It's possible the family was supposed to look unhappy during the Chinese restaurant scene. We'll never know because Melinda Dillon shrieked when she saw the duck and then burst out laughing, setting the kids off as well. They had not been told what the dish would look like, so all the reactions you see there are genuine. The whole thing turned out so well it was kept in the film.
Honestly, I’m glad that it ended up being a happy scene. The staff trying really hard to make things nice for the family, the way any tension kinda breaks when they actually see their food, and they can’t help but smile. It’s nice.
I always loved the ending. Like the ending of the Grinch, since although the family is denied all their yearly traditions, "Christmas came. Christmas came, just the same". 🤶 🌟
@@belisauriusfish9406 Agreed. Everyone always decries the "Fa Ra Ra Ra" stuff for this scene and I understand that, but I think it's also completely forgotten that this restaurant is really doing it's damndest to assure the one white family coming out to eat there today is gonna have a great time, and I really respect that, especially near the end of the scene when they're bringing out the rice and stuff.
That’s because it basically is. Ovaltine is a brand of chocolate powder/syrup. I know this because I’ve actually seen it at the Walmart I work at. They also sell the actual Red Ryder BB gun every year around Christmas time. I always give customers the “You’ll shoot your eye out” routine whenever I check ID to sell it.
One of my favorite things about the Red Ryder BB gun is that it was given to Ralphie by one of the only people in the movie he didn't even talk to about it - his dad.
it showed that his dad was paying attention and probably overheard his conversations, or even stumbled upon the ad Ralphie so "stealthily" put into his mom's magazine.
The fact that it’s a very episodic movie is why I think it played so well in marathon during the holidays. You rarely get a lot of time to sit down and watch TV while doing all the frantic Christmas prep and entertaining so you only get to see bits and pieces of the movie but you don’t feel like you missed anything because if you watch 15 minutes you get a complete story, it’s just one of many in the movie
Ovaltine (pronounced Ovalteen) is a chocolate-flavored powder that you mix into milk. Since it's supplemented with vitamins and minerals, it's marketed as "healthy".
It IS healthy... compared to other chocolate drink mixes. Malted chocolate powder with vitamins and minerals. If your kid is gonna drink chocolate milk, you might as well get some vitamins in them
As a native Clevelander, we all had fun during the filming of the scenes on "old Cleveland Street" and at the visit to Santa at the department store. If the production needed extras in period costume, we showed up. If they needed props, they were brought to the set. If they needed snow, well, now we had a problem. There was little to no snow to be had in Cleveland that year. It had to be manufactured. But, the house is now a museum, the Santa set is located complete in a local suburb in a museum dedicated to Christmas movie memorabilia (lucky people can slide down the slide). We have embraced the movie, and have fun with it and its memories.
yes, Cleveland and the downtown Higbees had been chosen for the movie because it had a "1950's feel" and was so reliably snow covered. Then they came to film and it was unseasonably warm. That was the year my older brother kept dancing around the house singing "I'm dreaming of a green Christmas". What I didn't understand was that the school was filmed in Canada when there were plenty of early/mid 20th century schools in the Cleveland area that could have been used for filming. The elementary school I was in at the time, for example, was built in 1941 and had almost no updates and was not dissimilar to the one used in the film.
As someone who has never liked A Christmas Story, finding out that they’re a bunch of separate short stories that were put together makes SO much sense to me.
Good news, I can actually confirm without a shadow of a doubt that the tongue story was one of Shepherd's. It was just part of his radio history, dating to 1972.
I was just going to say that the tongue was just from the radio show, but in that one it was a telegraph pole and not a flag pole. Also I have a copy of " I God We Trust All Others Pay Cash" I found it while cleaning out my grandmother 's house after she died about 25 years ago and rescued it from the garage. We were just putting all of her old books In a box and saw it on top and took it before the box went into the dumpster. Surprisingly it was still in good shape despite its age.
It's also something that has happened to many people. Jeremy Clarkson did something similar in top gear when he accidentally froze a bolt to his mouth in the north pole.
Apparently there was a period aroudn the 90s, where Playboy paid crazy good rates to writers when compared to other magazines/newspapers so they genuinely had some top class writes there.
For anyone who was a writer, a byline in Playboy was a major coup back in the day. They paid very well, ran long-form content and published famous as well as unknown authors. The emphasis was on the quality of the writing. The difference between your words in Playboy and your picture in Playboy was pretty major.
As a teen I got a kick out of telling people I've read Playboy for the articles - technically it was one article, an interview with writer-director Kevin Smith. At the time I only knew him as Silent Bob from the movie he also directed, Dogma. He was really funny, just as funny as the movie, and I became a fan, devouring his filmography. Thanks Playboy! 😂
This is a rather similar situation to "It's A Wonderful Life" where a film that wasn't terribly successful in its original theatrical run became a beloved classic because it was played non-stop on TV. This type of thing couldn't happen today. For "Life" it aired so much due to a copyright loophole, and with this movie TBS got the rights for next to nothing in 1980s and got lucky it became a tradition.
Yeah, it’s especially impossible when studios just revoke movies from existence if they’re not immediate hits because they’re only available via streaming services. Or they never release a finished film at all. …Fuck Zaslav.
It’s also similar in how it was a okay movie to watch once or twice but then it became overplayed to the point where I have zero desire to ever watch them again
It could happen today, it would just happen differently- through a film being available every holiday time on streaming services, for example. It might not have the same spread but cult classics continue to be a thing in the age of streaming.
Same here. I just assumed that since my own father had some rather... eclectic tase in decor, it was just normal for everyone's father's to be that way😅
That's the entirety of the bit. You know he had filled out hundreds of those puzzles trying to win a major award. The lamp simply stood as a symbol of his accomplishment nothing short of a Medal of Honor to him, while everyone else was either enamored or horrified by the soft glow of electric s*x gleaming in their front window.
His love for the lamp wasn't aesthetic or lecherous; he viewed it as a symbol of his accomplishment. The humor is the juxtaposition between the bawdy tastlesness of the lamp and the oblivious pride with which the Old Man regarded it. He would have felt the same way about a hunk of concrete with rebar sticking out of it if it was given in honor of his unrivaled intellect.
Change you missed, the primary bully in the film got renamed to Scut Farkus. Grover Dill is still present in the movie but he’s demoted to being Farkus’ “toadie.” The original descriptions and the events that happen to Dill in the story are transferred to Farkus in the film. Not 100% sure if Farkus has roots in other stories by Shepard, or if he’s a film invention.
He does appear in other stories by Shepherd, so he’s not a film invention; but he would appear likewise to those who read In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash out of curiosity without reading Shepherd’s other books or listening to his other radio stories.
"You'll shoot your eye out" is very real. When I was little I came very close to shooting my best friend's eye out - not with a gun but with a slingshot my mom had given me. I thought that if I aimed my slingshot slightly to the right of my friend's head, the projectile would fly past him with a big WHOOSH sound like in the cartoons. Instead it struck him about a half inch under his left eye. It turned out the targeting mechanism in my slingshot was defective lol. Still don't understand what my mom could have been thinking when she handed a 7 year old a slingshot.
Oh yeah! I did in fact know someone who had his eye shot out by a BB gun as a kid, the younger brother of a close friend (he had a glass eye). I knew them as adults, so it had happened years earlier, long before the movie existed. This would have happened back in the 60s (I’m old!). So, yup, that line is supposed to be funny, but it’s 100% true!
“You can’t give her that! It’s not safe!” *”It’s a sword, it’s not meant to be safe.”* “She’s five!” *”It’s educational.”* “What if she hurts herself?” *”That will be an important lesson.”*
Bovril is a concentrated beef stock/paste, it has been traditionally turned into a hot drink, but more like a instant soup broth. Or a little spread on toast with lots of butter.
From the man who’s filmography includes Black Christmas, Porky’s, and Baby Geniuses- comes literally the only thing people know him for but refuse to acknowledge or don’t actually know is based on a book.
10:50 This is one of my favorite aspects of it. It really feels like the sheer chaos of being a little kid in the month leading up to Christmas. Because life as a little kid IS just a string of disconnected events you're bumbling through, with no through-line except yourself. The film is nearly cinema-verite, if we're counting a child's subjective POV as verite. Plus it's kind of sadly appropriate that this movie was made in the 1980s, since the 80s were the last decade where the "traditional" (early 20th Century) American Christmas was still really a thing. I think it's so popular with Xers and Elder Millennials because we were among the last kids to have childhood Christmases that still *felt* like Ralphie's.
I had heard about this movie and seen some scenes, but I didn’t realize its appeal until I saw MovieBob’s deep dive on it. The reason it resonates with so many people then and now is precisely because of its smallness, telling a very personal story about the minutiae of its characters’ lives without trying to frame them as part of a ‘bigger picture’ in some sort of morality play. It’s a very realistic Christmas story.
Which to me makes it the most relatable movie I've ever seen. So many of these little events are quite similar to my own experiences growing up, which no other 'grounded' or 'realistic' media I've watched has ever gotten close to doing despite all the reviews about this aspect.
Additionally I feel it also really captures the mentality/thought process of a kid better than a lot of films. Like all of ralphies day dreams are something we all experienced as a kid, getting a super cool toy that makes you the coolest, that one project/class assignment you were actually excited about and imagining you would be praised for, or after getting punished you imagine how they would regret doing that (blinded by soap poisoning). It truly remembers what it was like to be a kid in a lot of ways
I almost wish Jean Shepherd could’ve added the Flick’s Tongue story to a reprint of In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash. With the popularity of A Christmas Story, it would’ve been nice to see the story detailing the dare of Flick sticking his tongue to the flagpole included among the other 4 stories that got adapted to the film.
My mom listened to the radio show "A Prairie Home Companion" religiously when I was growing up and Garrison Keillor and Jean Shepard have similar writing styles and senses of humour, so this movie always just seemed to fit right in with the radio show that I heard every week.
I have always loved this movie. I used to feel so seen by how well the movie represented a child's daily life. I was shocked that some adults could still understand. Funnily enough, now that I am an adult, I don't remember what it's like to be a kid anymore. Now I just like the movie cuz it's delightful.
Peter Billingsley and I are the same age and share the same air name. This came out in 1983 he would have been 9 or 10. He was much younger than 13 during the filming. Additionally My Summer Story was a theatrical release but most people didn’t realize it was a sequel. It came out in 1994 and had Kieran Culkin as Ralphie, riding the coatails of his more popular brother… And Mary Steenburgen as the mom.
I’m one of the few people that considers this their staunchly go-to Christmas movie. I’ve never had a fondness for the saccharine nature of Christmastime films, but there’s an honesty to “A Christmas Story” that I connect with. A cynical edge I’ve always loved. Which also explains why I find myself watching “Gremlins” or “Black Christmas” (another Bob Clark Christmas film) when I’ve had my fill of “A Christmas Story” lol.
And his visit to Santa happens first before his writing assignment of relaying “What he wants for Christmas” to his feature and his scheme to convince her to let him have a Red Ryder BB gun.
When I was 12ish years old, I came down with food poisoning on Christmas day... And spent the rest of the day and night mostly asleep... and when I wasn't, I was getting sick. I recall having my TV set to TNT (an American TV network that later rebranded, but still plays "24 hours of A Christmas Story" every December the 25th.) for me by my parents, and just waking up over and over throughout the day to different parts of the same movie, without any real continuity, because it kept restarting. It even began permeating my dreams. That whole Christmas with that movie playing constantly was a pretty surreal one... In any case, I wish you (and the rest of your beautiful watchers) a Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays. 💙 I've been an absolute sucker for "Christmas Specials" since I was little kid... I still watch the; Rocko's Modern Life, Rugrats, Pete and Pete, Hey, Arnold (and lots, LOTS more) Christmas/Holiday specials every year. So... A "Lost in Adaptation" episode with holiday theming? Sold. 😁
My family loves this movie, I had no idea it was based on something! There’s a marathon Christmas Day every year, so my family watches it multiple times a year, but only on Christmas
I’d say that the film’s structure - brought on by the fact that it’s pieced together from multiple stories - is part of its annual appeal. You can turn it on at any point in the film, watch it for ten minutes, have a chuckle, then go back to whatever you were doing. An hour later, you catch another part out of the corner of your eye, and you’re drawn in for another five minutes. I can’t think of any film like that.
there's actually another sequel in this series that takes place chronologically the summer after A Christmas Story called My Summer Story (originally released in theaters as It Runs in The Family). though like you said there is little to no mention of the previous movies events.
My Summer Story (originally released under the title It Runs In The Family) is also based on In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash. It got decent reviews but it's release was so small it made less than 1% of its budget back. My friends and I saw it once on Comedy Central one summer, this was before tv’s told you what you were watching so we didn't know it's title. it was like this weird mythical animal we all saw and would talk about “that Christmas Story movie that took place in the summer”
I grew up watching this movie back before the 24 hr marathons and such. My dad grew up with Shepherds radio show so he was a fan from way back. Fun fact: the show The Wonder Years is loosely inspired by his work and the movie as well. He was slated to be the narrator at first but Daniel Stern ended up taking on the role. But even having an adult narrator for his child forms life is enough to feel the inspiration.
I grew up drinking ovaltine because my mum thought it was healthier version of hot chocolate and I can certainly say that it tastes like something that parents would assume is healthier than chocolate
As a child in the later 60’s, I had my own transistor radio. That’s when I first discovered Jean Shepherd, telling elaborate stories on FM late at night. The first time I saw the movie, I thought, “I remember that voice. This should be fun!”
I always liked the Peking Duck for Christmas scene. It was sweet how they tried to make these obviously sad and uncomfortable people feel the Christmas spirit. Plus Peking Duck is *chefs kisssss*
My spouse and I watch this every year while wrapping gifts. It’s pretty much our only Christmas tradition. Besides, as someone who was bullied as a child, seeing Scut Farkus getting the snot beat out of him was oddly cathartic.
My family has loved this classic for years. It has a special place in our hearts. My mom and brother have even participated in a santa marathon based off a Christmas Story.
My mom is one of those people who enjoys the 24/7 broadcast of this movie. It has gotten to the point that I consider the hallmark moment of marking the day as Christmas to be this having been watched once as well as hearing It's A Wonderful Life being played on television.
Fun fact: Much of A Christmas Story was shot in Cleveland, Ohio, to the point where the house from the film is a tourist attraction you can visit, to this day. It’s been something of a family tradition of mine for years
You can also find a few of Shepherd's old radio programs here on the UA-cams where he reads his short stories. It's interesting to hear him read them long before the movie ever came out, and seeing how they all eventually became the movie everyone has grown to love. And yes, for years Playboy did, indeed, publish short stories, being where many authors got their start. This was because Heffner wanted his creation to be more than just pornography like other gentlemen's magazines.
I never cared for the photos in Playboy, but even I, who am a woman, used to LOVE Playboy literally for the articles. They were fascinating!!! I actually think it was pretty brilliant, and sent the message that woman are just one thing to enjoy about life rather than the position that we are just objects to fill a rag.
As someone who isn't from the States and who gas never seen a second of these films, I was unprepared for the amount of cultural references that came from these.
The book was one of my father's favorites and I've read his copy a number of times. The framing device for the bb gun story was a rumination of the debate over so-called war toys, very similar to the debate over violent video games. The movie is one of my all-time favorites.
While I did know this movie was based on some short stories and I was aware of one of the other made for TV movies, I had no idea there were more to the series! What really makes A Christmas Story for me is ultimately Darren McGavin. When I was probably way too young to have, I watched reruns of Kolchak, which is an amazing series with McGavin playing a newspaper reporter who keeps running into weird supernatural shit. So seeing him as a small town dad tickled the heck out of me.
The Old Man was played by James Broderick, Matthew Broderick's dad, in those old PBS TV movies. He was an absolutely perfect Old Man, 10/10, no notes. Darren McGavin is, of course, 11/10, they were lucky to cast him as James Broderick had passed on.
I just love how much he accomplishes with facial expressions. My dad was a teen during the time period of the movie, but was definitely of that era so I'm very familiar with the idea of a dad who appears distant and a bit scary, but will show how much he's really paying attention at the right times.
it may not be autobiographical, but it is pretty accurate to Northern Indiana, where my mother grew up in the 1960s and 1970s (which is more of less when the adult scenes occur, as opposed to the childhood scenes, which take place in the 1930s or 1940s); I had her read the opening of the book up to where it mentions Cedar Lake, her hometown for most of her childhood (and the place my grandfather lived out most of the rest of his life, and so a place I was somewhat familiar with myself from yearly visits), and she was able to point out some of the locations to me during our last visit, when we helped my grandfather move down to southern Indiana outside Evanston to live with my uncle. The movie is not so accurate, as it was filmed in Ohio, and only the mention of Gary, Indiana (in the opening monologue, if I remember right), clued us in to the actual setting when I was a kid, before I ever knew of the book. Gary is a bit notorious as being a hellhole now, at least online (I haven't been there myself for probably 30 years, so I can't corroborate the internet reputation) but my mother was born in a hospital there the day after Michael Jackson was born in presumably the same hospital. I don't remember what they said Ralphie's father did for a job, but steel was a big industry there; my grandfather was a steelworker and lost his ring finger and pinkie when a hot steel rod went through one of his hands, which had gotten stuck in the machinery (I think his cuff got snagged, but I'm not sure). One other anecdote--the water there, at least in Cedar Lake, was the absolute worst I'd ever seen, literally undrinkable and left red rust(?) stains on the bathtub. The last time I took a bath there, in the early 2000s, it had improved, but in the 1980s and the 1990s, god. I'm not sure what the water in Flint, Michigan, was like, but it couldn't have been much worse.
I saw this in a movie theater when it first came out with some of my siblings. We thought it was hilarious and annoyed the others by quoting the funny parts over and over at Christmas dinner.
I missed the old ways you did reviews, rather than talking about the book first and the movie afterward. This review feels very much like your old reviews, which I appreciate.
I just always thought the film was looking through the eyes of an adult and remembering how they felt as a child, so it was just scattered memories of certain events. So none of it seemed off if you think this way. We remember stuff like that as an adult, however, I also realized at a younger age that that was what it was. An adult remembering events as a child. Idk why people hate on this movie, except that it has now…been over played. 24 hour Christmas Story on one station every year.
This was a lovely surprise! My family has always liked A Christmas Story, but our general love for it increased when a few members participated in the musical adaptation of it. It's a very fun romp!
I remember watching one of the other movies in the series often growing up. "Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss" where the family goes on a road trip to a cabin at a resort (same name as movie), it had Jerry O'Connell in it!
In Star Trek Online, the annual Winter Fest content (Q sets up a Winter Wonderland on Andoria, a frigid snow planet) has a event-only weapon that's literally the Red Ryder BB gun. When you use the aimed shot function on it (fighting evil snowmen - it's a thing, dom't ask) you get Ralphie's enormous glasses superimposed on your character's face briefly. Laughed my ass off when i saw it. 😀
My go to "dad joke" every Christmas is pretending that I'm worried that I'll miss seeing it. I've spent many a Christmas Eve watching it over and over as I'm wrapping gifts thanks to TBS and TNT showing it around the clock.
See, I never thought the Old Man's delight about the leg lamp was due to not wanting to admit he was scammed. I always interpreted his enthusiasm as genuine.
I just rewatched this movie earlier this month and I have to say that quite liked it. It was only my second time seeing the movie as I watched a year ago and I liked it way more now. It’s a charming little Christmas movie that grew on me.
In my childhood I used to watch a lot of movies that seemed more like a few different stories put together (most of them were originally swedish I believe ?) and I always loved them. it just feels like witnessing a kids day to day life and all the mischief one would get up to as a child, rather than some epic overarching plot. always felt very down to earth while still being charming and entertaining
Not the biggest fan of A Christmas Story myself, but I don't hate it, and I'm as familiar with it as any American. Interesting to find out it's based on multiple stories mashed together. Fun fact, I lived in the same town as Scott Schwartz (the guy who played Flip, the kid whose tongue got stuck to the flagpole) and sort-of attended the same school. (Sort of because his high school became the middle school when the new high school was built in the mid-90s.) One day during my freshman year (9th grade, 13-14 yo, since I know that gets confusing for non-Americans) he came to visit, and my algebra teacher went out in the hall to catch up with him. It might be a good illustration of why everyone liked the math teachers at that school to tell you what he said when he came back in the room (paraphrased, because it's been over 20 years): "Just catching up with a former student. He played Flip in A Christmas Story, and he's in porn these days." And he wasn't technically wrong, but, according to Wikipedia, Schwartz played minor non-sexual roles and worked behind the camera, so it's a bit misleading, since it implies he was a porn star. Dunno for sure, I've never bothered trying to look up any of his films.
A very fantastic video Dom! (I hope I can call you Dom.) I also had no idea that the movie was based on several stories or had additional film/made-for-TV videos. The depth that you go into these videos is incredible and I really thoroughly enjoy your style of delivery. I grew up watching this film almost every year around Christmas along with the National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation movie. Also... those pins are freaking nice.
On the subject of Jean Shepherd and books, one of my favorite stories I learned about Shepherd was how he managed to trick a nonexistent book into the New York Times Best Sellers list. True story.
I licked a metal jungle gym in the winter of 1st grade because I was SURE it wouldn't freeze. It instantly started to freeze and I ripped my tongue off.😅 It was very sore for a while ❤
This movie was a favorite in my household growing up, and I hated it (on its own merits just for being boring, but worsened by the constant re-watching). In the intervening years with _A Christmas Story_ merch becoming A Thing I absolutely grew to loathe it...and then, much more recently, I started to appreciate it. I mean it's still boring and kitschy, but the main kid is a really good child actor, most of the jokes work as jokes (not a guarantee in Christmas movies that expect you to indulge them for nostalgia's sake), they clearly put effort into the sets and costumes, and some of the family's interactions feel really genuine.
I have to confess I've never actually seen this movie all the way through, only the more famous/iconic scenes from it and other bits and pieces due to the annual 24-hour marathon of it on TV.
They filmed this movies exteriors in Cleveland. My mom will mention every viewing that her high school band was filmed but cut out of the parade scene every viewing
One of my favorite Christmas movies! I saw it for the first time as a teenager/young adult and just loved it. Now it's a yearly tradition for me around the holidays. Interesting to hear that Jean Shepard was a radio guy - it makes total sense that he'd be given such a large role in the movie instead of a small cameo. I knew from reading one or two of the stories that the movie was based on a book, but I never knew they were originally radio stories.
For the record, it's pronounced 'oval-TEEN,' and was advertised regularly on TV when I was growing up in the 1970s, and yes, we had it in our house. It's not bad! Thanks for another great video!
This is one of my favorite Christmas movies, the characters remind me of my family in a lot of ways. We usually watch it at least once during Christmas.
Grew up listening to Jean Shepard at 10:30pm on WOR Radio in NYC Area. All of the points where you could not find book citations were in fact from his monologues. As a small correx, Grover Dill was the toady. True nemesis was Scut Farkis, who had yellow eyes. "I swear, he had YELLOW eyes!". Thanks Dom and keep up the good work.
As someone who had his early teen years twisted by listening to Shepherd's radio show, I can report that the tongue stuck to the pole is one of his original radio bits.
Love this! My cousin actually had the honor of meeting some of the cast that came to her high school here in Alaska a while back! ❤️ She said Flick was very nice!
I wasn’t allowed to watch it as a kid and I didn’t get around to watching it until recently. I’ll probably need to watch it again soon. The scene with the kid’s tongue getting stuck to a pole reminds me of my older brother. He did something similar as a kid.
Originally Ralphie was going to harbor a crush on his teacher, Miss Shields. But the actress had gotten pregnant right before filming and ended up appearing more matronly due to the pregnancy pounds. But instead of recasting the actress, they just dropped the student crush storyline.
That probably worked better honestly. They tried some of this stuff in the musical and you just end up with a far inferior version. A Christmas Story is just one of those films that works. Everything comes together to create something special.
What I don't understand was why they went to all that trouble to try to disguise Tedde Moore's pregnancy...when they could have gone the easier route of simply changing her name to MRS. Shields?
@@jenniferschillig3768 I don’t know for certain but I think it has something to do with historical authenticity. Back then ( this is just a generalization of how things worked) either young woman taught till they got married and had kids of their own or it was a old maid who taught school ( yes this is how things worked well until after WWII). Ms Shields was probably written with the former in mind but like I said it probably works better with how things turned out.
Interesting to hear what inspired the movie. A lot of the appeal of the movie, for me, is the nostalgic feel of it, with a very strong 1950s small town America vibe.
Fun fact the gun in movie isn’t an actual Daisy Red Rider since the actual gun doesn’t have a compass or sundial. My dad used to work at Daisy years ago so I have both the actual Red Rider and a movie replica
This makes so much more sense now. Thanks, Dom! My parents loved this film but I was never a fan. However we did live a part of it. We had a family tradition of having Christmas dinner at the local Chinese restaurant but only after we had befriended the owners. It was honestly my favorite part of the holiday. For a few years, we had them over for Thanksgiving, sharing recipes and time together. They sold that restaurant several years ago and I've moved to the other side of the country, but I still think of those delicious meals and warm company.
Fun fact: if you read Donald Fagen’s (member of the Rock band Steely Dan) memoir book Eminent Hipsters, for a chapter he talks in depth about how much he looked up to and was inspired by Shepard’s radio show as a kid, including sending him interesting local news snippets because Shepard often would read stuff like that on his show. Then when Fagen grew up, he went to a lecture Shepard had given, and was so disillusioned by the man himself he lost all favor for him
I had the sudden realization in this video that Dom is the reason I am obsessed with wanting to wear vests :D I have been watching this channel for years and now I'm actually studying comparative literary sciences and writing papers about this kind of stuff, so I guess you really inspired me (without me realizing it) Sadly the shipping fees are more than the cost of the pin, so I guess I will not be fashionably proclaiming myself a beautiful watcher :(
The only person I ever met who doesn't like this movie is my Uncle Karl, Gods rest his soul. Sigh...he taught me to play piano. Still miss him. Classic-jazz musician, chartered accountant for a living (music and math go hand-in-glove, at least in the European music traditions), and AMAZING cook/chef when he wanted to be. His was the best creme brullet (spelling?) I ever had.
Firstly, been watching you for 10 years and I’m adding pins to a vest so I’ll definitely be shopping for one of yours. Second always appreciate you defending Die Hard 😊
Love the video!! This was a staple of my childhood and it's neat to get some background on it. One thing - isn't it Scut Farkus who bullies Ralphie and endures his wrath? I thought Grover was the toady... It's been awhile since I've seen it, but that sticks out to me...
I'm not sure if I ever liked this movie, but seeing it WAY TOO MANY times because it kept getting shown to me or some relative liked it and had it on the TV channel that played it back to back to back all day long on Christmas has made me almost hate it. Didn't know it was based on a book though. Congratulations on the pins, and Sir Terry's cameo was adorable as always.
On a quick note the Bumpas family antics mentioned all were put to film in the movie My Summer Story which in keeping with apparent tradition doesn't have an of the actors from My Christmas Story.
Get your Beautiful Watcher pin here: beautiful-watcher.myshopify.com/
You're awesome and i LOVE your content 🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤
Hey Dom any idea if you’ll ever review the adaptations for The Last Apprentice (movie name The Seventh Son) or Maximum Ride?
I love how this comment was pinned!
@@benjaminryder770 ... it took me way too long to get this 😆
Thank you and merry Christmas.
It's possible the family was supposed to look unhappy during the Chinese restaurant scene. We'll never know because Melinda Dillon shrieked when she saw the duck and then burst out laughing, setting the kids off as well. They had not been told what the dish would look like, so all the reactions you see there are genuine. The whole thing turned out so well it was kept in the film.
Honestly, I’m glad that it ended up being a happy scene. The staff trying really hard to make things nice for the family, the way any tension kinda breaks when they actually see their food, and they can’t help but smile. It’s nice.
I always loved the ending. Like the ending of the Grinch, since although the family is denied all their yearly traditions, "Christmas came. Christmas came, just the same". 🤶 🌟
@@belisauriusfish9406 Agreed. Everyone always decries the "Fa Ra Ra Ra" stuff for this scene and I understand that, but I think it's also completely forgotten that this restaurant is really doing it's damndest to assure the one white family coming out to eat there today is gonna have a great time, and I really respect that, especially near the end of the scene when they're bringing out the rice and stuff.
i love when that happens. where an iconic moment is an actor's actual reaction.
@@megamike15 Indeed! This one's up there with the lineup in "The Usual Suspects" for accidental genius!
According to my parents, Ovaltine (despite sounding like a dental hygiene product) was actually akin to chocolate milk.
That’s because it basically is. Ovaltine is a brand of chocolate powder/syrup. I know this because I’ve actually seen it at the Walmart I work at.
They also sell the actual Red Ryder BB gun every year around Christmas time. I always give customers the “You’ll shoot your eye out” routine whenever I check ID to sell it.
It still is. It's still being sold even now.
@@the-NightStar yup, I have older relatives who drink it daily
I think that there is supposed to have vitamins in it........along with all the sugar. 🤷♀
Yep, it's kinda popular here in Brazil but the name is Ovomaltine
One of my favorite things about the Red Ryder BB gun is that it was given to Ralphie by one of the only people in the movie he didn't even talk to about it - his dad.
it showed that his dad was paying attention and probably overheard his conversations, or even stumbled upon the ad Ralphie so "stealthily" put into his mom's magazine.
The fact that it’s a very episodic movie is why I think it played so well in marathon during the holidays. You rarely get a lot of time to sit down and watch TV while doing all the frantic Christmas prep and entertaining so you only get to see bits and pieces of the movie but you don’t feel like you missed anything because if you watch 15 minutes you get a complete story, it’s just one of many in the movie
Yet another entry in the "I had no idea that this was based on a book" category!
I didn’t either so don’t feel left out
Same but at this point I'm inclined to believe everything Hollywood was originally a book
I already knew that. Read the book itself. Definitely an interesting read.
I knew the film was.
@@MsLucia4179If you dig deep enough, everything is a loose adaptation of something else
Ovaltine (pronounced Ovalteen) is a chocolate-flavored powder that you mix into milk. Since it's supplemented with vitamins and minerals, it's marketed as "healthy".
I think you can still buy it.
Chocolate malt flavoring powder.
It’s similar to Horlicks and Milo, which UK viewers might be more familiar with
It IS healthy... compared to other chocolate drink mixes. Malted chocolate powder with vitamins and minerals. If your kid is gonna drink chocolate milk, you might as well get some vitamins in them
@@jennifersaylor6907 I just bought some last week!
As a native Clevelander, we all had fun during the filming of the scenes on "old Cleveland Street" and at the visit to Santa at the department store. If the production needed extras in period costume, we showed up. If they needed props, they were brought to the set. If they needed snow, well, now we had a problem. There was little to no snow to be had in Cleveland that year. It had to be manufactured. But, the house is now a museum, the Santa set is located complete in a local suburb in a museum dedicated to Christmas movie memorabilia (lucky people can slide down the slide). We have embraced the movie, and have fun with it and its memories.
I have visited that museum recently, and quite enjoyed it
yes, Cleveland and the downtown Higbees had been chosen for the movie because it had a "1950's feel" and was so reliably snow covered. Then they came to film and it was unseasonably warm. That was the year my older brother kept dancing around the house singing "I'm dreaming of a green Christmas".
What I didn't understand was that the school was filmed in Canada when there were plenty of early/mid 20th century schools in the Cleveland area that could have been used for filming. The elementary school I was in at the time, for example, was built in 1941 and had almost no updates and was not dissimilar to the one used in the film.
The hardest part to believe is the lack of snow. Though admittedly we haven't gotten much since around 2017 (relatively speaking).
As someone who has never liked A Christmas Story, finding out that they’re a bunch of separate short stories that were put together makes SO much sense to me.
Agreed.
Yeah I grew to not like it either. It was fine at first but it became overplayed super fast for me
Plus the fact when it came to television, that year had quite a lot of tv shows with voice overs.
Strike down the blasphemer!
Same
Good news, I can actually confirm without a shadow of a doubt that the tongue story was one of Shepherd's. It was just part of his radio history, dating to 1972.
I was just going to say that the tongue was just from the radio show, but in that one it was a telegraph pole and not a flag pole. Also I have a copy of " I God We Trust All Others Pay Cash" I found it while cleaning out my grandmother 's house after she died about 25 years ago and rescued it from the garage. We were just putting all of her old books In a box and saw it on top and took it before the box went into the dumpster. Surprisingly it was still in good shape despite its age.
It's also something that has happened to many people. Jeremy Clarkson did something similar in top gear when he accidentally froze a bolt to his mouth in the north pole.
@@nubreed13 This was specifically talking about it in the works of Jean Shepherd, though I will give you that. Hell, I did it as a youngling.
Yes - I have listened to this broadcast. In the show- it was actually SCHWARTZ that confessed and told where Flick was located to the teacher.
The first time I read Stephen King's short story "Children of the Corn", was in Playboy. It really DID have interesting articles.😉
The story is way better than any of the movies
Apparently there was a period aroudn the 90s, where Playboy paid crazy good rates to writers when compared to other magazines/newspapers so they genuinely had some top class writes there.
@frosthammer917 forgot about Steven King the blue air compressor, or was that in heavy metal and not play boy? Either way it's a great short story
For anyone who was a writer, a byline in Playboy was a major coup back in the day. They paid very well, ran long-form content and published famous as well as unknown authors. The emphasis was on the quality of the writing. The difference between your words in Playboy and your picture in Playboy was pretty major.
As a teen I got a kick out of telling people I've read Playboy for the articles - technically it was one article, an interview with writer-director Kevin Smith. At the time I only knew him as Silent Bob from the movie he also directed, Dogma. He was really funny, just as funny as the movie, and I became a fan, devouring his filmography. Thanks Playboy! 😂
"In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash," is one of my favorite titles ever.
I grew up around Cleveland, where this was filmed. The mean elf lady actually taught drama classes and improv in the afternoons at my middle school.
This is a rather similar situation to "It's A Wonderful Life" where a film that wasn't terribly successful in its original theatrical run became a beloved classic because it was played non-stop on TV. This type of thing couldn't happen today. For "Life" it aired so much due to a copyright loophole, and with this movie TBS got the rights for next to nothing in 1980s and got lucky it became a tradition.
Yeah, it’s especially impossible when studios just revoke movies from existence if they’re not immediate hits because they’re only available via streaming services. Or they never release a finished film at all.
…Fuck Zaslav.
It’s also similar in how it was a okay movie to watch once or twice but then it became overplayed to the point where I have zero desire to ever watch them again
It could happen today, it would just happen differently- through a film being available every holiday time on streaming services, for example. It might not have the same spread but cult classics continue to be a thing in the age of streaming.
I always interpreted the Old Man's affection for the lamp as a simple and genuine love of kitschy interior decorating, but maybe that's just me.
Same here. I just assumed that since my own father had some rather... eclectic tase in decor, it was just normal for everyone's father's to be that way😅
Also it was a prize he won, so he was proud for that reason.
That's the entirety of the bit. You know he had filled out hundreds of those puzzles trying to win a major award. The lamp simply stood as a symbol of his accomplishment nothing short of a Medal of Honor to him, while everyone else was either enamored or horrified by the soft glow of electric s*x gleaming in their front window.
My dad had the same horrendous taste in decor, it is very relatable.
His love for the lamp wasn't aesthetic or lecherous; he viewed it as a symbol of his accomplishment. The humor is the juxtaposition between the bawdy tastlesness of the lamp and the oblivious pride with which the Old Man regarded it. He would have felt the same way about a hunk of concrete with rebar sticking out of it if it was given in honor of his unrivaled intellect.
Change you missed, the primary bully in the film got renamed to Scut Farkus. Grover Dill is still present in the movie but he’s demoted to being Farkus’ “toadie.” The original descriptions and the events that happen to Dill in the story are transferred to Farkus in the film. Not 100% sure if Farkus has roots in other stories by Shepard, or if he’s a film invention.
He does appear in other stories by Shepherd, so he’s not a film invention; but he would appear likewise to those who read In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash out of curiosity without reading Shepherd’s other books or listening to his other radio stories.
Farkus got beat up by one of the Bumpus kids in the book
@@hunterolaughlinIf I’m remembering correctly, it was a Bumpus daughter who beat up Farris.
Hey it's the Doctor Who person
"You'll shoot your eye out" is very real. When I was little I came very close to shooting my best friend's eye out - not with a gun but with a slingshot my mom had given me. I thought that if I aimed my slingshot slightly to the right of my friend's head, the projectile would fly past him with a big WHOOSH sound like in the cartoons. Instead it struck him about a half inch under his left eye. It turned out the targeting mechanism in my slingshot was defective lol.
Still don't understand what my mom could have been thinking when she handed a 7 year old a slingshot.
Oh yeah! I did in fact know someone who had his eye shot out by a BB gun as a kid, the younger brother of a close friend (he had a glass eye). I knew them as adults, so it had happened years earlier, long before the movie existed. This would have happened back in the 60s (I’m old!). So, yup, that line is supposed to be funny, but it’s 100% true!
@@literaterose6731 My incident happened in about 1973, so you're not alone!
“You can’t give her that! It’s not safe!”
*”It’s a sword, it’s not meant to be safe.”*
“She’s five!”
*”It’s educational.”*
“What if she hurts herself?”
*”That will be an important lesson.”*
Fun fact about shel silverstein. Hes the guy who wrote "a boy named sue" for johnny cash
Also wrote a lot of Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show’s songs. Also a lot of children’s books including The Giving Tree.
@@deathlokprime2645 And The Unicorn -- which the Irish Rovers adapted into the song in the 1970s
FYI: Ovaltine (pronounced oval-teen) is powdered chocolate and i believe malt. Think like Bovril if my thoughts on that are correct.
Yeah it makes chocolate milk shakes i think
Bovril is a concentrated beef stock/paste, it has been traditionally turned into a hot drink, but more like a instant soup broth. Or a little spread on toast with lots of butter.
It is closer to Horlicks
@@izziexxx I swear, I thought Bovril was Marmite as a kid. That's what my parents called it. Funny how things work out.
It's known as Ovomaltine in the rest of the world for everyone who was confused like me
From the man who’s filmography includes Black Christmas, Porky’s, and Baby Geniuses- comes literally the only thing people know him for but refuse to acknowledge or don’t actually know is based on a book.
Black Christmas, the sorority horror? And baby geniuses?!
And originally radio dramas.
I never knew it was based on a book, but it makes sense
@@arianaarmenta1335indeed it is. The late Bob Clark was behind the camera
Clark also directed the underrated Murder by Decree with Christopher Plummer.
10:50 This is one of my favorite aspects of it. It really feels like the sheer chaos of being a little kid in the month leading up to Christmas. Because life as a little kid IS just a string of disconnected events you're bumbling through, with no through-line except yourself. The film is nearly cinema-verite, if we're counting a child's subjective POV as verite.
Plus it's kind of sadly appropriate that this movie was made in the 1980s, since the 80s were the last decade where the "traditional" (early 20th Century) American Christmas was still really a thing. I think it's so popular with Xers and Elder Millennials because we were among the last kids to have childhood Christmases that still *felt* like Ralphie's.
I had heard about this movie and seen some scenes, but I didn’t realize its appeal until I saw MovieBob’s deep dive on it. The reason it resonates with so many people then and now is precisely because of its smallness, telling a very personal story about the minutiae of its characters’ lives without trying to frame them as part of a ‘bigger picture’ in some sort of morality play. It’s a very realistic Christmas story.
It's depressing that such a profoundly good point had to come to you from a person like him.
@@the-NightStara lot of his older content is like that. When he was able to keep out his politics the dude was fairly insightful.
Which to me makes it the most relatable movie I've ever seen. So many of these little events are quite similar to my own experiences growing up, which no other 'grounded' or 'realistic' media I've watched has ever gotten close to doing despite all the reviews about this aspect.
@@mariotrujillo1673What politics?
Additionally I feel it also really captures the mentality/thought process of a kid better than a lot of films. Like all of ralphies day dreams are something we all experienced as a kid, getting a super cool toy that makes you the coolest, that one project/class assignment you were actually excited about and imagining you would be praised for, or after getting punished you imagine how they would regret doing that (blinded by soap poisoning). It truly remembers what it was like to be a kid in a lot of ways
The old mans trivia question "what was the name of the lone rangers nephews horse" was used in a trivia contest at my work, and i won $50
8:35 Flick’s tongue was one of the radio stories; the recording is on the DVD bonus features
I almost wish Jean Shepherd could’ve added the Flick’s Tongue story to a reprint of In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash. With the popularity of A Christmas Story, it would’ve been nice to see the story detailing the dare of Flick sticking his tongue to the flagpole included among the other 4 stories that got adapted to the film.
My mom listened to the radio show "A Prairie Home Companion" religiously when I was growing up and Garrison Keillor and Jean Shepard have similar writing styles and senses of humour, so this movie always just seemed to fit right in with the radio show that I heard every week.
I used to listen to them in the 90s. It was a sunday routine before going out to the coffeeshop.
Same!
My father loves Prairie Home Companion he let me borrow some of his CDs so I could hear them and yes it is similar to Jean Shepard.
I have always loved this movie. I used to feel so seen by how well the movie represented a child's daily life. I was shocked that some adults could still understand. Funnily enough, now that I am an adult, I don't remember what it's like to be a kid anymore. Now I just like the movie cuz it's delightful.
Horrible to hear you've forgotten your childhood.
@@robertgronewold3326 not really man. Some people had shit childhoods. I'm actually very happy in my current age.
Peter Billingsley and I are the same age and share the same air name. This came out in 1983 he would have been 9 or 10. He was much younger than 13 during the filming.
Additionally My Summer Story was a theatrical release but most people didn’t realize it was a sequel. It came out in 1994 and had Kieran Culkin as Ralphie, riding the coatails of his more popular brother… And Mary Steenburgen as the mom.
I’m one of the few people that considers this their staunchly go-to Christmas movie. I’ve never had a fondness for the saccharine nature of Christmastime films, but there’s an honesty to “A Christmas Story” that I connect with. A cynical edge I’ve always loved. Which also explains why I find myself watching “Gremlins” or “Black Christmas” (another Bob Clark Christmas film) when I’ve had my fill of “A Christmas Story” lol.
Dude, you ain’t the only one. This is like Number 1 of everyone’s favorite Christmas movies. It still runs 24 hours on TBS for a reason.
ovaltine is a chocolate drink powder, like milo or nesquik. ovaltine is unique for also offering a malt option, which was my favorite as a kid.
Finally, someone in these comments who recognizes Ovaltine's superiority.
Now I have a hankering for some Ovaltine. I don't think I have had any in like 20 years.
Pendant alert: Ralphie visits Santa in a department store, not in a mall.
And his visit to Santa happens first before his writing assignment of relaying “What he wants for Christmas” to his feature and his scheme to convince her to let him have a Red Ryder BB gun.
this was in the 40s/50s... department stores back then were like early malls. much different then our big box depo today.
When I was 12ish years old, I came down with food poisoning on Christmas day... And spent the rest of the day and night mostly asleep... and when I wasn't, I was getting sick. I recall having my TV set to TNT (an American TV network that later rebranded, but still plays "24 hours of A Christmas Story" every December the 25th.) for me by my parents, and just waking up over and over throughout the day to different parts of the same movie, without any real continuity, because it kept restarting. It even began permeating my dreams.
That whole Christmas with that movie playing constantly was a pretty surreal one...
In any case, I wish you (and the rest of your beautiful watchers) a Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays. 💙
I've been an absolute sucker for "Christmas Specials" since I was little kid... I still watch the; Rocko's Modern Life, Rugrats, Pete and Pete, Hey, Arnold (and lots, LOTS more) Christmas/Holiday specials every year. So... A "Lost in Adaptation" episode with holiday theming? Sold. 😁
My family loves this movie, I had no idea it was based on something! There’s a marathon Christmas Day every year, so my family watches it multiple times a year, but only on Christmas
I’d say that the film’s structure - brought on by the fact that it’s pieced together from multiple stories - is part of its annual appeal. You can turn it on at any point in the film, watch it for ten minutes, have a chuckle, then go back to whatever you were doing. An hour later, you catch another part out of the corner of your eye, and you’re drawn in for another five minutes. I can’t think of any film like that.
there's actually another sequel in this series that takes place chronologically the summer after A Christmas Story called My Summer Story (originally released in theaters as It Runs in The Family). though like you said there is little to no mention of the previous movies events.
My Summer Story (originally released under the title It Runs In The Family) is also based on In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash. It got decent reviews but it's release was so small it made less than 1% of its budget back. My friends and I saw it once on Comedy Central one summer, this was before tv’s told you what you were watching so we didn't know it's title. it was like this weird mythical animal we all saw and would talk about “that Christmas Story movie that took place in the summer”
I always felt like the disjointed stories mirror how a kid would recount their life, just a hodgepodge of events.
1:14 I have a similar reaction when I find references to interviews actors gave to the publication as well as short stories they published.
As someone who’s never seen this before a couple years ago how the movie is makes so much more sense
I grew up watching this movie back before the 24 hr marathons and such. My dad grew up with Shepherds radio show so he was a fan from way back. Fun fact: the show The Wonder Years is loosely inspired by his work and the movie as well. He was slated to be the narrator at first but Daniel Stern ended up taking on the role. But even having an adult narrator for his child forms life is enough to feel the inspiration.
I grew up drinking ovaltine because my mum thought it was healthier version of hot chocolate and I can certainly say that it tastes like something that parents would assume is healthier than chocolate
As a child in the later 60’s, I had my own transistor radio. That’s when I first discovered Jean Shepherd, telling elaborate stories on FM late at night. The first time I saw the movie, I thought, “I remember that voice. This should be fun!”
Lost in Adaptation is BACK!! ❤
I always liked the Peking Duck for Christmas scene. It was sweet how they tried to make these obviously sad and uncomfortable people feel the Christmas spirit. Plus Peking Duck is *chefs kisssss*
My spouse and I watch this every year while wrapping gifts. It’s pretty much our only Christmas tradition. Besides, as someone who was bullied as a child, seeing Scut Farkus getting the snot beat out of him was oddly cathartic.
My family has loved this classic for years. It has a special place in our hearts. My mom and brother have even participated in a santa marathon based off a Christmas Story.
My mom is one of those people who enjoys the 24/7 broadcast of this movie. It has gotten to the point that I consider the hallmark moment of marking the day as Christmas to be this having been watched once as well as hearing It's A Wonderful Life being played on television.
Fun fact: Much of A Christmas Story was shot in Cleveland, Ohio, to the point where the house from the film is a tourist attraction you can visit, to this day. It’s been something of a family tradition of mine for years
You can also find a few of Shepherd's old radio programs here on the UA-cams where he reads his short stories. It's interesting to hear him read them long before the movie ever came out, and seeing how they all eventually became the movie everyone has grown to love. And yes, for years Playboy did, indeed, publish short stories, being where many authors got their start. This was because Heffner wanted his creation to be more than just pornography like other gentlemen's magazines.
I never cared for the photos in Playboy, but even I, who am a woman, used to LOVE Playboy literally for the articles. They were fascinating!!! I actually think it was pretty brilliant, and sent the message that woman are just one thing to enjoy about life rather than the position that we are just objects to fill a rag.
As someone who isn't from the States and who gas never seen a second of these films, I was unprepared for the amount of cultural references that came from these.
The book was one of my father's favorites and I've read his copy a number of times. The framing device for the bb gun story was a rumination of the debate over so-called war toys, very similar to the debate over violent video games. The movie is one of my all-time favorites.
While I did know this movie was based on some short stories and I was aware of one of the other made for TV movies, I had no idea there were more to the series!
What really makes A Christmas Story for me is ultimately Darren McGavin. When I was probably way too young to have, I watched reruns of Kolchak, which is an amazing series with McGavin playing a newspaper reporter who keeps running into weird supernatural shit. So seeing him as a small town dad tickled the heck out of me.
The Old Man was played by James Broderick, Matthew Broderick's dad, in those old PBS TV movies. He was an absolutely perfect Old Man, 10/10, no notes. Darren McGavin is, of course, 11/10, they were lucky to cast him as James Broderick had passed on.
I just love how much he accomplishes with facial expressions.
My dad was a teen during the time period of the movie, but was definitely of that era so I'm very familiar with the idea of a dad who appears distant and a bit scary, but will show how much he's really paying attention at the right times.
it may not be autobiographical, but it is pretty accurate to Northern Indiana, where my mother grew up in the 1960s and 1970s (which is more of less when the adult scenes occur, as opposed to the childhood scenes, which take place in the 1930s or 1940s); I had her read the opening of the book up to where it mentions Cedar Lake, her hometown for most of her childhood (and the place my grandfather lived out most of the rest of his life, and so a place I was somewhat familiar with myself from yearly visits), and she was able to point out some of the locations to me during our last visit, when we helped my grandfather move down to southern Indiana outside Evanston to live with my uncle. The movie is not so accurate, as it was filmed in Ohio, and only the mention of Gary, Indiana (in the opening monologue, if I remember right), clued us in to the actual setting when I was a kid, before I ever knew of the book. Gary is a bit notorious as being a hellhole now, at least online (I haven't been there myself for probably 30 years, so I can't corroborate the internet reputation) but my mother was born in a hospital there the day after Michael Jackson was born in presumably the same hospital. I don't remember what they said Ralphie's father did for a job, but steel was a big industry there; my grandfather was a steelworker and lost his ring finger and pinkie when a hot steel rod went through one of his hands, which had gotten stuck in the machinery (I think his cuff got snagged, but I'm not sure). One other anecdote--the water there, at least in Cedar Lake, was the absolute worst I'd ever seen, literally undrinkable and left red rust(?) stains on the bathtub. The last time I took a bath there, in the early 2000s, it had improved, but in the 1980s and the 1990s, god. I'm not sure what the water in Flint, Michigan, was like, but it couldn't have been much worse.
I saw this in a movie theater when it first came out with some of my siblings. We thought it was hilarious and annoyed the others by quoting the funny parts over and over at Christmas dinner.
I missed the old ways you did reviews, rather than talking about the book first and the movie afterward. This review feels very much like your old reviews, which I appreciate.
1:18 color me surprised too Dom! I previously tought Playboy was all about bunnies! 🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰
I just always thought the film was looking through the eyes of an adult and remembering how they felt as a child, so it was just scattered memories of certain events. So none of it seemed off if you think this way. We remember stuff like that as an adult, however, I also realized at a younger age that that was what it was. An adult remembering events as a child. Idk why people hate on this movie, except that it has now…been over played. 24 hour Christmas Story on one station every year.
Oh the pins are DELIGHTFUL!! Book readers love a good enamel pin this is a true fact
This was a lovely surprise! My family has always liked A Christmas Story, but our general love for it increased when a few members participated in the musical adaptation of it. It's a very fun romp!
I remember watching one of the other movies in the series often growing up. "Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss" where the family goes on a road trip to a cabin at a resort (same name as movie), it had Jerry O'Connell in it!
In Star Trek Online, the annual Winter Fest content (Q sets up a Winter Wonderland on Andoria, a frigid snow planet) has a event-only weapon that's literally the Red Ryder BB gun. When you use the aimed shot function on it (fighting evil snowmen - it's a thing, dom't ask) you get Ralphie's enormous glasses superimposed on your character's face briefly. Laughed my ass off when i saw it. 😀
I absolutely love your snowflake tie
My go to "dad joke" every Christmas is pretending that I'm worried that I'll miss seeing it. I've spent many a Christmas Eve watching it over and over as I'm wrapping gifts thanks to TBS and TNT showing it around the clock.
See, I never thought the Old Man's delight about the leg lamp was due to not wanting to admit he was scammed. I always interpreted his enthusiasm as genuine.
This was my late grandfather's favorite christmas film, I've seen it so many times yet somehow never realized it came from anything literary
I just rewatched this movie earlier this month and I have to say that quite liked it. It was only my second time seeing the movie as I watched a year ago and I liked it way more now. It’s a charming little Christmas movie that grew on me.
In my childhood I used to watch a lot of movies that seemed more like a few different stories put together (most of them were originally swedish I believe ?) and I always loved them. it just feels like witnessing a kids day to day life and all the mischief one would get up to as a child, rather than some epic overarching plot.
always felt very down to earth while still being charming and entertaining
Not the biggest fan of A Christmas Story myself, but I don't hate it, and I'm as familiar with it as any American. Interesting to find out it's based on multiple stories mashed together.
Fun fact, I lived in the same town as Scott Schwartz (the guy who played Flip, the kid whose tongue got stuck to the flagpole) and sort-of attended the same school. (Sort of because his high school became the middle school when the new high school was built in the mid-90s.) One day during my freshman year (9th grade, 13-14 yo, since I know that gets confusing for non-Americans) he came to visit, and my algebra teacher went out in the hall to catch up with him. It might be a good illustration of why everyone liked the math teachers at that school to tell you what he said when he came back in the room (paraphrased, because it's been over 20 years): "Just catching up with a former student. He played Flip in A Christmas Story, and he's in porn these days."
And he wasn't technically wrong, but, according to Wikipedia, Schwartz played minor non-sexual roles and worked behind the camera, so it's a bit misleading, since it implies he was a porn star. Dunno for sure, I've never bothered trying to look up any of his films.
A very fantastic video Dom! (I hope I can call you Dom.)
I also had no idea that the movie was based on several stories or had additional film/made-for-TV videos. The depth that you go into these videos is incredible and I really thoroughly enjoy your style of delivery. I grew up watching this film almost every year around Christmas along with the National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation movie.
Also... those pins are freaking nice.
Oooh I look forward to this. Gene Shepard’s books are funny. My dad always read them and used to listen to him on the radio with his father.
On the subject of Jean Shepherd and books, one of my favorite stories I learned about Shepherd was how he managed to trick a nonexistent book into the New York Times Best Sellers list. True story.
I licked a metal jungle gym in the winter of 1st grade because I was SURE it wouldn't freeze.
It instantly started to freeze and I ripped my tongue off.😅
It was very sore for a while ❤
As a person who has never seen the movie and don't plan to do so, thank you for this presentation.
Thank you Dom, i was today years old when I found out A Christmas Story was based on short stories and not like. An original screenplay
This movie was a favorite in my household growing up, and I hated it (on its own merits just for being boring, but worsened by the constant re-watching). In the intervening years with _A Christmas Story_ merch becoming A Thing I absolutely grew to loathe it...and then, much more recently, I started to appreciate it. I mean it's still boring and kitschy, but the main kid is a really good child actor, most of the jokes work as jokes (not a guarantee in Christmas movies that expect you to indulge them for nostalgia's sake), they clearly put effort into the sets and costumes, and some of the family's interactions feel really genuine.
I have to confess I've never actually seen this movie all the way through, only the more famous/iconic scenes from it and other bits and pieces due to the annual 24-hour marathon of it on TV.
I grew up in the birthplace of the Daisy Air Rifle. We preserved a wall from the original factory for decades.
They filmed this movies exteriors in Cleveland. My mom will mention every viewing that her high school band was filmed but cut out of the parade scene every viewing
One of my favorite Christmas movies! I saw it for the first time as a teenager/young adult and just loved it. Now it's a yearly tradition for me around the holidays.
Interesting to hear that Jean Shepard was a radio guy - it makes total sense that he'd be given such a large role in the movie instead of a small cameo. I knew from reading one or two of the stories that the movie was based on a book, but I never knew they were originally radio stories.
For the record, it's pronounced 'oval-TEEN,' and was advertised regularly on TV when I was growing up in the 1970s, and yes, we had it in our house. It's not bad!
Thanks for another great video!
Before seeing video: THIS WAS A BOOK!?
lol, same
11:25 Die Hard is a Christmas movie not just because it takes place on Christmas, but because its themes are love, forgiveness, and family.
This is one of my favorite Christmas movies, the characters remind me of my family in a lot of ways. We usually watch it at least once during Christmas.
Some of the teenage Ralphie stories aired on PBS. I remember one story about homemade fireworks, and another one about a blind date.
Grew up listening to Jean Shepard at 10:30pm on WOR Radio in NYC Area. All of the points where you could not find book citations were in fact from his monologues. As a small correx, Grover Dill was the toady. True nemesis was Scut Farkis, who had yellow eyes. "I swear, he had YELLOW eyes!". Thanks Dom and keep up the good work.
As someone who had his early teen years twisted by listening to Shepherd's radio show, I can report that the tongue stuck to the pole is one of his original radio bits.
Love this! My cousin actually had the honor of meeting some of the cast that came to her high school here in Alaska a while back! ❤️ She said Flick was very nice!
7:54 fun fact (IYRC): Last Year’s Christmas Day, I went to the China Cafe and it was open for Christmas, thanks to this movie
I wasn’t allowed to watch it as a kid and I didn’t get around to watching it until recently. I’ll probably need to watch it again soon. The scene with the kid’s tongue getting stuck to a pole reminds me of my older brother. He did something similar as a kid.
Originally Ralphie was going to harbor a crush on his teacher, Miss Shields. But the actress had gotten pregnant right before filming and ended up appearing more matronly due to the pregnancy pounds. But instead of recasting the actress, they just dropped the student crush storyline.
That probably worked better honestly. They tried some of this stuff in the musical and you just end up with a far inferior version. A Christmas Story is just one of those films that works. Everything comes together to create something special.
@@PeterPan54167 There was a lot a lot about the medical that was inferior.
@@heidifedor I love the musical's cast album, but unfortunately they revised a lot of the lyrics for the worse after the cast album was released.
What I don't understand was why they went to all that trouble to try to disguise Tedde Moore's pregnancy...when they could have gone the easier route of simply changing her name to MRS. Shields?
@@jenniferschillig3768 I don’t know for certain but I think it has something to do with historical authenticity. Back then ( this is just a generalization of how things worked) either young woman taught till they got married and had kids of their own or it was a old maid who taught school ( yes this is how things worked well until after WWII). Ms Shields was probably written with the former in mind but like I said it probably works better with how things turned out.
Interesting to hear what inspired the movie. A lot of the appeal of the movie, for me, is the nostalgic feel of it, with a very strong 1950s small town America vibe.
Fun fact the gun in movie isn’t an actual Daisy Red Rider since the actual gun doesn’t have a compass or sundial. My dad used to work at Daisy years ago so I have both the actual Red Rider and a movie replica
This makes so much more sense now. Thanks, Dom! My parents loved this film but I was never a fan. However we did live a part of it. We had a family tradition of having Christmas dinner at the local Chinese restaurant but only after we had befriended the owners. It was honestly my favorite part of the holiday. For a few years, we had them over for Thanksgiving, sharing recipes and time together. They sold that restaurant several years ago and I've moved to the other side of the country, but I still think of those delicious meals and warm company.
Fun fact: if you read Donald Fagen’s (member of the Rock band Steely Dan) memoir book Eminent Hipsters, for a chapter he talks in depth about how much he looked up to and was inspired by Shepard’s radio show as a kid, including sending him interesting local news snippets because Shepard often would read stuff like that on his show. Then when Fagen grew up, he went to a lecture Shepard had given, and was so disillusioned by the man himself he lost all favor for him
I had the sudden realization in this video that Dom is the reason I am obsessed with wanting to wear vests :D
I have been watching this channel for years and now I'm actually studying comparative literary sciences and writing papers about this kind of stuff, so I guess you really inspired me (without me realizing it)
Sadly the shipping fees are more than the cost of the pin, so I guess I will not be fashionably proclaiming myself a beautiful watcher :(
The only person I ever met who doesn't like this movie is my Uncle Karl, Gods rest his soul. Sigh...he taught me to play piano. Still miss him. Classic-jazz musician, chartered accountant for a living (music and math go hand-in-glove, at least in the European music traditions), and AMAZING cook/chef when he wanted to be. His was the best creme brullet (spelling?) I ever had.
Firstly, been watching you for 10 years and I’m adding pins to a vest so I’ll definitely be shopping for one of yours. Second always appreciate you defending Die Hard 😊
OMG I love this movie! It’s also my dad’s favorite Christmas movie since he was a kid. We watch it every year. I can’t believe it’s based on something
Love the video!! This was a staple of my childhood and it's neat to get some background on it. One thing - isn't it Scut Farkus who bullies Ralphie and endures his wrath? I thought Grover was the toady... It's been awhile since I've seen it, but that sticks out to me...
In the short story, it’s Grover Dill that’s the bully that torments Ralphie and who gets beat up by him.
I'm not sure if I ever liked this movie, but seeing it WAY TOO MANY times because it kept getting shown to me or some relative liked it and had it on the TV channel that played it back to back to back all day long on Christmas has made me almost hate it. Didn't know it was based on a book though. Congratulations on the pins, and Sir Terry's cameo was adorable as always.
On a quick note the Bumpas family antics mentioned all were put to film in the movie My Summer Story which in keeping with apparent tradition doesn't have an of the actors from My Christmas Story.