Bob's Look: A Christmas Story (1983)

For 24 hours starting on Christmas eve, this movie is screened for celebrating families everywhere, and I usually watch 3 of the 12 showings. This, in my opinion, is one of the greatest holiday films ever made. Based on the writings of Jean Shepherd, who himself narrates the film, A Christmas Story follows young Ralphie Parker in his quest for the ultimate gift; an “official Red Ryder carbine action 200 shot range model air rifle” “…with a compass in the stalk, and this thing which tells time.” There are many obstacles in his way of obtaining his coveted weapon, let alone making it to Christmas, including a bully and his toady, peer pressures, Freudian slips, and the dreaded bb gun block “you’ll shoot your eye out.” This movie is hilarious while never straying away from family friendly humor, which is never an easy thing to do. The entire cast performance was excellent, especially Peter Billingsly who is absolutely brilliant in the role of Ralphie Parker, which makes me a little sad that he never went far beyond this roll. The movie has a good amount of childhood tomfoolery, such as daring a friend to stick his tongue to a light poll then abandoning him to the elements at the sound of the school bell, as well as lessons learned, such as getting the long awaited decoder pin to decipher an Ovaltine add. These all fit together nicely in the grand scheme of Ralphie Parker’s Christmas, I also like how Ralphie’s state of mind is shown through daydream sequences. My favorite of these occurs just after Ralphie has soap on his tongue for saying THE word, and he imagines coming home a blind man, telling his parent it was caused by “soap…poisoning.” This is something every kid imagines a time or two when they are punished; that it will come back on mom or dad. Hey, we were kids, right? This is the perfect Christmas film for the whole family; very quotable and very funny. I recommend making this one a Christmas tradition.

 Fun facts: It’s never stated directly when the film is set, but period markers such as an issue of Look magazine, mention of the Red Sox trading Bill “Bullfrog” Dietrich, and the edition of the “Speedomatic” decoder pin Ralphie receives in the mail, the story can be placed between 1937-1940, which puts it between the depression and World War II.
The Daisy toy company have confirmed that the Red Ryder bb gun was available during this movie’s time period except for one detail; the model in that era did not have a compass or sundial in the stalk.
Red Ryder is a real character that appeared in comic books and on the radio during the 30’s and 40’s. The house in Cleveland, Oh. that served as the Parker home for the film was restored and furnished to resemble the way it appeared in the movie, and is now a popular tourist attraction.