warm wonderful narrator, is also responsible for the collection of short stories upon which the movie’s based. In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash is a series of anecdotes told from the perspective of an adult Ralphie going back to his hometown and reminiscing with people he hasn’t seen in decades. The cobbling together of a script from these stories to create the solid narrative of the film is quite a feat in itself, but it’s Shepard’s unique voice that drives the book and it was director Bob Clark’s genius to capture that voice both literally and figuratively on film.
It’s all about tone, and A Christmas Story is perfectly tuned.
For me it’s the late great Darren McGavin as The Old Man who stands out. A legendary ham, but one who could back it up with talent, McGavin’s reaction shots to the absurdity around him are pure magic, and let’s go ahead and nominate Frageeelaaayyyy and Natafinga! as two words as iconic as the magical holiday combination of “shitter’s” and “full.”
As far as iconic moments and pieces of dialogue forever embedded into the pop culture lexicon, there are too many to list because the film itself is really one long iconic moment. The tongue on the flagpole, the visit with Santa, soap poisoning, oh, fu-u-dge, furnace fighting, the bunny suit, and of course, electric sex in the window. But don’t forget the small pleasures: Watch McGavin’s reaction when the wonderful Melinda Dillon drops the bowling ball in his lap. And be sure to keep an eye out when Ralphie lustily strokes the leg-lamp and his priceless “who me?” reaction when the teacher asks if anyone knows how Flick got his tongue stuck to the flagpole.
Forced to choose a single favorite moment, it would have to be the closing shot of a perfectly contented Ralphie fast asleep with his hard earned and much treasured “Red Ryder carbine-action, two hundred shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock and a thing which tells time” by his side, all cozy under a warm blanket and wrapped in Shepard’s affectionate, reflective narration about a time that never really was but is how we like to remember it:
“Next to me in the blackness lay my oiled blue steel beauty. The greatest Christmas gift I had ever received, or would ever receive. Gradually, I drifted off to sleep, pringing ducks on the wing and getting off spectacular hip shots.”
…oiled blue steel beauty. …pringing ducks on the wing. …spectacular hip shots.
That’s not screenwriting or even prose … that’s poetry.
Last year the wife and I had the opportunity to see a double feature of this and Christmas Vacation on the big screen. Fun, memorable night to be sure, but you know what? Both play better at home in front of the warm glow of plasma. These are personal films and the intimacy factor in watching them at home trumps any big screen.
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It's interesting, but I've never met a woman who likes this movie – including my wife who hates it – but I've also never met a guy who did not LOVE it!
It is a great movie. One moment you did not mention that I absolutely laugh outloud everytime is the Santa putting his boot on Ralphie's head to move him along. The look on the kid's face is priceless.
A gem indeed.
My family actually has this on right now. It's a true classic.
That's strange — my wife and two daughters both love the movie. In fact, it was my daughters who dragged me to see this way back in the early 1908's — I thought it was going to be just another dumb "kid's Christmas movie." One viewing and I turned into one of its biggest fans.
Just this year, I had the exquisite pleasure of showing it and watching it for the first time with two of my grandsons, ages 3 and 5. They both loved it — and the youngest one is already quoting some of the dialogue to his mother!
"Both play better at home in front of the warm glow of plasma. These are personal films and the intimacy factor in watching them at home trumps any big screen."
My family owned movie theatres since 1919, but I agree with that statement 100%. Great film. Great review. Thanks, John.
Ooops! Make that "early 1980's" — I'm not that old!
Really, you've never me a woman who likes it? Well, "Hi I'm Nicole and I love A Christmas Story." I love it so much my wonderful husband bought me the deluxe DVD edition for Christmas last year – the one that came in a collector's tin with an apron, cookie cutters, and recipe book.
One way to tell this movie isn't just a Christmas classic, but a classic, PERIOD, is the house that served as the setting has been restored to "movie condition" and turned into a museum. The man who owns and runs it also manufactures those leg lamps.
Probably my favorite scene in the move: Oooooh FUUUUUUUUDGE!
I can't even tell you how much I absolutely loathe this movie.
Really? I LOVE this movie … It's a Leg!!!!!! *&%# Bumpuses !!!! You'll shoot your eye out ….. and Jinger Bears, Jinger Bells sung over a feast of Chinese "turkey"….what's to hate?
My wife and two daughters like it too.
I thought this would be #1. Anyone who grew up in the 50s or early 60s can relate to something in it. And my kids like it too.
My Sexy Leg Lamp sits proudly in the center of my living room window. "Nuff said.
Jean Shepard was an amazing story teller. I really miss his radio show.
This movie is hated by women because women are portrayed as either a homemaker or a teacher. The movie is loved by men because it captures that magical time in our youth when Santa was real and Christmas was this otherworldly time.
Could've been number # for me… at home in my bath robe and will be watching Christmas Story, Its A Wonderful Life, Edward Scissorhands and Die Hard.
Everytime this movie is on I get a splitting headache. I'm a guy who hates it.
Larry, I'm a woman and I LOVE it! I just about watch the full 24 hours of a Christmas Story that runs Christmas Eve and Christmas every year. In fact, I am anxiously awaiting the start now! I love the humor and the nostalgia. I think it could be way up on the list of my favorite movies ever, not just Christmas movies.
please be more specific, because as someone who loves it, i have trouble seeing anything in it that would engender any serious antipathy. indifference? yeah, sure. absolutely loathe? where's that coming from?
wait a cotton pickin' minute………?
Agreed. Most movies in this genre come off as corny, hackneyed, fluff pieces. But for some reason, this movie never gets old for me.
Maybe it's just me, but I remember life scaring the heck out of me at that age, everything beyond my control. And I think Ralphie does a good job of bringing that pre-teen angst out. I just really relate to the character.
Except for the little brother part, I was the little brother, and my older brother was always trying to ditch me.
I'm a woman and I love it and my two grown daughters love it. It takes me back to my own childhood.
my wife loves it i hate it
This is my FAVORITE movie anytime of the year. I even have a Ralphie bobble head. Great pick.
I CANNOT watch this movie. Knew it would be #2 (we all know what #1 will be).
"A Christmas Story" is a waking nightmare, a non-stop cavalcade of holiday grotesquerie from the horrible mall Santa to the leg lamp to the Fa ra ra ra ras.
Don't get me wrong–I appreciate the elements that make this movie what it is–the writing, the narration, etc. It's masterfully done (where "Christmas Vacation" is merely trash). But the way people go on and on about what a *delightful* Christmas comedy this is completely baffles me. There is nothing delightful about this picture. It's pitch-black and wretched. "Silent Night, Deadly Night" doesn't hold a candle to this, the celluloid apotheosis of creeping Yuletide drear.
His essay compilations are fantastic. I embarrassed myself a few times reading them in public and laughing uncontrollably.
My wife's family was taught that this movie was crass and rude, so they hated it. My family was every bit as dysfunctional as this one so naturally we loved this movie. My wife now sees the humor in it and sees it as a guilty pleasure.
I didn't know that. Putting it on my list of things to do within the next five years.
"Be sure to drink your Ovalteen!"
A lousy commercial?
The best moment in the whole movie, mostly because I remember when I believed that the appeals to me by radio and TV were real, and I can totally relate to Ralphie's rude realization that his childhood fantasy of becoming a Little Orphan Annie Secret Spy had suddenly bitten the dust.
Other directors have sought (with varied success) to capture the genius of Jean Shepard but only Bob Clark managed to transform Shepard's superb story-telling ability into celluloid perfection. There is not a false note in this masterpiece. Sadly both Shepard and Clark are gone but what a wonderful gift they left us.
Rock on, Ralphie!
Count me as another woman who loves it. My favorite movie anytime of the year. The rest of my family is not quite as in love but they don't hate it.
I'm going to watch it tonight when the kids go to bed. It's a tradition.
I've never heard of that. It was a woman (liberated no less) who got me to watch it the first time. I think women who aren't knee-jerk reactionaries can see that it's a story of a different time period with timeless resonance. And, believe me, I rule the roost, but I don't eat a hot meal either.
Both "Vacation" and "A Chistmas Story" are more about the absurdities surrounding Christmas than most of the other holiday movies on the list, which may be why it ticks some people off (I prefer Ralphie to Clark because Sheppard's stories are funny, and at the same time never take you past the point of plausibility to where in the real world, someone would have staged an intervention before the full disaster played out).
I'm also a woman who loves "A Christmas Story" and my favorite bit is the Bumpus hounds who ignore every human being on the planet, but Ralphie's old man. Darren McGavin is greatly missed.
You should lay off the egg nog this early dude…..
This movie isn't "hated by women." All my female friends and I love this movie. I think I truly started to appreciate it after I had my two boys. In fact, one of my favorite scenes is when the mom covers up for Ralphie after his fight. I've always thought she probably knew what a bully that Scut Farkas was and was proud of Ralphie for standing up to him.
I can't say I disagree with him. A Christmas Story is a light-hearted, inspiring, heartwarming comedy in much the same way that Brazil and Zelig are light-hearted, inspiring, heartwarming comedies.
I remember seeing a couple of shows on TV that were based on Jean Shepard and i think they had the same guy narrating except it was about a kid in his teens. I remember one that was about the kid trying to get a date with a Polish Catholic girl in his neighbourhood because they were supposed to be "loose". does anyone else remember anything like that?
I bought and wore a set of Aunt Clara's PJ for Halloween this year.
The amazing thing is that this movie got made at all. Hollywood only agreed to finance it because the director had just finished making the dreadful but highly successful "Porky's" and had that rare moment of temporary clout when he could have made any kind of movie he wanted. Thank God he decided to make this one!
ACS was also not a big hit when it opened. I went to see it because I had read Jean Shepherd's stories in PLAYBOY (in between ogling Cynthia Myers and DeDe Lind) and could barely find a movie house in the city of Houston, Texas that played it. It also didn't help that it was released several months BEFORE Christmas and didn't even benefit from that tie-in. But cream will always rise to the top. (Interestingly, the #1 movie tomorrow was released in the summer, if you can believe it!)
I took my parents to see it when I visited them that Christmas and afterwards my Mom told me that "I laughed so hard I almost cried!" which I had never heard her say about any movie. But then, she WAS the Mom in the film.
She obviously has good taste.
This movie strikes a weird chord with me. It a nightmare. Ralphie's sense of powerlessness and subsequent desperation to meet Santa Claus who turns out to be a reeling horror, his idiotic daydreams about saving his family with his BB gun, the sheer panic when he DOES shoot himself in the eye, abandoning the kid stuck to the pole…
At its essence, "A Christmas Story" is about childhood fear. To the nostalgiaphiles on this site that may be a hoot, but to a sensitive child who basically WAS Ralphie, it's about as funny as a kick in the crotch.
As far as I can tell, all the women in our family (my wife, my six adult daughters, and for that matter my ex-wife) all love this movie. I've always enjoyed it, but I find that the older I get, the more it means to me. My own "Ralphie" Christmases were 45-50 years ago, and they have more in common with this film than they do with Christmas today. ..bruce..
What a strange reading of the movie. I was Ralphie, and since I grew up I was able to see the funny side of the whole thing.
I disagree about it being a movie about childhood fear (though there was fear in the movie), but rather it seemed more a movie about childhood self-absorption, told in a light and entertaining way. Sure, you can take the same subject matter and make a very dark movie about it. But they didn't. They made this experience of a child coming to grips with a larger world into something uplifting and positive.
The ending is that of a comedy. Ralphie gets his gun. His kid brother clutches his zeppelin with a smile subtly hinting that maybe in HIS movie, he just got his dream present. Mom and dad share an intimate moment over a glass of wine. The snow falls peacefully, and you can feel the love and security that little Ralphie is wrapped in. I fail to see how a movie with such images can be considered to be about childhood fear in a negative way.
What a strange reading of the movie. I was Ralphie, and since I grew up I was able to see the funny side of the whole thing.
I disagree about it being a movie about childhood fear, but rather it seemed more a movie about childhood self-absorption, told in a light and entertaining way. Sure, you can take the same subject matter and make a very dark movie about it. But they didn't. They made this experience of a child coming to grips with a larger world into something uplifting and positive.
The ending is that of a comedy. Ralphie gets his gun. His kid brother clutches his zeppelin with a smile subtly hinting that maybe in HIS movie, he just got his dream present. Mom and dad share an intimate moment over a glass of wine. The snow falls peacefully, and you can feel the love and security that little Ralphie is wrapped in. I fail to see how a movie with such images can be considered to be about childhood fear in a negative way.
so if you'd seen it once your attitude might be "meh", but after multiple viewings at familial gunpoint it's come to represent something much more negative. i'm generally loathe (there's that word again! hmmm) to play cyber-psychologist, but maybe if you refused to allow yourself to be subjected to this, or any other annual family inflicted trauma, it might be healthier for all involved.
ok, repeat after me: "You know, I've seen this movie about 30 times and it's not my thing. I'm going to go __________. Enjoy your show, see you in a couple hours." you might be surprised how many say they'll join you.
maybe this movie isn't the real problem. and btw- i know whereof i speak. i don't 'do' xmas, at all. nothing really against it (ok, at least nothing loathsome), it's just not my thing. had a perfectly wonderful upper middle class upbringing, just was never into the whole xmas thing, even as a little kid. my sister got all my xmas spirit and then some, which is great because she has 3 kids and i don't have any. but it took decades of dedicated indifference on my part for my family to 'include me out' of all that stuff.
You hang out with the wrong women. I love it.
Why this movie resonates with me is because it really gets to the heart of childhood – Ralphie does it all. The movie came out in the late 40s, though, didn't it? Not 1983.
I think the flagpole incident – and being chased by the bullies – are the 2 funniest things. Oh, and being dressed such that the kid looks like the Michelin Man.
It captured the magic of Christmas to a child.
The lamp has started a cult classic – how many reproductions?
I LOVE this movie – it's magical.
My God! You've left it wide open for "It's a Wonderful Life". Say it ain't so.
That's because one-half the population has a sense of humor and the other half are women.
This and "Christmas Vacation" are watched every year. Both of them bring out the best and the worst aspects of Christmas and family. What makes them so good is that they are nostalgic without the pompousness of a straight story. They are a reminder that even the perfect is not perfect, but family and celebrations are still worth experiencing.
Someone said this movie is about the fear of childhood. Yes, but it is also about facing up to fears and discovering reality without losing the childlike wonder that makes life more than tragedy. To me it is the perfect pitch of a coming of age story that doesn't require adulthood all at once. A lot of other movies would have Ralphie at age 16 suddenly become a druggy, sex crazed, pimp of a delinquent fighting everything that ever made him happy. Then they will praise it as a gritty reality based story. This comedy is far more filled with truth than any other movie about growing up. That is what makes it so funny.
"'Tis the season to be jorry,
Fa ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra"
I just watched the number 1 on this list. I'm in Afghanistan and I made sure that I had it on my itouch before I left the States. A friend told me about the movie about 15 years ago. I've watched it ever since. And, even though I know it's number 1, I'll still check tomorrow to read the article. Christmas Story I can take or leave (although I will probably watch it tomorrow – a special screening!); But "It's A Wonderful Life" I have to see every year. It's what everyone longs for… to know that we are needed, that we are making a difference, and we would be missed.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
The genius of this film is the fact that it, like Woody Allen's "Radio Days", makes me nostalgic for a time before I was born. We all have childhood memories about Christmas, good and bad, but I wanted Ralphie to get that BB gun as much as he did. Clark's film is now a classic, and if all you "Story" haters are spouting off just to be different, don't judge a film by the 24 hour marathon on a basic cable channel. Rent it in widescreen, and enjoy.
What IS it with these people who didn't like the movie. It sounds like they REALLY HATED IT! I suppose there are always those who just want to be different and go against the grain. I'm not saying everybody HAS to like it, but come on! LOL As the kids say "what ehvs".
hey el gordo, or should i say hey fat guy, its obvious the fun nature of the movie has escaped you. check yourself and think some positive thoughts.
My whole family loves this movie from my elderly mother to my grandchildren. One reason is that when we saw it together my mother and I both agreed that I AM Ralphie. That was my childhood on the screen, right down to fishing for clinkers in the coal furnace, desperately wanting (and getting) a Red Ryder blue steeled beauty and the greatest crime possible– breaking your glasses. I know it by heart– but I pretty much knew it by heart before I ever saw it. One of the great pleasures of my life back in the sixties was listening to Jean Shepherd talking on WOR, spinning out endless stories and adventures every Saturday night. The man was the great story teller of the age, and he is greatly missed.
Yes, also one where they went to a cheap vacation cabin on a miasmatic lake called "Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss." I'd love to see them again.
"A Christmas Story" is #1 in my book. It's hilarious, so true to life, and is wonderfully written and directed. It holds extra warm-fuzzies for me because the Parkers are freakishly like my own family. The Old Man. Eheheheh… I can relate to Ralphie so well.
The thing about "Story" is that it totally captures a ~real~ average American child's perspective on Christmastime. And not just the wonder and magic, but the weirdness and craziness as well. Not all is fluffy bears and candy-canes in December, folks! Us kids have to deal with seemingly unsympathetic parents! Creepy Santa Clauses! Bizarre little sibblings! Real life! But what I love most about "Story" is that, come Christmas, all is calm and bright, and life's little annoyances and disappointments have been smoothed over for the time-being.
Ooooooohhhh fuuuuuuuddge…..
One of the funniest, most entertaining and heart warming movie I have ever seen. A treasure.
Um, no. I thought it was horrible the first time I watched it. I hated it then, I hate it now. The only thing that's deepened over the years is the dislike for my extended family gatherings. The disdain for the movie is the same now as it was the first time I sat through it.
And for the record, I haven't seen it in about 15 years.
Merry Christmas to you Kevlaur, and thanks for your service.
Merry Christmas, Kevlaur. Thanks for your service.
Safe home.
I recall , also cottage at wolverie woods. dad!s off week fro steelfactory beset wit rai . Greatest stuff ever!!!!
Love to see all agai.
The one thing that makes me sad anymore is knowing that director Bob Clark was tragically, senselessly killed in a head-on car collision caused by an illegal alien who was driving without a license and whose BAC was three times the legal limit.
It's a family tradition in my house that my wife (who also loves the movie) and I watch it multiple times. And upon the final viewing, I always pray that Bob Clark, Darrin McGavin, and Jean Shepard rest in peace before I thank them for the unique Christmas present they gave all of us.
Excellent choice for #2. This is where the family goes every year to see Christmas movies such as this one on the "big screen": http://www.alabamatheatre.com/AbouttheAlabama/TourtheAla...
it is a truly family friendly movie about a simpler time, I will be watching it with the family later. Oh before i forget. you'll shoot your eye out kid . MERRY CHRISTMAS.
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Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] Only I didn't say "Fudge." I said THE word, the big one, the queen-mother of dirty words, the "F-dash-dash-dash" word!
Agreed, the Father may have appeared to be in charge, but it was Mom all the way.
After all, the leg lamp was no longer in the living room, now was it?
To all detractors of A CHRISTMAS STORY – read the short stories the film is based upon instead. All by the very funny humorist JEAN SHEPHERD and all based upon his life back in the 30s and 40s. This man should be regarded as an icon of all we cherish from when America was America.
The stories are missing the 'sweetness' that some people may find unappealing in the film.
Most of his short stories are in paperback. Several were also made into PBS specials back in the 80s – very much sought after now with Matt Dillon playing an older Ralphie and James Broderick (father of Matthew Broderick; and once of TV's FAMILY) playing Ralphie's Dad.
His WW2 stories about serving in the Signal Corp are gut-wrenchingly funny.
Shepherd was a man of the people. He reveled in America. What some folks felt was corny or old hat, he cherished and laughed with – County Fairs, Polish/American girls with reps, good cheap beers, roadside food, big cars, holidays, fireworks, etc. He was a mid-western kid and he usually did the narration in any film that was made from his stories.
He narrates ACStory and the film is made up of characters and situations from several of his short stories.
He's laugh out loud funny.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Lucky day – clips from some of the PBS Shepherd shows.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQLg3rcV-Is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzstbfBi6R8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvZkOVUJLBE – complete! Rare! Recently posted!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Shepherd
I was even more neurotic and sensitive than Ralphie I like the movie.
Maybe its the scene where he finally snaps and beats the crap out of the bully. Very empowering, not only facing your greatest fear, but actually over coming it.
The film came out in 1983 and seems to be set sometime in the 40s or early 50s. Can't remember w/o seeing it again, but the original stories that Jean Shepherd wrote and which the film is based upon were all set in the 30s and 40s – the days of his childhood and youth.
I heard this movie is where they got the idea for The Wonder Years.
Not sure if there's any truth to it or not.
Please tell all the Americans in Afghanistan a very Merry Christmas from all of us back the US!
Also, please stay safe, you all have family and friends who want you back home, safe and sound, as soon as possible.
I wouldn't worry about it, people like what they like, and they don't like what they don't like. Free country.
For example, I loathe musicals (accept Disney's Aladin and Beauty and the Beast), don't particularly enjoy dance movies, refuse to attend an opera, and I fail to see the talent in Jimi Hendrix's guitar playing.
But I have no problems at all with people who disagree with those sentiments.
My favorite moment: the Bumpass hounds and the Christmas turkey. A major tragedy, bit it leads directly to the Fa ra ra ra ra.
By the way, many hundreds of Shep's original WOR radio shows are available as podcasts on iTunes. Well worth listening to.
just out of curiousity, could you name a few regular movies you really like? And what's your favorite Christmas movie?
But was it a series? I seem to remember it being on PBS.
Because of this movie I sought out (and found) a number of Jean Shepard's radio shows from the 60s and 70s. Some of them are fascinating time capsules. I think I could listen to his voice all day and not get sick of it.
I'm a woman that love this movie.
My dad was born in 1938 and says this movie captures his childhood perfectly. He also still has his red rider bb gun in his gun case.
Count me as one who doesn't love A Christmas Story. It has some funny moments but I certainly don't find it heart-warming. I like nostalgia and as a child in the 60s, Christmas was wonderful and magical. My parents, five siblings, grandma, aunts and uncles all lived in a 3 flat and it was perfect. This movie and the parents are too cynical for me. And I hate the mother's hair. Maybe some women's hair looked like that at the time but it wasn't the look of the day (more like the 70s-80s). She looks wretched!
Now, #1 is my favorite.
Either this film connects with your childhood, or it doesn't. That's the best way to discern whether or not someone will like this movie.
Frankly, I cherish A Christmas Story. I watch with bemusement and shame as Ralph fantasizes about having the ability to inspire intense, wringing guilt in his parents, granted by a case of severe "soap poisoning," and recollect thinking similar things when I was a child.
It's not hated by women at all. You and Larry up above just don't hang out with the cool ones. And c'mon? Do you think little girls never found Christmas magical or believed in Santa?
You're just throwin' chum out there, aren't ya brother? ;-D
I am in complete agreement. I hate this movie, too. Why in so many movies are the parents so clueless? Really–they're making the kid wear the bunny suit? Really? I can't imagine real parents doing that–and the Dad is often a jerk, and the Mom is manipulative, and teaching her kids to be so, as well.
I hate it when I can't respect any of the adults in a film.
Years ago, I was at Lime Rock – a race track in Northwest Connecticut – back when Jean Shepard was writing a monthly column for "Car and Driver". The magazine had a private tent set up, and as my best friend and I were walking by, we saw Shep having a beer behind the fence. I had read all of his books up to that time and had regularly tuned into his radio show on WOR in NYC. I recognized him and called out to him. He told us to hop the fence, and we did. We spent some time with him, just talking about his short stories and his radio narratives. One of his gifts was that he was able to retain his youthful fascination with life and make his readers and listeners participants in his – and their – own reminiscences. Another of his gifts was that he told the folks in the Car and Driver tent that we were his guests and we could have all the beer we wanted. Thanks, Shep.
If Hollywood made a sequel today, it would have Ralphie get drafted and return from Vietnam as a drug-addicted veteran who shoots people from a clock tower. Working title: "Ralphie got his gun."
The true story is of course that Ralphie grows up to be Glenn Beck! I mean, look at him. The likeness is amazing.
That **is** weird – for decades I thought his came out in the late 1940s (1947?) – thought the black & white version had been "colorized" – the reason it stays with me is that it **really** brings Christmas from a child's perspective…
I love this movie! Nice to meet ya, Larry.
I'm a woman, and I LOVE THIS MOVIE! My Mom says she doesn't like it because it's negative. I don't get why she would say that. It's one of the funniest things I've ever seen.
My favorites:
The furnace fight
The evil Santa. "HO HO HOOOO!!! WHAT'S YOUR NAME, LITTLE BOY?!?"
Ohhh, fuuuuudge
"Randy lay still on the ground. It was his only defense."
The Asian restaurant "Fa ra ra ra ra!"
The "Old man", in general. Darrin McGavin was so great.
Easy Clete, El Gorde was mocking modern Hollywood, not the film itself.
It's a Christmas miracle, Average Joe posted something I agree with!
I don't have the lamp, but ever since I first saw the film, I cannot see the word "fragile" and not say out loud "Frageeelaaayyyy"!
Either this film connects with your childhood, or it doesn't. That's the best way to discern whether or not someone will like this movie.
I was Ralphie's age in the mid 80's yet I absolutely love the movie. It's the emotions and family insanity, that we can later laugh at, that many probably relate to.
This movie is an absolute treasure. It's perfect in every way, and it's the only thing allowed on our TV for 24 hours starting tonight….
I hate it. I think it's boring, I think the jokes are stupid, the family annoys me, the main kid is atrocious, I dislike every single thing about this movie. It's easily one of the worst movies I've ever seen. My entire immediate family hates it, but my entire extended family loves it, so we've had to suffer through multiple viewings of it over the years.
I know everybody has different tastes, but man, I can't understand why anybody likes this movie. There's nothing redeeming about it at all, in my opinion. Sorry.
My wife has used the same argument, word for word. Eerie.
OKay well I'm a guy who HATES this movie. I've never liked this movie. I change the channel or shut off the TV every friggin time the movie is played.
And don't forget- "It's a major award!!!"
I mention Bob Clark any time some chowderhead says, "They aren't criminals! They mow your lawn and clean your house!"
Jean Shepard was on the radio in New York for years. He told stories like A Christmas Story five nights a week for about 20 years. I misspent my youth listening to him and never regret it.
I had the good fortune of seeing this movie during its original run in the theater. For years, it was a secret only my mother and I shared until it hit the small screen and slowly became a countrywide Christmas tradition. It may very well be the last film to ever earn its place beside classics such as Wonderful Life and Miracle of.
Bob Clark was a Hillsdale alum. I don't know if he was a conservative in his private life (a boyfriend opposed to abortion was falsely suspected of being a murderer in his Black Christmas), but he certainly captured the values of small town suburban families (in a non-sugarcoated way) with ACS.
Speaking of Black Christmas–if you think Santa is nasty in ACS, try that one on for size. Now, it really is a mean Christmas movie (it's the blueprint for Carpenter's Halloween).
I'm watching it right now! ACS, Christmas Vacation and (my personal favorite) It's a Wonderful Life are a viewing must for me every year.
I'm a woman. Very much so. I absolutely love this movie and so do most of my female friends. Though I've always had a unique since of humor.
What they said. I salute in your general direction.
this is definitely a Gen X flick. I heard so much about it after it came out and when I saw it, I was totally unmoved.
I think Christmas flicks have more to do with childhood memories than what is a good movie and what is not, Christmas Vacation may be the exception to that rule. For baby boomers and earlier, great Christmas flicks are in B&W, like Miracle, Bishops Wife, or Holiday Inn. And of course, the second half baby boomers (born 56 forward) have Charlie Brown Xmas and Grinch, we were there for the FIRST time it ran.
[...] Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » 25 Greatest Christmas Films: #2 — ‘A Christma…More information: a christmas story [...]
I consider good Christmas films to be films I can watch with my family and not feel uncomfortable. This one is crass and rude. Depressing even. Don't even need to go into Christmas Vacation (where the iconic line is scatological.) Needless to say, I disagree with much of this list.
But (in my Arlo Guthrie voice,) "that's America!" It is nice that so many get so much pleasure from the film.
Merry Christmas!
P.S. I'm a man. My wife has no interest in ever seeing this film again, and my kids (age 9) aren't even aware of it, thank goodness. Knowing their personalities, though, they won't like, either.
I'm a woman who loves A Christmas Story! I remember those days from earliest childhood. The set decorator got everything just right! What nostalgia!
Oh no!!!!! Now I realize how you could slam one of my favorite Christmas movies as Christmas p0rn. You simply put the real Christmas p0rn near the top of the list. I loathe this movie. Perhaps it is nostalgic for people who lived that place and time, but it has always been just gross to me. I see very little humor in it, though it often gets constant play around the holidays. I'd take a non-stop marathon of "It's a Wonderful Life" rather than sit through this even once.
I guess these just are not people I'd want to hang around with on Christmas. So why watch them when there are too many other great movies to watch instead.
Hey, did you know there's a board game based on this movie? It's a sort of trival pursuit of this movie. I bought it at Rite-Aid for $20.00 as a gift for my 39 year old son who's watched it every year since it first came out! It's listed on Amazon.com for $52.00!
http://www.amazon.com/NECA-40064-Christmas-Story-...
It's so.
[...] Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » 25 Greatest Christmas Films: #2 — ‘A Christma…More information: leg lamp [...]
I used to think most women hated mayonnaise….
"The old man could replace fuses quicker than a jack-rabbit on a date…………….He bought em' by the gross".
haha……..that line always brought a chuckle to me……………….still does.
OKay well I'm a guy who HATES this movie. I've never liked this movie. I change the channel or shut off the TV every friggin time the movie is played.
See? Larry was right!
This is a great movie. When it first came out I resisted watching it but a few years later I fell in love with the film when I watched it. Even though it is a comedy, it is much more real life than the multitude of Christmas movies that claim to be real life as I spotted friends, relatives, others I knew as well as myself being reflected in it. When it shows up on TV, it is one of the few offerings I will willingly turn my set on to watch.
So, what is your favorite Christmas movie?
I am another woman who looks forward to seeing "A Christmas Story" every year. Not an obsessed fan, simply enjoy the movie, it's humor, and portrayals of many different characters.
My favorite part is when Randy is found hiding in the cabinet and says, "Daddy's gonna kill Ralphie!" I did that once when my brother was in big trouble.
Best. Movie. Evah…except maybe for Pee Wee Herman's Big Adventure.
I've always loved this movie. It makes me laugh so hard every time I see it. My entire family, women included, love this movie. Maybe you're hanging out with the wrong women?
"He lay like a slug. It was his only defense." My personal favorite line.
I love this movie and so does my whole family.
What I like so much about it is that there are so many moments that speak to me and remind me of things that happened in my own past. I'm not talking about time period specific, but more general ideas: the one gift you wanted that you obsessed over endlessly, the awkward gift from a relative, the meal disaster, the Santa Claus who's just had about one kid too many on his lap by the time it was your turn, the holiday breakdowns, etc. None of these things happened in the same year, but in order to show them all, this movie has them brilliantly wrapped up together. The part I like is that through it all (anger, joy, whatever) the family is still a family at the end.
Cynthia Myers and DeDe Lind – hahaha – I remember them.
the weird thing is that they seem like ancient history now, while A CHRISTMAS STORY seems brand new.
btw – the Playboys were trashed long ago, but not before I ripped out all the Jean Shepherd stories. Still have them!
Curious!
fwiw – I saw parts of the film last night and based upon the cars and the pop tunes they were playing in the background, the film is set in the winter of 1940-1941.
I can identify with Ralphie, which is why I love this movie. Christmas, 1959, 9 years old, getting my first bb gun. A Daisy pump model that held 50 bbs in a spring loaded magazine. My mom didnt want me to have it because I'd shoot my eye out, but dad talked her into it. Come Christmas morning I still was not sure I was going to get it until I saw it under the tree with a supply of ammunition. Dont know what else I got that year, didnt matter anyway.
Not sure why some people think this was intended as a "heart-warming movie" b/c it is really and outrageous look at boy-childhood full of satire and parody of what we have been presented before without the wink and the nod.
btw – fwiw – I saw parts of the film last night and based upon the cars and the pop tunes they were playing in the background, the film is set in the winter of 1940-1941.
Yes – the Phantom of the Open Hearth (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202527/). It was a Jean Shepherd story about a Ralphie growing up in a steel making town. Jean narrated it. He also narrated Ollie Hoopnoogle's Haven of Bliss (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098023/) but I didnt like that one as much. His book, "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash" has these stories in them. Great read.
The trouble I have with Chevy Chase is he tries so hard to be funny he comes off as stupid. I have the same problem with Danny Kaye. Christmas Vacation was the best of the Vacation movies though. And A Christmas Story is way more believable.
I see nothing crass and rude at all. I was Ralphie when I was 9 years old. Still am today in some respects
.
sorry, I thought we were still talking about Christmas Story.
Forget my last reply. Coffee hasnt kicked in yet.
I do love this movie. The 24 hour marathon on TBS is getting a bit old, though. It is possible to run a good thing into the ground.
I was grinning as I wrote it. Had just finished with the tree. I was in a really good mood. Sorry I cannot prove it to you.
How about Alton Brown on Food Network. He has Glasses and everything and even occasionaly uses ohrases from the movie. He is probably a fan of it as well.
Mari, the whole movie is from Ralphie's perspective as he remembered it. Did you think adults were all that smart when you were a kid? When they wouldn't let you do something that you thought was perfectly okay? Didn't you think they were dumb? To tell you the truth, the Father (aka The Old Man) is a very caring dad when you see all the things he allows Ralphie to do and Darren actually illustrates how he is a little envious of his son's innocence. It's hard to catch those moments but it's there. The mother is even better in the love she shows for her children. Remember that real life isn't always goodness and light but those times are present and this movie brings them out at the right times.
This is a great movie and is more true to life in those days than most people think.
hey frank you live in Chitown? I saw your lamp!
Great comments we're all over the map in this one. Thls hits all the right notes for me. I'm a Midwest boy and all my aunts and uncles had house like that and wore flannel- lots of flannel. Friend watched with folks from England- they didn't get it, the BB gun threw them off. Without a lot of money my house was full of tacky things like my dad's favorite- a mannequin with a easter duck instead of a head. [ooh maybe I was too TMI???]
Anyway: electric sex in the window? I saw it! in a 3rd floor apt next to the local church.. And Ralphie look like Beck? how about Karl Rove.
A line that belongs on the list of greatest movie quotes:
"You…used…all…the…glue…ON PURPOSE!!
Bob Clark was a genius in his creative interpretation of Shepard's material, I'd love to see his next project based on further readings and collaborations.
Unfortuantely Clark and his son were killed in a tragic and needless car crash on PCH near Malibu a few years ago, and Shephard (notoriously cranky during filming…) passed a few seasons back as well.
ACS is lightning in a bottle, available on dvd!
I don't know… When I watch that scene I don't see it as Ralphie bravely taking on the school bully. He snaps. He's a weeping wreck before, during, and after. From my perspective, he doesn't overcome his fear so much as he lets his frustration overcome him. It's that thing kids do–they lose control and break something or hurt someone, then THEY cry because they're so freaked out by what they did.
Have been re-watching the film on my iPhone during my Christmas travels this year to make sure I remembered it correctly. It's almost MORE disturbing. Ralphie's daydreams of triumph over his situations are juxtaposed by a "real world" ISN'T real. It's almost equally cartoonish and hellish, just without the funny costumes or accents. The little brother eating his food like a pig and the disheveled mother cackling with delight, the hateful "elves" who snap at him, the dogs destroying the kitchen…this isn't a Chris Columbus movie where chaos and dysfunction is commonplace. The world the director creates for "A Christmas Story" feels too real. And these sudden surreal injections are jarring. The line between Ralphie's fantasies and real life is too blurry, which adds to the nightmarish quality of the whole story.
And the way the boys in this film *scream* with fear the way boys only do when they're really and truly scared…
Sorry gang. I realize I'm alone here and I don't mean to rain on everybody's 'Christmas Story' parade, but the imagery here is too much for this viewer to interpret as comical. It's dark. WAY dark.
Jean Shepherd's radio shows are here
http://jeanshepherdpodcast.blogspot.com/
The house.
http://www.achristmasstoryhouse.com/images/fronto...
Many behind the scences images. May take a while to load.
http://www.achristmasstoryhouse.com/index.php/con...
My husband received the Major Award for his 40th birthday, and it sits dead center in the middle of my front room window. I loved this movie, as does my husband, and Christmas is not the same without it on in the background.
I saw it in the theater when it was out in 1983- I liked it but thought it was more of a boy's movie than a girls. Boy was I right. Thank heaven for a movie for all little boys, of all ages, to relate to!!!!
My husband did too!!!!
I love this movie, my favorite Christmas movie of all time. All my sisters love it also, so that's 5 women who love it.
Merry Christmas, God bless, stay safe, and we're all damn proud of you.
It's smiling
We always watch this movie at Christmastime and it never gets old. The casting is inspired…everyone does a fine job!
"They looked at me like I had lobsters crawling out of my ears…"
"Adults were always saying stuff like that, but we kids knew better. We knew darn well it was better not to get caught."
Darrin McGavin's portrayal of The Old Man was one for the ages. He is the biggest kid in the movie. The look of delight on his face when Ralphie opens his last gift is my favorite scene in a movie full of unforgettable moments.
As great as It's A Wonderful Life is, this movie is my favorite Christmas movie of all time.
There's an entire subculture alive and well that celebrates this great movie.
Witness this youtube item:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hq8XCgpqMA
I was born in '73, saw this in the theaters, and I have to say I love this movie! Yes, the marathon gets old, but The Old Man is the spitting image of MY dad, at least in attitude, and I owned a BB gun at that age as well (my mother even warend me about shooting out my eye!). We even had a couple of neighborhood Bumpus hounds that prowled around looking for unlocked doors, and a Scut Farkus look-alike.
All this in the heart of MN's capitol city. Go figure. This film celebrated a time when the family and Christmas actually meant something, and I believe to this day that Mr. SHepherd's writing and Mr. Clark's direction capture that combination of longing, innocence and the beginning of wannabe-worldliness almost perfectly. Especially in the flagpole scene, which I *still* have trouble watching today…
Great story! Thanks!
One of my favorite scenes: when the family is having "Christmas Dinner" at a Chinese restaurant downtown because "those dirty #*&@$^& Bumpas Hounds" rampaged through the kitchen and destroyed Pop's turkey.
When the duck (with head attached) is served, Pop asks that the head be removed because "it's…SMILING at me" and when the old Chinese owner HACKS! it off with a cleaver, Mom explodes with laughter. Priceless.
This film manages to do it all – and do it all well.
Some memories: I remember my father telling the story of daring one of his brothers to stick his tongue to the frozen rod of a windmill. I remember the claustrophobic feeling of being dressed in so many layers, for warmth, that I could hardly move. I did receive a BB gun from Santa. Fuses did blow with regularity. I knew kids who got the soap treatment.
Having grown up 25 miles from the nearest town, with no form of outside communication, I understood Ralphie's vivid imagination. When it snowed, I "hitched" my white Spitz to a cardboard box and pretended I was "mushing" in the Yukon. When it rained so hard it made raging ravines in the “bar ditches” beside the dirt road, I was crossing a raging river. And, on top of that, my Uncle’s ranch adjoined the ranch of “Red Ryder” himself, and I got to sit atop his mighty steed.
Today, I can’t water my lawn without calling the creeping grass stolons heading toward the flower beds, “Marauding invaders.”
Getting to this story 3 days late –
I was hoping that someone had mentioned the circumstances of Bob Clark's (and his son's) sad deaths. I have brought this fact up on several occasions in the immigration debate. I love this film, but I can no longer watch it without some degree of sadness, knowing what was to come. I love the film, so I watch it anyway.
What a criminal WASTE!
Oh, yeah – those, "After I'm gone, they'll be sorry," moments…
Don't know just how you know all that you know, L.B., but I do know that I always enjoy your comments.
Good points:
the meek kid gets revenge on the bully. A lot of us really, really cheered that scene as Scot Farkus is reduced to blubbering tears. And the bonding with Mom later on ("Oh Ralphie got into a little fight, you know how boys are….hey did the Cubs just make a trade?") is heart wrenchingly priceless.
I was scared to death of Santa and hated going through that ritual every year. That scene rings very true for me.
Perfect setting and mood, great art direction, especially if the film is set in 1940. Remember the time of innocence? Both Ralphie and his brother will be too young to see action in W W 2.
One negative for me:
Melinda Dillon and especially Darren McGavin are waaaaaaaaaaayyyy to old to be parents in this time, McGavin well into his fifties. In a day when most kids married within four years of high school graduation they seem a bit anachronistic.
I am a woman an I love this movie. So much of it remindes me of my own childhood and the "Old Man" is my father.
Best Christmas movie ever! I can go without it for a year or so, but then when I watch it again, it's as funny as ever. I grew up in the 50's and this has so many scenes that resonate with me. No one has mentioned the Christmas tree lot scene, with "the Old Man" haggling with the tree guy. And Christmas trees used to be so much scragglier than they are today. And who lives in a house with one bathroom any more?
That's why it's awesome.
I too am female and love this film. (I don't know a conservative woman who doesn't love it.)
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