A Christmas Story
A Christmas Story is a 1983 Christmas comedy film directed by Bob Clark and based on Jean Shepherd's semi-fictional anecdotes in his 1966 book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, with some elements from his 1971 book Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories and Other Disasters. It stars Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, and Peter Billingsley, and follows a young boy and his family's misadventures during Christmas time in the 1940s. It is the third installment in the Parker Family Saga.
For other uses, see A Christmas Story (disambiguation).A Christmas Story
- Jean Shepherd
- Leigh Brown
- Bob Clark
In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash
by Jean Shepherd
- René Dupont
- Bob Clark
Stan Cole
- Paul Zaza
- Carl Zittrer
MGM/UA Entertainment Co.
- November 18, 1983
94 minutes[1]
- United States
- Canada
English
$3.3 million[1]
$19.2 million[2]
A Christmas Story was released on November 18, 1983, and received positive reviews from critics. Filmed partly in Canada, the film earned two Canadian Genie Awards in 1984. Widely considered a holiday classic in the United States and Canada, it has been shown in a marathon annually on TNT since 1997 and on TBS since 2004 titled "24 Hours of A Christmas Story", consisting of 12 consecutive airings of the film from the evening of Christmas Eve to the evening of Christmas Day.[3] In 2012, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[4][5][6]
The film spawned three sequels. The first, My Summer Story (originally released as It Runs in the Family), also directed by Clark, was released in 1994. The second, entitled A Christmas Story 2, was released straight to DVD in 2012. A third sequel, entitled A Christmas Story Christmas, was released on HBO Max in 2022 and features most of the original cast returning.
Release and reception[edit]
Initially overlooked as a sleeper film,[45] A Christmas Story was released a week before Thanksgiving 1983 to moderate success, earning about $2 million in its first weekend.[46] Film critic Roger Ebert initially gave the film three stars out of four,[47] but later gave the film four stars and added the film to his "Great Movies" list and suggested the film had only modest success because holiday-themed films were not popular at the time.[48] Vincent Canby's mostly negative The New York Times review complained that "the movie's big comic pieces tend only to be exceedingly busy. Though Mr. Billingsley, Mr. Gavin [sic], Miss Dillon and the actress who plays Ralphie's school teacher (Tedde Moore) are all very able, they are less funny than actors in a television situation comedy."[38]
In Canada, the film would go on to win two categories in the 5th Genie Awards, for Director Bob Clark and Best Original Screenplay for the work of Leigh Brown, Bob Clark and Jean Shepherd.[49]
By Christmas 1983, the film was no longer playing at most venues but remained in about a hundred theatres until January 1984.[20] Gross earnings were just over $19.2 million.[46] In the years since, due to television airings and home video release, A Christmas Story has become widely popular and is now an annual Christmas special. The film was produced and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). The rights to the film were acquired by Turner Entertainment Co. after Ted Turner's purchase of MGM's pre-1986 film library. Subsequently, Time Warner purchased Turner Entertainment in 1996 and currently holds rights to the film as Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).
Over the years, the film's critical reputation has grown considerably and it is regarded by some as one of the best films of 1983.[50] Based on 61 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an overall approval rating from critics of 89%, with an average score of 8.4/10. The site's consensus reads: "Both warmly nostalgic and darkly humorous, A Christmas Story deserves its status as a holiday perennial."[51] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 77 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[52] In his movie guide, Leonard Maltin awarded the film a four-star rating, calling the film "delightful" and "truly funny for kids and grown-ups alike" with "wonderful period flavor".[53]
On December 24, 2007, AOL ranked the film their #1 Christmas film of all time.[54] IGN ranked the film the top holiday-themed film of all time.[55] In 2012, a Marist Poll named the film the favorite holiday film in the US.[56] In 2019, a poll commissioned by Tubitv and conducted by Onepoll also ranked the film Best Holiday Movie Ever.[57] A Christmas Story received a nomination for Best Digital – Comedy, and won Best Digital – Animation/Family at the 2023 Golden Trailer Awards.[58][59]
Lawsuit[edit]
In August 2011, Zack Ward, who played Scut Farkus in the film, sued Warner Bros. and Enesco over merchandising for the film after the company authorized a figure resembling his character from the film without his permission.[60] It was revealed that when he signed on to play that character, he did not receive any merchandising rights because of a mishap with his contract.[60] The lawsuit was dropped in January 2012 after Warner Bros. revealed that the figurine showed a "generic face" that has been used on them since 2006 and that statute of limitations had run out.[61]
In December 2012, Ward sued Warner Bros. again over his image after attending the annual Christmas Story charity fundraiser convention in Cleveland in November 2010, where a fan handed him a Christmas Story board game, playing cards, and calendar showing his face.[62] The lawsuit was settled three days later.[63]
Broadcasting and home media release[edit]
Television[edit]
The film first aired on television on premium cable networks The Movie Channel,[64] HBO,[65] and Showtime[66] as early as December 1985, and quickly attracted a growing following. In December 1987, the film premiered on SuperStation WTBS and local television stations.[67] In 1989[68] and 1990,[69] TBS showed it on Thanksgiving night, while in 1991[70] and 1992,[71] they aired it the night after.