Every year A Christmas Story endlessly plays in the background in most family Christmas parties thanks to TBS. I know I’ve personally seen the film over 60 times, and its also the first film I remember seeing theatrically. But seeing and knowing are two different things. For example, did you know that Jack Nicholson was very interested in playing Ralphie’s dad, but was never hired due to budgetary concerns? That’s just one of the 11 things you might not know about A Christmas Story. Here are some other highlights:
- Ralphie says he wants the Red Ryder BB Gun 28 times, that’s approximately once every three minutes and 20 seconds.
- A Christmas Story supposedly inspired the creation of The Wonder Years. In fact, in one of the last few episodes, Peter Billingsley appeared as one of Kevin Arnold’s roommates.
And here are a few more interesting tidbits that Mental Floss left out:
- Director Bob Clark made a cameo as a dim-witted neighbor, who marvels at the Leg Lamp from outside.
- Author and narrator Jean Shepherd makes a cameo as the irate man in line who directs Ralphie to the back of the line.
- An elaborate fantasy sequence which featured Flash Gordon teaming with Ralphie to fight Ming the Merciless was reportedly filmed but dropped from the final cut.
And finally…
A sequel to A Christmas Story actually exists. Filmed in 1994 under the title It Runs in the Family. Based on other stories from Jean Shepherd’s novels, the story takes place in Summer.
Ralphie is searching for the perfect top to use to beat the school bully with, the Old Man is in battle with their hillbilly neighbors, the Bumpus, while eagerly awaiting the discovery of the perfect fishing spot, and the Mother is attempting to collect all of the pieces of a glass china set at a local movie theater.
Shepherd returned as narrator, and Tedde Moore returned to play Miss Shields, but the rest of the cast was entirely new. Charles Grodin played the old man Mr. Parker, while Mary Steenburgen played the mother. Macaulay’s younger brother Kieran Culkin played Ralphie. The film was a mess, and faired poorly at the box office ($70,936). The film was also released under the title of “My Summer Story” on home video in an attempt to capitalize on the success of A Christmas Story.
December 26th, 2007 at 4:57 am
There are at least 5 “Christmas Story Family” movies in existence, including the one you refer to your in post. I’ve only seen it listed as “Ollie Hopnoodle’s Haven of Bliss”, but who knows.
I don’t know the titles to a couple of the others that I’ve seen (via WTTW-11 Chicago), but here’s what they’re about.
Something Something Miss Fourth of July - Ralphie is still a kid in this one and he is obsessed with marbles, especially one particular marble that is rumored to be absolutely invincible and can literally destroy all other marbles.
Something Something I don’t remember - This one can only be seen at the Jean Shepard Fest in Hammond, IN on an old reel-to-reel (where I won a Red Ryder BB Gun by beating a bunch of kids in an orange soda drinking contest). Anyway, in this one Ralphie is a teenager who starts dating a polish girl whose family has a nice house, but lives solely in the basement to preserve the upstairs in a constant state of perfection. It’s awesome.
There are a few more, but the titles descriptions escape me…
December 26th, 2007 at 4:59 am
Whoops, it WAS tops, not marbles. I think the unbeatable top was called The Black something or other.
In my opinion, it was NOT a mess. It was not trying to capitalize on the Christmas Story’s popularity as Jean Shepard had more than a few stories adapted to film.
December 26th, 2007 at 10:42 am
a sequel? wow, i didn’t know that one
December 26th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Peter Billingsley also makes a cameo in ELF from a few years ago as the head elf at the North Pole. He’s the one who comes to ask Buddy how many etch-a-sketches he’s made that day.