Posted on 12/24/2005 9:09:35 PM PST by raccoonradio
Well, I double--make that TRIPLE-- dog dare you not to see this classic movie! Hardly noticed when released in 1983 (not much of a promo budget, and I think it only went out to 100 theatres) but it has gotten a cult following since then.
Dreams of getting that Little Orphan Annie decoder ring ("A crummy commercial!") and of course the Red Ryder BB Gun (careful, you'll shoot your eye out with it, kid). Having your mom dress your kid brother up so heavily for a cold day that he can't put his arms down. Be careful the neighbor's dogs don't get that turkey! And see how proud your dad can feel when he wins a leg lamp in a contest.
"I tell you, honey, this is a MAJOR AWARD! Let's see what that box says--'fra-gee-lay'--must be from Italy"
"Uh, that's 'fragile', dear..."
No time to watch? See the 30 second version (with bunnies)
here:
http://www.starz.com/features/christmasstory/
Bubba won a major award! HA!
Buy it! The special features are terrific, especially interviews with cast members and the QUIZ!
FYI, another great film made from a Shepherd story featuring the family is Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss!
I did see this in a theater when it was first released, due to an enthusiastic review on Siskel and Ebert.
Have also heard there was a sequel called It Runs in the Family (aka My Summer Story) though many people on IMDB.com
weren't too fond of it. Woman who played Ralphie's teacher is in this one, too, but otherwise...
http://imdb.com/title/tt0110168/
A site about the _house_ used in the movie did say it was a surprise hit (glad Gene and Roger liked it) and ran
from Thanksgiving till New Year's...
From the book about Shepherd: "Director Bob Clark says that the studio waited too long to reserve venues for its original release in 1983, so at Christmas it was only in about one hundred theaters. (It is said that the movie studio only backed the making of it grudgingly, and did
not promote it much."
However, TV showings and the original video release (and maybe some word of mouth) helped it become a cult classic.
Supposedly some 38.4 million people watched the 2003
TBS A Christmas Story Marathon!
Pingski!
Yes, I'm not too fond of It Runs in the Family either, Mary Steensburgen as the Mom and Charles Grodin as the Dad just doesn't work, nor does the actor who plays Ralphie.
But Ollie Hopnoodle works! You can also find copies of a few other gems that American Playhouse made years ago from some of Shep's stories about the family - The Phantom of the Open Hearth was the earliest, then The Great 4th of July and other Disasters and then there is one set during Thanksgiving called something like the Loves of Josephine Koznowski. The flick url above is where you can find them.
Thanks for the recommendation of Ollie Hopnoodle! I'm about 120 pages into the book about Shepherd (Excelsior You Fathead) and I plan to get his books like In God We
Trust, etc., fairly soon.
The same folks who did the bunny parody for A Christmas Story also did It's a Wondeful Life:
http://www.angryalien.com/1204/wonderful_lifebuns.asp
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