A Christmas Story is a classic for many and aired for 24 hours on either TNT or TBS each years.
The film was based on the 1966 book by Jean Shepherd titled In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash. The book featured semi-fictional anecdotes and some elements from his 1971 book Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories and Other Disasters were also used.
The screenplay was based on monologues written and performed by Jean Shepherd on radio. Several of these become subplots in the film. Shepherd would provide the film narration as the adult Ralphie.
The film stars Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, and Peter Billingsley.
The story is narrated by adult Ralphie Parker, who reminisces on Christmas when he was nine years old, featuring a series of vignettes, in his desire for a a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle. He eventually receives the rifle but not without some breaking his glasses. The adult Ralphie narrates that this was the best present he had ever received or would ever receive.
The film was released on November 18, 1983. Many considered it a sleeper film, but it had moderate sucess earning $2 million its first weekend. Gross earning reached $19.2 million.
The film would win two categories in the 5th Genie Awards in Toronto for best director and best original screenplay.
Yearly airings on TV made the film popular and a Christmas tradition. Turner Entertainment Co. purchased the pre-1986 MGM film library, before Time Warner bought them out.
In 2000, there was a stage adaptation of the play, written by Philip Gracian.
AOL ranked the film their #1 Christmas film of all time in 2007.
In November 2012, A Christmas Story: The Musical, based on the film, opened on Broadway. The musical received a Tony Award nomination for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score.
In 2017, A Christmas Story Live! aired on the Fox network.
In 2012, it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
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