A Christmas Story

Movie Title--  A Christmas Story

Release Year--  1983

Running Time--  1 Hour and 34 Minutes

Director--  Bob Clark

Cast--  Peter Billingsley, Jean Shepherd, Darren McGavin, Melinda Dillon, Scott Schwartz, Ian Petrella, R.D. Robb, Zack Ward

Young Ralphie tries to convince everyone from his parents to Santa that his perfect Christmas would include a Red Ryder B.B. Gun.

Adult Ralphie Parker (Jean Shepherd) narrates while panning over his hometown, telling the story of  the Christmas of  his 9 year old self (Peter Billingsley).  All Ralphie wants for Christmas is a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle.  He slips an advertisement into one of his mother's magazines for her to find while she is flipping through it.  He then goes down to breakfast and tries to keep a collected composure as he tries to find a way to slip in his request of Christmas.  He fails at this miserably and when his mother asks what he wants for Christmas, he loses all composure and tells her about the B.B. Gun with her response being "You'll shoot your eye out". 

Ralphie finds another chance to get in his request for the gun when his teacher asks the class to write a paper about what each students wants for Christmas.  Ralphie is proud of his paper but is disappointed when it comes back with a C+ on it, as he had expected an A+, and a note from the teacher that said "P.S.-  you'll shoot your eye out!".

Ralphie then realizes that his final hope is from Santa Claus himself.  They go to the department store to see Santa but are faced with a long line that they stand in for hours.  When Ralphie and his brother Randy (Ian Petrella) get to see Santa, the elves are pushy because the store is getting ready to close and Santa is in a hurry to get everyone out because he is not interested in staying past closing without being paid overtime.  When it becomes Randy and Ralphie's turn, Randy is sent crying down the slide exit that takes the children down from the top of the "mountain" that Santa is sitting on.  Ralphie is then placed on Santa's lap and his mind goes blank.  When he doesn't tell Santa what he wants for Christmas, Santa tells him that he will give him a football and starts to push Ralphie down the slide when he stops himself and he climbs back up to the top and tells Santa about the gun that he wants.  Santa looks at him and says "You'll shoot your eye out", then sends Ralphie down the slide.

Ralphie is discouraged but does not plan on letting it ruin his Christmas, hoping that by some chance he actually got the Red Ryder B.B. Gun that he asked for.

So, there is so much more to this film than what is described above, like the leg lamp, Ralphie and the "Oh Fudge" incident or the "pink nightmare", but most people have seen this film, so I didn't feel like I needed to get into a ton of the details for this one.  As a child, this film is great.  As an adult, parts of this film are a little cheesy but funny and still a good view.

There are so many great quotable moments from this film.  One of my favorites is the line about Ralphie looking like "a pink nightmare".  For any super fans of this film (and may not know), the actual "Christmas Story" house is in Cleveland, Ohio.  I have actually visited the house and the small museum that is across the street.  It is really cool to see the film and then see where it was filmed.  If you are ever in or around Cleveland and you enjoy this film, you should totally check it out.

Also, for anyone that has never seen this film, the network TBS plays a 24-hour marathon of it starting on December 24th (8 p.m. eastern) that ends the same time on December 25th.  If you have never seen this film, you have a 24 hour period to catch it.  I think that everyone should view this film from beginning to end at least one time.  Settle down sometime with the family and watch this film laughing all the way, just Don't Forget the Popcorn!

Merry Christmas

or

Happy Holidays

(for those that don't celebrate Christmas)