Some Christmas stories are timeless classics. Ebenezer Scrooge learns the meaning of the holiday by way of ghastly visitors. The Grinch goes from Christmas thief to hero of Whoville .
Buddy the Elf spreads Christmas cheer by singing loud for all to hear . And Ralphie Parker yearns for an official Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-Shot Range Model Air Rifle. Yes, the 1983 movie A Christmas Story is an essential entry in the Christmastime cinematic canon.
It’s also a holiday tradition, especially because TNT and TBS have shown the movie in 24-hour marathons regularly on Christmas Eve for years — with millions of TV viewers rooting for Ralphie ( Peter Billingsley ), younger brother Randy (Ian Petrella), and parents Mrs. Parker (Melinda Dillon) and “Old Man” Parker (Darren McGavin). But you might be surprised to know that A Christmas Story wasn’t the first time that Ralphie was seen onscreen, and it certainly wasn’t the last: Max continues the family saga with the 2022 movie A Christmas Story Christmas , with the now-adult Billingsley returning to his childhood role.
As Christmas Story buffs might know by now, the 1983 movie is based on the semi-autobiographical stories of radio personality Jean Shepherd, which he shared through broadcasts from Manhattan’s WOR radio station between 1955 and 1977. Shepherd’s friend Donald Fagen wrote for Slate in 2015 that the stories fell into four categories: Depression-era stories based on Shepherd’s childhood in Hammond, IN; tales.
