Movie Review – A Christmas Story (1983)
Back in 1983, one of the most beloved Christmas movies of all time was released to the movie theater.
While A Christmas Story wasn’t a major blockbuster in the movie theater, the film became a legend from the endless showings and repeat showings on networks such as TBS and TNT. The film became so popular that by 1997, TNT began doing a 24-hour marathon of A Christmas Story beginning on Christmas Eve. This marathon still continues today with TBS continuing the trend.
Part of what makes A Christmas Story so enjoyable is that it’s relatively safe for the entire family. A Christmas Story has its humor, its moments of sadness, the feelings of joy, and of course, a boy gaining the courage and strength to beat up the neighborhood bully. It has it all without any major vulgarity, acts of violence, or suggestive scenes.
Peter Billingsley stars as Ralphie Parker, the boy who faces the challenges of everyday life in elementary school and who desperately wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. Darren McGavin and Melinda Dillon play the roles of Mr. and Mrs. Parker, and Ian Petrella plays the role of Randy, Ralphie’s younger brother. Zack Ward had the honor of playing the role of Scut Farkus, the neighborhood bully with yellow eyes.
A Christmas Story (1983) – (c) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
A Christmas Story takes place in the late 1930s / early 1940s in a small town somewhere in northern Indiana.
The film begins with a bunch of children gathered at a store’s corner window and its elaborate Christmas display. The hottest toys are interacting with one another, but to Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley), it’s all meaningless. His sights are locked on the Red Ryder BB gun in the back of the display. The only problem is that Ralphie has to somehow convince his parents that he’s mature enough for such a gift.
A Christmas Story (1983) – (c) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Ralphie begins his quest for the BB gun by leaving subtle hints for the toy in his parents’ magazines. His hopes are soon crushed when he’s sitting at the kitchen table and his mother (Melinda Dillon) asks him what he would like for Christmas. Ralphie quickly blurts out the Red Ryder BB gun and realizes his mistake. He tries to cover it and change subjects, but his mom doesn’t buy it. She claims that BB guns are dangerous and he’ll shoot out his eye. His father (Darren McGavin), on the other hand, is more interested in a furnace that doesn’t keep breaking. While eating breakfast, Ralphie daydreams of himself using his BB gun to shoot a bunch of criminals.
A Christmas Story (1983) – (c) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Ralphie heads to school with his friends Flick (Scott Schwartz) and Schwartz (R.D. Robb), but they have to slow down for Ralphie’s younger brother Randy (Ian Petrella). They make it to school without any incidents. That day in recess, Flick and Schwartz get into an argument over whether or not a person’s tongue will stick to a frozen flagpole. Schwartz ultimately issues the dreaded “triple dog dare,” and Flick sticks his tongue to the pole. Sure enough it sticks. It take the fire department to free Flick’s tongue from the flagpole. In class, their teacher, Miss Shields, issues a theme for her class to write. Its topic is what they want for Christmas. Ralphie sees this as a golden opportunity to convince his teacher that he deserves the Red Ryder BB gun.
A Christmas Story (1983) – (c) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
While walking home from school, the boys are harassed by the neighborhood’s bullies, Scut Farkus (Zack Ward) and his minion, Grover Dill (Yano Anaya). Scut tortures Schwartz for a moment before the boys are able to run away.
A Christmas Story (1983) – (c) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
It’s dinnertime in the Parker’s house, and as usual, Randy doesn’t want to eat his dinner. Mr. Parker threatens to force open his mouth, but his mother has a different idea. She has Randy make a mess of himself by eating like pigs eat. While he’s doing that there’s a knock at the front door. Mr. Parker’s prize from a contest has arrived. He opens the door and the deliverymen bring a large box into their living room. Mr. Parker opens it and pulls out his prize — a leg lamp. He proudly puts it on display in the front window so the entire neighborhood can see it.
A Christmas Story (1983) – (c) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Ralphie writes his theme and turns it into Miss Shields the next day at school. He fantasizes about his teacher reading his report and giving him the highest grade possible. Of course, this is just a dream and Ralphie returns to reality.
A Christmas Story (1983) – (c) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
That night it’s time for the Parker family to buy their Christmas tree. Mr. Parker gets a deal for the tree when the salesman offers to throw in some rope and tie it to his car. Things are going well until one of the car’s tires has a flat. Ralphie is allowed to help his dad change tires, but when the lug nuts are accidentally scattered across the ground, Ralphie says the mother of all bad words.
A Christmas Story (1983) – (c) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Ralphie is punished with a bar of soap in his mouth when they return home. When asked where he heard that word, he lies and tell her it was Schwartz. The truth was that his dad used that language whenever fighting with the home’s furnace. Mrs. Parker calls Schwartz’s mom and we hear Schwartz receive a beating over at his house. That night Ralphie has a dream where the soap poisoning has made him blind.
A Christmas Story (1983) – (c) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
The next day after school, Ralphie finally receives his Secret Society decoder pin for the Radio Orphan Annie radio show. He writes down a secret code in the show and excitedly decodes it until learning that it was a scam. The secret message turned out to be just a product advertisement. Oh well.
A Christmas Story (1983) – (c) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
That night, Mrs. Parker is watering the house plants when she “accidentally” knocks over the Leg Lamp. Mr. Parker tries to glue it back together, but his efforts fail. He’s devastated by the loss of the lamp and buries the pieces in the backyard.
A Christmas Story (1983) – (c) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Things go from bad to worse the next day at school for Ralphie. First, he and his friends are harassed again by Scut Farkus and Flick receives a black eye. After that Ralphie receives his theme back from his teacher and is shocked when she gives him a bad grade. It’s the dreaded, “You’ll shoot your eye out!” from her, too. Finally, when walking home and feeling sorry for himself, Ralphie is ambushed by Scut and Grover. Ralphie’s anger quickly builds and he knocks Scut to the ground and gives him a beating.
As Ralphie is lying in bed, he realizes that there’s still somebody he can talk to about getting the Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. Santa Claus.
A Christmas Story (1983) – (c) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
The Parker family attends the town’s Christmas parade, and then Ralphie and Randy get in line to see a department store Santa Claus. Most of the children ahead of them are heard screaming as they go down a long slide after seeing Santa. Randy screams at Santa when it’s his turn. Ralphie’s mind goes blank when he finally sees Santa. He stops himself and climbs up the slide to tell Santa that he really wants a BB gun and NOT a football. Santa tells him that he’ll shoot his eye out, and then he pushes Ralphie’s forehead with his boot, sending him down the slide.
Ralphie is frustrated more than ever as his parents, his teacher, and even Santa Claus have ALL rejected his Christmas wish of a BB gun. His family returns home and decorates the Christmas tree. Then it’s off to bed for Ralphie and Randy as it’s Christmas Eve and Santa is on his way.
A Christmas Story (1983) – (c) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Christmas morning arrives and Randy and Ralphie head downstairs. Ralphie quickly pokes around, looking for a box that would look like it held a BB gun. He doesn’t see anything, but by now his parents are awake and downstairs. They begin opening their Christmas presents and enjoy Christmas morning.
A Christmas Story (1983) – (c) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Things go well until Ralphie opens his gift from Aunt Clara, a woman who continually believes that not only is Ralphie always four years old, but also a girl. He opens her gift to discover it’s a giant pink bunny suit. Mrs. Parker makes Ralphie try on Aunt Clara’s gift, and he does so with great reluctance. We see him come back down the stairs in the bunny suit. Mr. Parker claims that his son looks like “a deranged Easter Bunny.” Mrs. Parker allows him to take it off and only wear it when his aunt visits.
Christmas ends and Ralphie is a little bit sad when sitting with his parents. His dad notices a strange item behind a desk and has Ralphie go check it out. He does so and unwraps his prized Red Ryder BB gun, the very item he’s been dreaming about for who knows how long. His mom is concerned, but his dad tells her that he had a BB gun when he was that age.
A Christmas Story (1983) – (c) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Ralphie grabs his jacket and takes his BB gun outside. He sets up a target and fires an aimed shot. The BB bounces against the target (it was placed on a metal sign), and it hits him in the face. His glasses are knocked off and he accidentally steps on them, breaking a lens. Ralphie makes up a lie about an icicle falling off the house and hitting him in the face. His mom buys the lie and helps Ralphie feel better.
A Christmas Story (1983) – (c) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
While his mom is tending to Ralphie, the neighbor’s hound dogs break into their kitchen and eat the family’s turkey. Dinner is ruined. Mr. Parker is furious at the dogs. He holds back his anger and tells his family to get dressed as they are heading out for dinner. The only place in town is a Chinese restaurant. The family is hilariously serenaded by Chinese workers trying to sing American Christmas carols. They then bring out the food and the head waiter chops off the head of the cooked duck.
A Christmas Story ends on Christmas night as Randy and Ralphie hold their favorite toys with them in bed. Ralphie dreams of being a sharpshooter and hitting every target in sight. Downstairs, their parents spend some quality time by the Christmas tree as snow falls outside.
So is A Christmas Story any good?
I’m a big fan of this Christmas movie. It’s been one of my favorites for many years now. Each year I’ll catch at least two of three airings of the movie when TBS does the 24-hour marathon.
One of my favorite parts of A Christmas Story is its setting, both location and time period. Although the country was still dealing with the wrath of the Great Depression (similar to today’s continual gloom and doom with the economy and job market), the late 1930s was still an interesting time period in American history. It’s neat seeing the boys walking to school through the snow, dealing with a neighborhood bully, and just the simpler times back then.
In those simpler times you have this great Christmas story involving a boy with his hopes and dreams of getting a BB gun for Christmas. Notice how with the BB gun, young Ralphie wants to protect his family and use it to fight off the criminals. It’s not like he going out with a score to settle or wants to begin robbing banks and stores with it. It’s a defense toy.
I sympathize with Ralphie’s dreams of getting a BB gun because I was that same exact way back in middle school. Sure enough, one Christmas I received an air rifle as a gift from my parents. I built a target range and had a great time practicing my aiming and precision with the rifle. In fact, I still have it to this day and the air rifle still works great. Every once in a while my friends and I will still have a shooting contest. I’m still winning those competitions. 
A Christmas Story (1983) – movie trailer
A Christmas Story is a great family movie that could be enjoyed by the whole family. Most of us have faced at least some of the problems that Ralphie deals with, from the strict teacher to the neighborhood bully to wanting a special gift for Christmas. The movie itself has little foul language (the “mother of all bad words” is merely referenced to and not said), the violence is just a minor fight scene, and the Santa Claus in the department store is certainly one memorable guy. Throw in the neighbor’s hound dogs, the famous Leg Lamp, and the Chinese restaurant workers trying to sing Christmas carols and there you go.
A Christmas Story is a ton of fun from start to finish!
[Ralphie is visiting Santa at the department store, only he can’t remember what he wanted]
Santa Claus – “How about a nice football?”
Ralphie as Adult – [narrating] “Football? Football? What’s a football? With unconscious will my voice squeaked out ‘football’.”
Santa Claus – “Okay, get him out of here.”
Ralphie as Adult – [narrating] “A football? Oh no, what was I doing? Wake up, Stupid! Wake up!”
Ralphie – [Ralphie is shoved down the slide, but he stops himself and climbs back up] “No! No! I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!”
Santa Claus – “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid.”
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This article was originally published at www.chamberofreviews.com on December 17, 2012.