Is there anyone in the U.S. – heck – is there anyone on the world that hasn’t seen the holiday comedy A Christmas Story at least once? Based on the essays of noted humorist Jean Shepherd (who also services as the movie’s narrator, it seems to be on a perpetual loop during December at all kinds of cable & streaming services.
But we bet there are still a few things about this perennial classic you may not know
The real inspiration for that leg lamp (“It’s a major award!”) was an old ad for Nehi soda pop (also a favorite of Radar O’Reilly on M*A*S*H). For years, the soda featured a woman’s gams next to their bottle of pop (“knee-high,” get it?). Jean Shepherd remembered those ads vividly and a pop culture icon was born.
Jack Nicholson nearly played Ralphie’s Old Man. Jack was sent the script as he was director Bob Clark’s first choice. Nicholson liked what he read and agreed to do the film, but his asking price would have single-handedly doubled the movie’s budget, so the producers took a pass and the part went to Darren McGaven. Don’t feel bad for Jack. He was also offered a part in Terms of Endearment at the same time and that part snagged him his second Oscar. Nice, but no leg lamp, am I right?
Ralphie helped kick off the MCU. As Peter Billingsley grew up, acting parts became scarcer, so he channeled his efforts behind the scenes and became an established Hollywood producer. And one of the films he executive produced was Iron Man, the very first entry in what became known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you look closely, he also appears as one of the scientists at Tony Stark’s company (a role he reprised in Spiderman: Far From Home.)
Author Shepherd used his own middle name in the film. Jean’s middle name is Parker, so he used that as the family name in the film because the story is based on his memories of his own family.
Melinda Dillon’s reaction in the restaurant is not acting – it’s genuine. Playing Ralphie’s mother, Dillon was deliberately given a wrong script for that scene because the director wanted to see what her unrehearsed reaction would be when she saw the duck served at the table with its head attached. Her genuine reaction is what you see in the finished film.
There really was a “Little Orphan Annie” decoder. Born in the funny papers, Annie was also an early radio star, just like it’s shown in the movie. However, the secret messages her fans could decipher with that secret radio giveaway were never insipid sales plugs for Ovaltine.
Peter Billingsley also appeared in another holiday classic. Next time you watch Elf with Will Ferrell, take a good look at Ming Ming, the lead toymaker – that’s Ralphie himself – Peter Billingsley all grown up.
No tongues were harmed during the filming of A Christmas Story. That famous flagpole scene was shot using concealed suction tubes to make it appear that Ralphie’s friend had his tongue stuck to the frozen flagpole.
