For many people, a familiar pastime in the weeks leading up to major winter holidays is gathering with family members and watching holiday movies, be they in a theater or on television. During the month of December, as has become tradition, the Falls Free Press will reprise “The 12 Films of Christmas,” focusing on new holiday movies for the year 2022—a year that can still do with plenty of peace and joy. We will review each film, whether naughty or nice, and let you know where to watch.
“Across Hohman Avenue and State Street, the gloomy main thoroughfares–drifted with snow that had lain for months and would remain until well into Spring, ice encrusted, frozen drifts along the curbs–were strung strands of green and red Christmas bulbs, and banners that snapped and cracked in the gale. From the streetlights hung plastic ivy wreaths surrounding three-dimensional Santa Claus faces.”
This passage from author Jean Shepherd’s short story Duel in the Snow, or Red Ryder Nails the Cleveland Street Kid, published by Playboy magazine in 1965, and later incorporated into the collection In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash would lead right into the opening lines of a Christmas classic that was nearly unknown. A Christmas Story, directed by Bob Clark– a director known most prominently at the time for Porky’s, was based on Shepherd’s radio stories, for which Clark had initially heard while driving to pick up a date. Considering Clark’s previous work, film studios were less than eager to finance the story, other than MGM, who only agreed on the condition that he also make a Porky’s sequel. Nevertheless, with word-of-mouth commotion about Ralphie and his Red Ryder BB Gun or the Old Man and the soft glow of electric sex that gleamed from his major award, MGM did not anticipate it doing well at the box office and did not keep it in theaters long. It wasn’t until the TNT network began showing marathons of the film in 1988 that the Parker family became holiday favorites.
This season Warner Brothers returns to the Parker family 30-some years later in A Christmas Story Christmas as Ralphie, now a father of two kids like his old man, attempts to get his science fiction novel published, despite getting turned down by every major publisher who’s seen it. While awaiting his parent’s visit for Christmas, he receives a call from his mother that the Old Man has passed away. Returning to Hohman for the funeral, Ralphie and his family would come to spend Christmas that year with their grandmother, as the kids learn to deal with many of the same problems Ralphie faced as a child in the 1940s– the town bullies, the weird Higbee’s Santa, and even the Bumpus hounds. They also find joy in the town their father grew up in, such as the sparkle of the store displays, having snowball fights in the park, and decorating the Christmas tree.
Despite reusing several of the original film’s memorable gimmicks– like Ralphie attempting to bribe a publisher with Christmas treats, or the triple-dog dare– A Christmas Story Christmas has more than enough unused material from Shepherd’s stories to make it a fresh adventure. Peter Billingsly returns as Ralphie, as well as producer, alongside Scott Schwartz and R.D. Robb as Flick and Schwartz, with brief appearances by Zak Ward as Scut Farkus and Ian Petrella as Ralphie’s little brother Randy. The story weaves the death of Darren McGavin seamlessly, serving as a tribute to the late actor rather than a role to be exchanged. Julie Hagarty however, steps into the role of Mrs. Parker, taking over for Melinda Dillon who retired from acting. Hagarty’s performance is one that can easily be attributed to Dillon though, making some viewers question whether they are still watching the same actress.
As for the Parker’s home, known to many in Northeast Ohio as residing on West 11th Street in Cleveland, fans may recognize both the exterior and interior of the house, which shockingly was not filmed in Cleveland. Instead, exact replicas of the street and inside of the house were commissioned to create the exact feel of the original film, something the 2012 direct-to-dvd A Christmas Story 2 failed to consider. Thankfully, said sequel, both a writing and acting catastrophe, has been wiped from memory by the new film.
While it may never become TNT’s next 24-hour binge, as an homage to the original film A Christmas Story Christmas is the perfect visit with the Parker family, young and old, reminding audiences that the holiday season doesn’t have to be perfect to have happy memories.
A Christmas Story Christmas is available to stream on HBO Max.
