On this day in movie and novel history - A Christmas Story (1983)

A Christmas Story

directed by Bob Clark,

written by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Bob Clark,

based on the book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, by Jean Shepherd,

was released in the United States on November 18, 1983.

Narrated by Jean Shepherd.

Music by Paul Zaza and Carl Zittrer.

Cast:

Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, Scott Schwartz, Jean Shepherd, Ian Petrella, Tedde Moore, R.D. Robb, Zack Ward, Yano Anaya, Jeff Gillen, Peter Billingsley, Fox, Paul Hubbard, Leslie Carlson, Jim Hunter, Patty Johnson, Drew Hocevar, David Svoboda, Dwayne McLean, Helen E. Kaider, John Wong, Johan Sebastian Wong, Fred Lee, Dan Ma, Rocco Bellusci, Tommy Wallace, Court Benson, Leigh Brown, Bob Clark, Giada Dobrzenska, Dave Duff, Don Geyer, Kathryn Hayzer, Gary Jones, John Kennedy, Bill Kravitz, Jordan-Patrick Marcantonio, Julie Matthews, Christine Powrie, Quinn Smith, Kristephan Warren-Stevens.

This is one of my favorite Christmas movies…much more enjoyable when I get to catch a showing or two on Christmas Day.

We had the opportunity to visit the Christmas Story house in Cleveland a few years back – fun!

**

Recommended reading:

In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash

by Jean Shepherd.

Filmed as A Christmas Story (1983), directed by Bob Clark.

Published by Broadway Books.

Published 1966.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0385021747

ISBN-13: 978-0385021746

Description:

A collection of humorous and nostalgic Americana stories – the beloved, bestselling classics that inspired the movie A Christmas Story.

Before Garrison Keillor and Spalding Gray there was Jean a master monologist and writer who spun the materials of his all-American childhood into immensely resonant – and utterly hilarious – works of comic art. In God We Trust All Others Pay Cash represents one of the peaks of his achievement, a compound of irony, affection, and perfect detail that speaks across generations.

In God We Trust, Shepherd's wildly witty reunion with his Indiana hometown, disproves the adage “You can never go back.” Bending the ear of Flick, his childhood-buddy-turned-bartender, Shepherd recalls passionately his genuine Red Ryder BB gun, confesses adolescent failure in the arms of Junie Jo Prewitt, and relives a story of man against fish that not even Hemingway could rival. From pop art to the World's Fair, Shepherd's subjects speak with a universal irony and are deeply and unabashedly grounded in American Midwestern life, together rendering a wonderfully nostalgic impression of a more innocent era when life was good, fun was clean, and station wagons roamed the earth.

A comic genius who bridged the gap between James Thurber and David Sedaris, Shepherd may have accomplished for Holden, Indiana, what Mark Twain did for Hannibal, Missouri.

“Shepherd has a fine eye for absurdity, for the madness and idiocy in all of us.” – Best Sellers.

Born on this day – Bob Clark

Director of one of my favorite Christmas movies ever, A Christmas Story (1983)

Bob Clark

Director

Writer

Producer

Actor

August 5, 1939 – April 4, 2007

 

#BobClark #AChristmasStory #August 5

Born on this Day - Jean Shepherd:

Jean Shepherd

Writer

Actor

Humorist

Radio and TV personality

July 26, 1921 – October 16, 1999

Credits:

Books:

A Christmas Story (2003); A Fistful of Fig Newtons (1981); In God We Trust / aka In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash (1966); The America of George Ade (1960); The Ferrari in the Bedroom (1972); The Phantom of the Open Hearth (1978); Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories (1970).

Author of In God We trust: All Others Pay Cash.

Filmed as A Christmas Story in 1983.

Albums:

Jean Shepherd – Into the Unknown With Jazz Music (1955); Jean Shepherd and Other Foibles (1959); Jean Shepherd Reads Poems of Robert Service (1975); “Live” At The Limelight (1965); The Declassified Jean Shepherd (1971); Will Failure Spoil Jean Shepherd? (1960).

Movies and television:

A Christmas Story / Voice-over narration (1983); A Christmas Story 2 (2012); A Christmas Story Christmas (2022); A Christmas Story Live! (2017); A Fine Madness (1966); A Night at the Movies: Merry Christmas! (2011); America (1971); American Playhouse (1982–1985); Babe Ruth (1998); Chicago White Sox a Visual History (1987); Christmas Unwrapped: The History of Christmas (1997); Ernie Kovacs: Television's Original Genius (1982); Flickers (1980); Jean Shepherd on Route 1... and Other Major Thoroughfares (1984); Late Night with David Letterman (1982); Lenny Bruce: Without Tears (1972); Light Fantastic (1964); My Summer Story (1994); NET Playhouse (1970); New Faces (1954); No Whistles, Bells, or Bedlam (1973); Norman Rockwell: An American Portrait (1987); Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss (1988); Sesame Street (1976–2000); Shadows (1958); Shepherd's Pie (1978); Summer Incident (1960); The David Frost Show (1972); The Dennis Wholey Show (1969); The Driving Scene (1969); The Great American Road Racing Festival (1985); The Joe Franklin Show (1972); The Merv Griffin Show (1966–1969); The Phantom of the Open Hearth (1976 / 1978); The Radio Broadcast Vault (2019); The Tonight Show (1962); The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar (1961–1962); Tiki Tiki (1971); Village Sunday (1960); Visions (1976).

#JeanShepherd #AChristmasStory #YoullShootYourEyeOut #Ralphie #July26

Born on this day – Darren McGavin:

Darren McGavin

Actor

May 7, 1922 – February 25, 2006

Credits:

13th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2007); 43: The Richard Petty Story (1972); A Bond of Iron (1979); A Christmas Story (1983); A Perfect Stranger (1994); A Song to Remember (1945); A Word to the Wives... (1955); African Gold (1965); Airport '77 (1977); Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955); American Reunion (1976); Anatomy of a Crime (1969); Anyone for Tennyson? The Master Poets Collection (1977); Armstrong Circle Theatre (1952–1956); Around the World in 80 Days (1989); Banyon (1971); Beau James (1957); Ben Casey (1964); Berlin Affair (1970); Bicentennial Minutes (1976); Billy Madison (1995); Blood and Concrete (1991); Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1964); Bracken's World (1970); Brinks: The Great Robbery (1976); Buckskin (1959); Bullet for a Badman (1964); Burke's Law (1995); By Dawn's Early Light (1990); Cade's County (1971); Campbell Summer Soundstage (1954); Captain America (1990); Cavalcade of Champions (1973); CBS Summer Playhouse (1987); Celebrity Doubletalk (1967); Celebrity Sweepstakes (1975–1977); Child in the Night (1990); Christmas Unwrapped: The History of Christmas (1997); Cimarron Strip (1967); Civil Wars (1992); Climax! (1956); Confidential for Women (1966); Counter-Attack (1945); Court Martial (1966); Crime Photographer (1951–1952); Custer (1967); Danger (1952–1954); Dead Heat (1988); Death Valley Days (1961); Decision (1958); Derby (1995); Dinah! (1975); Disneyland '59 (1959); Don Adams' Screen Test (1975); Donovan's Kid (1979); Dr. Kildare (1965); Entertainment Tonight (1986); Eye Guess (1966); Fallen Angels (1995); Family Feud / All-Star Family Feud Special (1980); Fantasy Island (1978); Fear (1946); Firebird 2015 AD (1981); Flag (1988); Freedom to Speak (1983); From the Hip (1987); Fudge (1995); Games People Play (1980); Gargoyles (1995); Goodyear Playhouse (1952); Grace Under Fire (1996); Gunsmoke (1965–1966); Gypsy (1965); Hangar 18 (1980); Happy Hell Night (1991); Happy Mother's Day, Love George (1973); Hay que matar a B. (1974); Here Comes the Judge (1972); Here's Hollywood (1960); Highway to Heaven (1988); Hollywood and the Stars (1964); Home Again (1979); Hot Lead and Cold Feet (1978); I Remember You (1949); Ike: The War Years (1979); Images of Indians: How Hollywood Stereotyped the Native American (2003); In the Name of Blood (1989); Inherit the Wind (1988); It Takes Two (1969–1970); It's Always Jan (1955); It's Your Bet (1970–1973); Janet Dean, Registered Nurse (1954); Joanne Carson's VIPs (1973); Kiss and Tell (1945); Kojak: It's Always Something (1990); Kolchak: Crackle of Death (1974); Kolchak: Demon and the Mummy (1975); Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974–1975); Kraft Theatre / The Philco Television Playhouse (1953); Kraft Theatre / The United States Steel Hour (1962); Lamp Unto My Feet (1951–1952); Law and Order (1976); Love for Rent (1979); Love, American Style / Love and the Fly (1970); Magnum, P.I. (1981); Mama (1954); Mannix (1970); Mastergate (1992); Matinee Theatre (1956); Matt Lincoln (1970); Mike Hammer (1958–1959); Millennium (1997); Miracles & Other Wonders (1992); Missing Links (1964); Mission Mars (1968); Mission: Impossible (1967); Monsters (1989); Mooch (1974); Mr. I. Magination (1949–1952); Mrs. Pollifax-Spy (1971); Murder, She Wrote (1992); Murphy Brown (1989–1992); My Wicked, Wicked Ways: The Legend of Errol Flynn (1985); Mysteries of the Ancient World (1994); NBC Experiment in Television (1968); Nero Wolfe (1981); Night Stalker (2005); No Deposit, No Return (1976); Not Until Today (1979); Omnibus / Jack Be Normal / The Virtuous Island / The Man in the Cool, Cool Moon (1953–1955); Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law (1974); Password (1961–1974); Perfect Harmony (1991); Philbin's People (1970); Play Your Hunch (1960); Playdate (1963); Police Story (1974); Ponds Theater (1954); Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker (1991); Producers' Showcase (1955); Pros & Cons (1999); Purex Summer Specials (1962); Queen for a Day (1951); Raw Deal (1986); Rawhide (1961); Riverboat (1959–1961); Robert Montgomery Presents (1956); Route 66 (1961); Sam Cade (1972); Shaft (1974); She Wouldn't Say Yes (1945); Short Short Dramas (1953); Sibs (1992); Sisters (1995); Small & Frye (1983); Small Time (1996); Something Evil (1972); Stagecoach West (1961); Still Waters Burn (2008); Studio One (1951–1958); Summertime (1955); uspense (1952–1954); Talent Scouts (1962); Tales from the Darkside (1985); Tales from the Hollywood Hills: A Table at Ciro's (1987); Tales of the Unexpected (1983); Tales of Tomorrow (1952); Tattletales (1975–1977); The 13th Annual CableACE Awards (1992); The 14th Annual Tony Awards (1960); The 43rd Annual Writers Guild Awards (1991); The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made (2004); The 50th Anniversary Gala for USC's Film Department (1979); The 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2006); The Alcoa Hour (1956–1957); The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1964); The American Clock (1993); The Annual Friars Club Tribute Presents a Salute to Barbara Walters (1994); The Arthur Murray Party (1960); The Baron and the Kid (1984); The Bob Wilkins Lost Film Collection (2009); The Bold Ones: The Lawyers (1971); The Case Against Brooklyn (1958); The Challenge (1970); The Challengers (1970); The Commish (1995); The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955); The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Telly Savalas (1974); The Death of Me Yet (1971); The Defenders (1963–1964); The Delicate Delinquent (1957); The Diamond Trap (1988); The Doctors and the Nurses (1964); The Evil Touch (1973–1974); The Face Is Familiar (1966); The Felony Squad (1966); The Forty-Eight Hour Mile (1970); The General Motors Playwrights Theater (1991); The Ghouls (2003); The Great Christmas Movies (1998); The Great Sioux Massacre (1965); The Greatest Show You Never Saw (1996); The Hitchhiker (1985); The Incredible Discovery of Noah's Ark (1993); The Islanders (1961); The Joey Bishop Show (1968–1969); The Legend of Jud Starr (1967); The Love Boat (1980–1981); The Magical World of Disney (1968–1982); The Making of 'Billy Madison' (1995); The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1967); The Man with the Golden Arm (1955); The Martian Chronicles (1980); The Match Game (1963); The Merv Griffin Show (1971–1972); The Mike Douglas Show (1968–1977); The Movie Game (1971); The Name of the Game (1968–1970); The Natural (1984); The New Steve Allen Show (1964); The Night Stalker (1972); The Night Strangler (1973); The Object Is (1964); The O'Briens (1985); The Outsider (1967–1969); The Poetry Hall of Fame (1993); The Price Is Right (1964); The Return of Marcus Welby, M.D. (1984); The Revlon Mirror Theater (1953); The Rogues (1965); The Rookies (1972); The Six Million Dollar Man (1973); The Telltale Clue (1954); The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show (1959); The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1963–1968); The Tribe (1970); The Users (1978); The Virginia Graham Show (1971); The Virginian (1964–1967); The Web (1952); The X-Files (1998–1999); To Tell the Truth (1961–1965); Today (1968); Touched by an Angel (1997); Turk 182 (1985); Unclaimed Fortunes (1989); V.I.P.-Schaukel (1971); Waikiki (1980); Welcome to the Basement (2019); What's My Line? (1961–1973); Witchcraft (1961); Worlds Beyond (1986); You Don't Say (1968); Your Next Job (1945); Zero to Sixty (1978).

#AChristmasStory #NightStalker #YoullShootYourEyeOut