History Trivia / AChristmasStory

** Apparently no one told Melinda Dillon that the waiters in the Chinese restaurant were going to bring in a cooked duck - and then suddenly chop off its head with a meat cleaver!

* ImageSource:
** ImagineSpot

* DawsonCasting: Peter Billingsley was 12 when he played 9-year-old Ralphie. As Schwartz and Flick, R.D. Robb (11) and Scott Schwartz (14) also count.

** Not the particular model described in the film, however.[[note]]The Buck Jones air rifle has the compass and sundial in the stock, but none of the features of the Red Ryder. A special model was made for the movie to match Jean Shepherd's description in the story. While it may be ArtisticLicense, it is the configuration Shepherd claims to remember.[[/note]]

** The Leg Lamp became a real product in 2003 when a fan of the film started manufacturing real lamps for sale. This then led to....
*** ...the fan using the money he made from his business to buy [[http://www.achristmasstoryhouse.com/ the house in Cleveland]] that was used for exterior shots of Ralphie's house. He later dropped another quarter-million dollars to gut the house and remodel it to look like the sets that were used for interior scenes. The house across the street has been turned into a museum and Leg Lamp giftshop. At one point Ian Petrella (Randy) even lived in the house and led tours through it.

* AdoredByTheNetwork: It's been a staple of holiday programming for the Turner networks for decades, and either TBS and TNT has aired a 24 hour marathon of it every year since 1997.[[note]]Which allows the channel to give most of its staff time off during the holidays.[[/note]]

* BreakingTheFourthWall: At one point, Creator/MatthewBroderick, as the narrator (and not-really-there), opens the car door for Mrs. Parker. When Creator/MayaRudolph gets in, she looks directly at him.

** Alternate Openings

* {{Blooper}}: At one point during the 2017 live broadcast performance on FOX, Creator/MatthewBroderick flubbed one of his narration dialogue, and said "rein beer" instead of "reindeer". It immediately began trending on Twitter afterwards.

* AdoredByTheNetwork: It's been a staple of holiday programming for the Turner networks for decades, and either TBS and TNT has aired a 24 hour marathon of it every year since 1997[[note]]which allows the channel to give most of its staff time off during the holidays[[/note]].

*** Ralphie saving ComicStrip/FlashGordon from Ming the Merciless on the planet Mongo. The music for this scene is on the soundtrack, and Gordon and Ming are credited, indicating the scene was cut very late in production. It is also notable in that it is the only scene that has a surviving production still, clearly depicting Ralphie with Flash Gordon. Colin Fox, the actor who played Ming, claims that the footage still exists but if so, it's never been included in any video version.

** According to Bob Clark, Peter Billingsley was his first choice for Ralphie, but initially passed him up for being "too obvious of a choice," since he was already a famous child actor. Some 8,000 audition tapes later, he realized he wasn't going to find anyone better and chose Peter after all.

* MarathonRunning: Every year, Creator/{{TBS}} runs the movie for twenty-four hours solid, beginning at 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve. The marathon originated on Creator/{{TNT}} in 1997, and remained on the network until 2004, when it moved to TBS (though one year, the marathon was bizarrely aired by Creator/USANetwork, a non-Turner network). The film returned to TNT in 2014, running an hour ahead of another marathon on TBS (the TNT marathon started at 7:00 PM, and the TBS marathon at 8:00, with the TNT marathon henceforth ending an hour earlier than the TBS marathon).

** According to Bob Clark, Peter Billingsley was his first choice for Ralphie, but initially passed him up for being "too obvious of a choice." Some 8,000 audition tapes later, he realized he wasn't going to find anyone better and chose Peter after all.

*** Ralphie saving ComicStrip/FlashGordon from Ming the Merciless on the planet Mongo. The music for this scene is on the soundtrack, and Gordon and Ming are credited, indicating the scene was cut very late in production. It is also notable in that it is the only scene that has a surviving production still, clearly depicting Ralphie with Flash Gordon.

* DawsonCasting: Peter Billingsley (Ralphie) was 12-years-old playing a 9-year-old. As Schwartz and Flick, R.D. Robb (11) and Scott Schwartz (14) also count.

* AdoredByTheNetwork: It's been a staple of holiday programming for the Turner networks for decades, and either TBS or TNT has aired a 24 hour marathon of it every year since 1997[[note]]which allows the channel to give most of its staff time off during the holidays[[/note]].

** Creator/JackNicholson was apparently a fan of the short-stories, and really wanted to play Ralphie's Old Man (he was even willing to take a paycut if necessary![[note]]For perspective, this is the same guy whose salary consumed the bulk of the budget for ''Film/{{Batman}}''.[[/note]]) However, Jean Shepherd feared that the presence of such a high-profile actor in a supporting role would distract people from the main story.

* SequelGap: The original came out in 1983. It took 'em 28 years to do a continuation.

* DeletedScene: MGM mandated a 90 minute time limit. (The film still ran 94 minutes.) The Christmas Story House website [[http://www.achristmasstoryhouse.com/index.php/a-christmas-story-movie-facts/deleted-scenes/ has a page dedicated to these scenes]] including screenplay fragments of some of the scenes. The deleted scenes included:

*** Ralphie saving ComicStrip/{{Flash Gordon}} from Ming the Merciless on the planet Mongo. The music for this scene is on the soundtrack, and Gordon and Ming are credited, indicating the scene was cut very late in production. It is also notable in that it is the only scene that has a surviving production still, clearly depicting Ralphie with Flash Gordon.

* ActingForTwo: In the 2017 live version, Matthew Broderick, who played the narrator, also did small bit parts, such as the mail man who delivers the leg lamp and a doctor who looks over Flick during the flagpole scene.

* {{Blooper}}: At one point during the 2017 live broadcast performance on FOX, Matthew Broderick flubbed one of his narration dialogue, and said "rein beer" instead of "reindeer". It immediately began trending on Twitter afterwards.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/JackNicholson was apparently a fan of the short-stories, and really wanted to play Ralphie's Old Man (he was even willing to take a paycut if necessary![[note]]For perspective, this is the same guy whose salary consumed the bulk of the budget for ''Film/{{Batman}}''.[[/note]]) However, Jean Shepherd feared that the presence of such a high-profile actor in a supporting role would distract people from the main story.
** In hindsight, it's hard to see anyone other than Darren [=McGavin=] in that role.
** It would also be hard to see Nicholson swearing at the furnace being dubbed over by gibberish.
*** "[[Film/TheShining HEEEEEEEEREEEEE'S JOHNNNY!!!]]"

* AdoredByTheNetwork: It's been a staple of holiday programming for the Turner networks for decades, and either TBS or TNT has aired a 24 hour marathon of it every year since 1997.

* {{Blooper}}: At one point during the 2017 live broadcast performance on NBC, Matthew Broderick flubbed one of his narration dialogue, and said "rein beer" instead of "reindeer". It immediately began trending on Twitter afterwards.

* SequelGap: The original came out in 1983. It took em 28 years to do a continuation.
* {{Sequelitis}}: Of all things to get a sequel decades after the original; needless to say, nobody welcomed the idea or applauded the end result.

* MarathonRunning: Every year, TBS runs the movie for twenty-four hours solid, beginning at 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve. The marathon originated on TNT in 1997, and remained on the network until 2004, when it moved to TBS (one year, the marathon was aired by USA, a non-Turner network). The film returned to TNT in 2014, running an hour ahead of another marathon on TBS (the TNT marathon started at 7:00 PM, and the TBS marathon at 8:00, with the TNT marathon henceforth ending an hour earlier than the TBS marathon).