History Film / AChristmasStory

* TheForties: The time-period in which this film takes place.[[note]]This brief shot [[http://www.flickstongue.com/pics/022_acs_021_date_2.jpg of a license plate]] suggests that the movie specifically takes place in 1940.[[/note]]

* UnreliableNarrator: Ralphie as an adult will sometimes describe things from the naive perspective of his younger self, such as swearing that Scut Farkus had yellow eyes. Ralphie also describes his childhood terror of being "destroyed" by his father, when throughout the film the father is the more indulging parent, while the mother is the disciplinarian.
** Every night (except for Christmas dinner - turkey, natch) consisted of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and red beets.

*** Turnabout later on, Grover gets a big one when he sees [[TheDragon the muscle]] of their villainous duo is getting the [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown ever-living crap knocked out of him]].

** IT'S A '''CLINKEEEEEERRRR!!'''
** '''NADDAFINGA!!'''
** '''SHADDAP''' RALPHIE!
** DON'T A-NY-BO-DY MOVE! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE! A '''FUSE''' IS '''OUT'''.
** SONSABITCHES!! '''BUMPUSES!!!!'''
** '''TONIGHT! TONIGHT! IT'S COMING TONIGHT! TONIGHT-TONIGHT-TONIGHT! HOT DAMN TONIGHT!'''

* [[JapaneseRanguage Chinese Ranguage]]: The staff caroling in the Chinese restaurant. "Tis the season to be jorry. Fa ra ra ra ra, ra ra, ra, ra". May be an in-universe joke, since the manager, who has a better grasp of pronouncing the English language [[StopBeingStereotypical yells at them for doing it]] and they immediately switch to "Jingre Berrs".

* SymbolSwearing: Captions and subtitles on home video releases translate The Old Man's {{Angrish}} to things like "&$?!#%" and "%?&!#$" rather than the gibberish Darren McGavin said to avoid actually swearing around the child actors.

* NoodleImplements: Admittedly minor, but it's a "''Red Ryder'' carbine-action, 200-shot, range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and '''this thing that tells time'''". What kind of ''thing''? Is it a clock or a sundial?

* NoodleImplements: Admittedly minor, but it's a "Red Ryder carbine-action, 200-shot, range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and a '''thing that tells time'''". What kind of ''thing''? Is it a clock or a sundial?

Nine-year-old Ralphie Parker (Creator/PeterBillingsley) wants one thing and ''only'' one thing for Christmas: a BB gun. It's not just any BB gun he wants, either; his heart is set on an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle, with a compass in the stock (and [[BuffySpeak this thing which tells time]]). But his mother, his teacher, and even the [[MallSanta department store Santa Claus]] inform him, in an ever-deepening refrain, "You'll shoot your eye out!" In the meantime, we are treated to a number of entertaining episodes involving Ralphie, his parents (Creator/DarrenMcGavin and Creator/MelindaDillon), his kid brother Randy (Ian Petrella), and various other inhabitants of Hohman, Indiana.

* MeaningfulGift: Ralphie spent the entire movie desperate for just one gift -- a ''Red Ryder'' B.B. Gun. When Christmas comes, he gets a couple of things that he likes, not the gun, which he reluctantly accepts when sitting with his parents. Then his dad points to one final present hidden behind the desk; the B.B. Gun, because he had one when he was a kid. Both of them light up with childlike joy when he's opening the box, and what makes this even more special is that his dad is the only one he ''didn't'' talk about the gun to.

This movie, which was primarily drawn from material in Shepherd's 1966 book ''In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash'', has come to be embraced as a perennial holiday favorite. It eventually spawned a play, as well as such sort-of sequels as the made-for-TV ''The Star-Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski'' (1985) and ''Film/OllieHopnoodlesHavenOfBliss'' (1988) and the theatrical feature ''Film/ItRunsInTheFamily1994'' (1994).[[note]]not to be confused with the Creator/{{Kirk|Douglas}}/Creator/MichaelDouglas collaboration)[[/note]] None of the original film's cast members appear in any of the others save for actress Tedde Moore (Miss Shields), who appears in the 1994 film.

This movie, which was primarily drawn from material in Shepherd's 1966 book ''In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash'', has come to be embraced as a perennial holiday favorite. It eventually spawned a play, as well as such sort-of sequels as the made-for-TV ''The Star-Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski'' (1985) and ''Film/OllieHopnoodlesHavenOfBliss'' (1988) and the theatrical feature ''Film/ItRunsInTheFamily'' (1994).[[note]]not to be confused with the Creator/{{Kirk|Douglas}}/Creator/MichaelDouglas collaboration)[[/note]] None of the original film's cast members appear in any of the others save for actress Tedde Moore (Miss Shields), who appears in the 1994 film.

This movie, which was primarily drawn from material in Shepherd's 1966 book ''In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash'', has come to be embraced as a perennial holiday favorite. It eventually spawned a play, as well as such sort-of sequels as the made-for-TV ''The Star-Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski'' (1985) and ''Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss'' (1988) and the theatrical feature ''Film/ItRunsInTheFamily'' (1994).[[note]]not to be confused with the Creator/{{Kirk|Douglas}}/Creator/MichaelDouglas collaboration)[[/note]] None of the original film's cast members appear in any of the others save for actress Tedde Moore (Miss Shields), who appears in the 1994 film.

A DirectToVideo sequel, called – what else? – ''A Christmas Story 2'', was released in 2012. (You can watch the trailer for it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bed8rNx-Sw here]]). A ScreenToStageAdaptation of the first movie went to Broadway that same year, followed by another national tour the next holiday season. A live telecast of the musical aired on Creator/{{Fox}} in December 2017. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Story:_The_Musical Information can be found on]] Website/ThatOtherWiki, of course.

[[folder:''A Christmas Story 2'']]
* ContinuityNod: Plenty to the first movie, the "Oh Fudge" slow motion, dealing with yet another rude department store Santa, an embarrassing outfit from their aunt, and of course, the infamous leg lamp.
* {{Determinator}}: Despite numerous setbacks, Ralphie does his best to try to earn the money for the damages to the car. [[spoiler:It pays off in the end, when the car dealer lets him off the hook for exactly this reason.]]
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Raphie rapidly banging his cymbals after smelling Drucilla's hair.
* ImagineSpot: Not as frequent as the first movie, but Ralphie has at least two of them.
* MallSanta: Even worse than the first film; Ralphie calls him out on it.
* RidingIntoTheSunset: Ralphie and Drucilla
* StalkerWithACrush: Ralphie has a crush on a girl named Drucilla. One disturbing facet about this is that he also brings up her lavender scented shampoo. Errr... Ewww
* StockSoundEffect: ''Baby Kate Cry'': Variant: A group of people were rushing trying to get attention at once, including one of the women with her baby in a basket, which was crying until Ralphie wrapped it as a present.
* TimeSkip: Six years after the first movie.
* WorkOffTheDebt: The main conflict of the movie. Ralphie accidentally damages a car while messing around in it and trying to rise the money to get it repaired.
[[/folder]]

* CompetitionCouponMadness: In order to get the coveted Little Orphan Annie decoder ring -- which is required to decode the show's secret message -- Ralphie must send in an ungodly number of Ovaltine labels. He collects these labels religiously, drinking Ovaltine far past the point where he's come to hate the stuff, until finally he's collected enough and sends away for the decoder ring. When the ring arrives in the mail, he uses it to decode the secret message, which reads: [[spoiler:Be sure to drink your Ovaltine]].

* ClothesForChristmasCringe: Ralphie cringes at the pink bunny suit his Aunt Clara sends him for Christmas.

--->'''Miss Shields:''' ''(after Flick gets his tongue stuck to the flagpole'') Now, I know that some of you put Flick up to this, but he has refused to say who. But those who did it know their blame, and I'm sure that the guilt you feel is far worse than any punishment you might receive. Now, don't you feel terrible? Don't you feel remorse for what you have done? Well, that's all I'm going to say about poor Flick.
--->'''Adult Ralphie:''' Adults ''loved'' to say things like that, but kids knew better. We knew darn well it was always better not to get caught.

** After having his mouth washed out with soap, Ralphie has a daydream where he's blinded from soap poisoning. When he reveals the cause of his blindness to his parents, they amply [[TearsOfRemorse break down and cry]].
-->'''The Old Man:''' I told you not to use Lifebuoy!

** The boys, when they hear Scut's menacing laugh.

* PretentiousPronunciation: When Dad reads the outside of the crate containing his newly-arrived major award:
--> '''Dad:''' Ah. "Fra-gee-lay"...that must be Italian.
--> '''Mom:''' I think that says "fragile", honey.

* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: Everyone, from Ralphie teacher's to the crass mall Santa warns Ralphie, "You'll shoot your eye out!"

** Subverted Schwartz also. He doesn't suffer consequences for triple dog daring Flick into getting his tongue stuck to the flagpole since Flick refused to tell the teacher who put him up to it (though it seems like the teacher knows it had to be either him or Ralphie). On the other hand, while it is unconnected to the previous incident, Schwartz later gets an unexpected beating from his mother when [[spoiler:Ralphie falsely tells his mother that he learned the F word from Schwartz instead of his father, which also makes his father a KarmaHoudini. Then again, his Major Award was destroyed and the Christmas turkey was eaten by the neighbour's dogs.]]

* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: Everyone, from Ralphie teacher to the crass mall Santa warns Ralphie, "You'll shoot your eye out!"

* AdultsAreUseless:
** Even the callous store Santa at Higbee's makes a point of warning Ralphie, "[[RunningGag You'll shoot your eye out!]]" with a BB gun.
** While the kids are aware that their parents and teachers care for and love them, they also know there are some things you do as kids that they'd best not find out about.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Mom Parker apparently overlooks the {{Angrish}} Ralphie uttered when fighting Scut Farkus, but she draws the line when Ralphie utters the "F,-word", washing his mouth out with soap and demanding to know where Ralphie learned that word.

* AmbiguousTimePeriod: The year the when story takes place is never explicitly identified. It's clearly toward the tail end of TheGreatDepression, there aren't any references to UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, and radio is still the dominant broadcast medium. The presence of the characters from ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' (released in the autumn of 1939) at the department store probably tilts it toward 1939 or 1940, and a few other vague hints suggest 1940 (like the ComicStrip/LittleOrphanAnnie decoder pin being a 1940 model), although there's some AnachronismStew as well, and you can also make a case for 1945 (after the war's end, but before the introduction of network television). Meanwhile, ''Film/AChristmasStoryChristmas'' is set in 1973, which ''is'' explicitly identified as being 33 years later (thereby placing this film in 1940).

Nine-year-old Ralphie Parker (Creator/PeterBillingsley) wants one thing and ''only'' one thing for Christmas: a BB gun. It's not just any BB gun he wants, either; his heart is set on an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle, with a compass in the stock (and [[BuffySpeak this thing which tells time]]). But his mother, his teacher, and even the [[MallSanta department store Santa Claus]] inform him, in an ever-deepening refrain, "You'll shoot your eye out!" In the meantime, we are treated to a number of amusing episodes involving Ralphie, his parents (Creator/DarrenMcGavin and Creator/MelindaDillon), his kid brother Randy (Ian Petrella), and various other inhabitants of Hohman, Indiana.

The film, which was primarily drawn from material in Shepherd's 1966 book ''In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash'', has come to be embraced as a perennial holiday favorite. It eventually spawned a play, as well as such sort-of sequels as the made-for-TV ''The Star-Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski'' (1985) and ''Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss'' (1988) and the theatrical ''Film/ItRunsInTheFamily'' (1994).[[note]]not to be confused with the Creator/{{Kirk|Douglas}}/Creator/MichaelDouglas collaboration)[[/note]] None of the original film's cast members appear in any of the others, except for actress Tedde Moore (Miss Shields), who appears in the 1994 film.

** Even the callous store Santa at Higbee's makes the effort to warn Ralphie, "[[RunningGag You'll shoot your eye out!]]" with a BB gun.

** Even the callous mall Santa makes the effort to warn Ralphie, "[[RunningGag You'll shoot your eye out!]]" with a BB gun.

* AllThereInTheScript: The shooting script for the film reveals that the Old Man's first name is Frank. No first name is provided for Mrs Parker. The book ''A Christmas Story Treasury'' by Tyler Schwarz includes a facsimile of the Western Union telegram announcing that the Old Man is the recipient of a major award. The telegram is addressed to Frank Parker.