A Christmas Story [1983] (2 discs)

Random Trivia For This Title:

• Director Bob Clark mentions in the commentary on the 2003 DVD that he worked with writer Jean Shepherd for nearly ten years on the concept of A Christmas Story before the film was made.
• According to Peter Billingsley (young Ralphie) in the DVD Commentary, the nonsensical ramblings that Ralphie exclaims while beating up Scott Farkus were scripted, word for word.
• The piece of music that plays after Ralphie says "fudge", and after the lamp breaks for the second time, is the opening of Hamlet by ^[?] Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
• According to Director Bob Clark, Jack Nicholson was given the script and was very much interested in the role of Mr. Parker, "The Old Man". However, Clark didn't learn of this until later and the studio didn't want to pay Nicholson's fee anyway, which would have doubled the budget. Regardless, Clark says that Darren McGavin was still the better choice and was born to play the role.
• Mrs. Parker's memory is correct. The Lone Ranger's nephew, Dan Reid, rode a horse named "Victor". He was the son of the Lone Ranger's horse, Silver.
• Director Cameo: [Bob Clark] Swede, the dim-witted neighbor, who marvels at the Leg Lamp from outside.
• Parts of the movie, including the Christmas tree shopping scene, were filmed in Toronto, Ontario. One of Toronto's trademark red trolleys can be seen driving by the shot of the outside of the tree lot.
• Jean Shepherd's book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, which the film is partly based on, is a collection of short stories that Jean Shepherd wrote for [Playboy] magazine during the 1960s, including the stories about the tongue sticking to the flagpole, and eating Christmas dinner at a Chinese restaurant. The subplot of the mangy dogs constantly harassing The Old Man was taken from another of Mr. Shepherd's short story collections, Wanda Hickey's Night Of Golden Memories and Other Disasters. In that book, the character of Ralph is about 17 years old.
• The people of Cleveland were incredibly cooperative during filming, donating antique vehicles from every corner of the city. These vintage vehicles helped to enhance the authenticity of the production design.
• To find an American city resembling an Indiana town of the 1940s, director Bob Clark sent his location scouts to twenty cities before selecting Cleveland, Ohio, as the site for filming. The street the "Parker's" live in is called "Cleveland Street".