5 Things That Make A Christmas Story Timeless

As I mentioned in the last post, my wife and I watch pretty much the same Christmas movies every year.  We'll try a new one every once in a while, for instance we watched Four Christmases the other night.  Not sure that one will make the yearly rotation, though there were some amusing moments, but I can only take so much Vince Vaughn in any 12 month period.  One of our, as well as any other self-respecting Christmas movie aficionado's, favorite is A Christmas Story.  Based on Jean Shepherd's awesomely titled novel of his 1940's Indiana childhood In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash, and directed by Bob Clark, A Christmas Story is a nostalgic look back at one boys longing for the perfect Christmas gift.  But why am I telling you this?  Everybody's seen it, right?  Right?!

One of the reasons its such a classic is that we can all identify with Ralphie and his covetous desire for the official Red Ryder carbine-action, two hundred shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time.  We've all wanted something so badly for Christmas--and not just as kids--that it consumed our entire being, penetrated every ywaking thought and dream, and rendered any alternative no matter how thoughtful and noteworthy, even a homemade pink bunny suit, utterly lacking.

Here are five things that make A Christmas Story so timeless....

1.  It's a great period piece

I first saw A Christmas Story in the mid '80's when I was probably eight or nine, and even though the movie was released only three or four years prior to that, for a long time I thought it had actually been made in the time and place it portrays, early 1940's Indiana.  A lot of period movies try too hard to look the part and as a result everything ends up looking too polished, too perfect.  Well, save for perhaps the "major award," nothing looks polished or perfect in A Christmas Story.  On the contrary, you can almost hear the creak in their wooden floors, or smell the "whiff of ozone" when the sparks fly from the Christmas tree lights.  The costumes and sets are all perfect because they aren't.  They look lived in and used.  You get a real feel for the era and what a cold Midwestern Christmas would've looked like and what a malfunctioning coal furnace would've smelled like.

2.  The Old Man

Peter Billingsley's Ralphie is the obvious protagonist, but Darrn McGavin as the Old Man really steals the show.  Whether he's battling the furnace or the Oldsmobile that would freeze up in the middle of winter on the equator, his tapestry of swearing is delivered with the perfect combination of righteous indignation and old school working man angst.  McGavin delivers in all his big scenes, from his pride at winning his indescribably beautiful major award, to his frustrated rage when he learns there is no glue, to his utter joy of watching Ralphie unwrap his BB gun.  I can't imagine any other actor playing that role better.

3.  The unwrapping

This scene is to me maybe the greatest scene in any Christmas movie ever.  Those two and a half minutes capture the essence of the joy in giving and receiving just about perfectly.  Ralphie trying to put on a brave face after all the presents are opened and not finding what he wanted.  Ralphie unwrapping the gift faster as he realizes what it is.  The Old Man's face as he watches the excitement on Ralphie's.  Mother's face as she is as surprised as Ralphie.  Just a pitch perfect scene.  Love it.

4.  The kids

Another detail the movie gets right is how the kids talk.  Unlike a lot of movies, the conversations Ralphie and his friends have sound a lot like how kids I knew in elementary school talked.  Some the vernacular is different, given that I wasn't in elementary school in 1940's Indiana, but the dialogue rings true.  Yes, sometimes young kids swear.  Yes, they dare each other to do stupid things.  Yes, they call each other names and throw each other under the bus when faced with punishment.  And yes, they still need their mommies when they've had a rough day at school.  Just another thing A Christmas Story gets right.

5.  Randy in the bathroom/red cabbage segue.

Ok, so maybe this doesn't belong on the timeless list, but I always found it hilarious.  Probably because I'm immature.  I couldn't find a clip of it anyway on the web, but next time you watch it look for this.  Right after Ralphie decodes the Little Orphan Annie message he leaves the bathroom and his little brother Randy enters.    Randy runs to the toilet, lifts the seat, pulls down his pants and starts to sit down.  Cut immediately to a big pot of red cabbage boiling on the stove that looks...less than appetizing.  That could not have been an accident.  Well played Stan Cole.  Well played.

Really, I could go on.  So many great and memorable scenes.  A classic tale of childhood nearly everyone can relate to and a must watch every season.