So now the night is winding down. It has been A Christmas Story all day long, like background music. The narration of Jean Shepard who wrote the Book "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash", takes on us on a family vacation to Hohman, Indiana in 1949. The war was over, Americans were making babies, buying cars and houses, and living the American dream. Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley) wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. With every authority at Christmas repeating, "You'll Shoot Your Eye out".
The cast is wonderful, with the toe head blond, be-speckled 10 year old boy retelling the story of his family Christmas. His father is played by the reknown Darrin McGavin, and though McGavin is no longer with us, he will live on as the cursing father of Ralphie Parker. The man enamored with a cheap the looking plastic leg lamp, and net stockings. His mother is Melinda Dillon who I best remember in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. She is the long suffering wife and mother, who never gets a warm bite of food and protects Ralphie from the wrath of his father when he beats up the school bully. She is first to tell Ralphie "you'll shoot your eye out". When he answers her question as to what he wants for Christmas.
His little brother Randy (Ian Pretella) runs along behind him encased in a snow suit that allows no movement not even the dropping of his arms to his sides. Randy won't eat so his mother engages him in eating "like the piggie does" allowing Randy eat off his plate like an piggie, snorting and laughing through dinner. The "old man" as Ralphie refers to his father as, has his head in the paper not seeming to care about the goings on of his family during dinner. His job is sneaking turkey, introducing the word Fragile (pronounced by the old man as Fra Jill lay) to the world and hitting the ailing furnace.
Ralphie has 2 side kicks, Flick (Scott Schwartz) and Schwartz (R.D. Robb). Schwartz is the genius who is "triple dogged dared" to stick his tongue to the flagpole to see what happens. The next scene is Ralphie's teacher, Miss Shields (Tedde Moore) standing out in the falling snow, as the firemen and police men get Schwartz' tongue off the pole. To punish those encouraging Schwartz, Miss Shields assigns a theme paper, "What I want for Christmas". Ralph can't wait to do the paper, fantasizing about an A +++, only to get a C+ and the words "you'll put your eye out".
The 3rd naysayer in the tale is Santa Claus at the department store downtown Hohman.He says this as he uses his foot to push Ralphie down the slide after his visit with Santa. The story is heartwarming with snow scenes that would do any Christmas proud, parents who love their boys, and a dad who gets his son the BB gun. Ralphie also gets footie pajamas that make him look like a girl Easter Bunny. The funniest scene is that his mother makes him try the pj's on. I think personally she took pleasure in seeing him in them. Who could blame her? I just rolled with laughter the first I saw it almost 30 years ago. It is not Christmas without TBS' 24 hour marathon of A Christmas Story.
So Christmas is over this year, we are tired, and I am off to bed, I just wanted to share a piece of my Christmas. My son turned 15 today, it is permit year. Some sane person suggested I hire someone to teach him to drive. I haven't decided, and as I am not the most sane person, it should not come as a shock to anyone. For now I will just say good night, and have a great day tomorrow.
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