A Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation are favs in our house.
I also like Lethal Weapon despite it not being not a Christimas movie. The movie ends on Christmas. It always reminds me of the season.
Here's some A Christmas Story trivia...
To find an American city resembling an Indiana town of the 1940s, director Clark sent his location scouts to twenty cities before selecting Cleveland, Ohio, as the site for filming.
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.
Ralph's school exteriors were filmed at Victoria School in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.
Cameo: ['Jean Shepheard (I)' ] writer/narrator is the irate man waiting in the Santa line at the department store.
Jean Shepheard was hated by the movie studio. It's believed that they withdrew the movie prematurely form movie theaters so they could write-off the movie as a money loser for tax purposes and to hurt Shepheard finacially.
Singer/Songwriter Pepper Mcgowan was an extra during the mall scene
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 Shepherd wrote for "Playboy" magazine during the 1960s.
The character Scut Farkus, played by Zack Ward, was created specifically for the movie, and never appears in the book ("In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash") on which the movie is based. In the book, Grover Dill is the only bully who torments Ralphie. The Scut Farkus character was not created specifically for the movie. He may not have been mentioned in "In God We Trust..." but was introduced in "Wanda Hickey's Night Of Golden Memories." In the opening credits it does mention that the movie is based on "In God We Trust" but several anecdotes from "A Christmas Story" are taken from "Wand Hickey's".
The film's setting is a town in Indiana, but was actually filmed in Cleveland, Ohio. The street the "Parker's" live in is called "Cleveland Street".
The movie was based on a city in Indiana named Hammond. References were made throughout the film to support this claim. Examples: Harding school (on 165th St.) where flick stuck his tongue to the flagpole, Goblatts department store, the mention of Griffith (a city that borders Hammond), Cleveland Ave and other streets that are located in Hammond. Although the movie was not filmed in Hammond the houses and look of the film is very authentic. Jean Shepherd (Writer) grew up in Hammond.
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.
The St. Catharine's Museum owns the original Daisy Red Ryder 200-shot Carbine Action BB Gun and box used in the film, two pairs of Ralphie's glasses including the pair that was smashed, and two scripts.
The Daisy Red Ryder 200-shot Carbine Action Air Rifle had to be created specially for the film, because it never actually existed.
Director Cameo: [Bob Clark] Swede, the dim-witted neighbor, who marvels at the Leg Lamp from outside.
Inspired the creation of "The Wonder Years" (1988).
Some of the "snow" used during the scenes between the kids and the bullies was actually soap flakes. The stars later remarked that they were slipping and sliding during the filming of the scenes.
The film was released just before Thanksgiving and became a surprise hit. By the time Christmas rolled around, the movie had already been pulled from most theaters because it had been "played out". After complaints were lodged at the theater owners and the studio, the film played on select screens until after the first of the year 1984.
Jack Nicholson was considered for the role of Mr. Parker - "The Old Man".
The "major award" was based on a real lamp: an illuminated Nehi logo.
The Radio Orphan Annie decoder pin that Ralphie receives is the 1940 "Speedomatic" model, indicating that the movie takes place in December, 1940. Different decoder badges were made each year from 1935-1940. By 1941, the decoders were made of paper.
The first names of the Parkers are never revealed during the movie.
The Department Store featured in the Santa scene is really Higbee's in Downtown Cleveland. There were no Higbee's in Hammond.
During the filming in downtown Cleveland, the antique automobile club members, whose cars were used, were given a route to follow on Public Square. They were instructed to continue circling the square until otherwise instructed. Road salt was a major concern for the car owners and the cars were pressure-washed after each day's filming and parked underground beneath the Terminal Tower.
When the character of Scut Farkas first appears, the "Wolf" music from Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" plays in the background. The name "Farkas" is derived from the Hungarian word for "wolf."
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