A Christmas Story

Director: Bob Clark

Overview

Nine years after the Yuletide slasher flick Black Christmas, Porky's director Bob Clark once again took on the holiday genre, switching from gasps to laughs with A Christmas Story. Adapted from a memoir by humorist Jean Shepherd (who narrates), the film centers on Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley), a young boy living in 1940s Indiana, desperately yearning for a Red Rider BB gun for Christmas. Despite protests from his mother (Melinda Dillon) that he'll shoot his eye out, Ralphie persists, unsuccessfully trying to enlist the assistance of both his teacher and Santa Claus. All the while, Ralphie finds himself dealing with the constant taunts of a pair of bullies and trying to not get in the middle of a feud between his mother and father (Darren McGavin) regarding a sexy lamp.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/01/2007
UPC:	0012569796287
Original Release:	1983
Rating:	PG
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:38:00
Sales rank:	1,743

Special Features

Closed Caption; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jean Shepherd	Narrator,Voices
Peter Billingsley	Ralphie Parker
Darren McGavin	Mr. Parker
Melinda Dillon	Mrs. Parker
Ian Petrella	Randy Parker
Scott Schwartz	Flick
R.D. Robb	Schwartz
Tedde Moore	Miss Shields
Yano Anaya	Grover Dill
Zack Ward	Scut Farcus, The Bully
Jeff Gillen	Santa Claus
Tommy Wallace	Boy in School,Boy in School
Colin Fox	Ming the Merciless
Paul Hubbard	Flash Gordon
Leslie Carlson	Tree Man,Actor
John Wong	Chinese Father,Waiter
Jim Hunter	Freight Man
Fred Own	Waiter #2
Patty Johnson	Head Elf
Drew Hocevar	Male Elf
David Svoboda	Goggles
Chad Dowdell	Sleeping Child (uncredited)
Dwayne McLean	Black Bart
Helen E. Kaider	Wicked Witch
Rocco Bellusci	Street Kid
Fred Lee	Waiter
Dan Ma	Waiter
Carl Zittrer	Composer

Technical Credits

Bob Clark

Leigh Brown

Jean Shepherd

Bob Clark	Director,Screenwriter,Producer
Leigh Brown	Screenwriter
Jean Shepherd	Screenwriter
Rene Dupont	Producer
Dino Pigat	Sound/Sound Designer
David Evans	Sound Editor

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Christmas Story
1. Logos/Main Title [3:48]
2. Look! Red Ryder! [2:21]
3. Parents One, Kids Zip [2:39]
4. A Hero's Dream [2:11]
5. The Blasted Furnace [1:22]
6. Randy's Wrap Up [3:49]
7. Tongue-Tied [5:33]
8. A Yellow-Eyed Bully [2:51]
9. "I Won! I Won!" [1:39]
10. How Do Piggies Eat? [2:08]
11. A Leg of Lamp? [5:53]
12. An A+ Masterpiece [2:40]
13. Tree Bargaining [1:55]
14. Jingle Bells Flat [3:16]
15. The Soap Connoisseur [2:23]
16. A Blind Fantasy [2:03]
17. A Cute Fruit Bribe [1:17]
18. The Secret Circle [3:47]
19. A Fake Break? [3:37]
20. C+ Nightmare [1:32]
21. Bye-Bye, Bully! [2:49]
22. Mom's In Charge [4:00]
23. Parading To Santa [5:13]
24. Slippery Santa Slide [2:52]
25. "Don't Anybody Move!" [1:54]
26. Snowy Morning, Wow! [3:07]
27. Pink Bunny Blues [2:37]
28. A Dream Comes True [3:04]
29. Bull's-Eye Glasses [2:36]
30. Turkey Thieves [2:09]
31. Chinese Turkey? [2:01]
32. After Christmas Joy [4:06]

Menu

Disc #1 -- Christmas Story
   Scene Selections
   Language Selections
      Spoken Languages
         English
         French
         Spanish
      Captions & Subtitles
         English Captions For the Hearing Impaired
            On
         Subtitles
            English
            French
            Spanish
            Subtitles: None
   Theatrical Trailer
   Play

Editorial Reviews

Marketed somewhat confusingly as a family film by the director of Porky's, Bob Clark's A Christmas Story took a while to catch on. But video and cable have conspired to boost its reputation into that of a latter-day holiday classic, and deservedly so. Its secret may be its ability to appeal to both children and adults. Clark wonderfully captures both Jean Shepherd's period detail (that's not just any BB-gun, it's a Red Ryder BB Gun) and, even more importantly, his ability to tell the story from a child's point of view. The film is plenty nostalgic, but it also captures the frustration and occasionally the outright terror of childhood and the absurdity of adult behavior. Of course, the earthy, bawdy humor doesn't hurt nor does the fact that Shepherd himself provides the near-constant narration.

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