Watching A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983) for the First Time Ever // Nostalgia meter is full!!

[@thegorn68]

Best line of the whole movie: "Randy laid there like a slug. It was his only defense." LOL!

[@gawainethefirst]

It always slays me.

[@christhornycroft3686]

What about the f dash dash dash word?

[@WillsonT011]

@@christhornycroft3686 fudge?

[@Shr13k]

THAT SON OF A BITCH, WOULD FREEZE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER ON THE EQUATOR!!! That’s my vote for best line, but I do love the, “Randy lay there like a slug,” line too.

[@styles9956]

Yeah statue

[@alanzlotkowski2695]

The father's sheer joy at his son's surprise getting the BB gun is my favorite moment in this movie.

[@gerry_atric]

I got a heartfelt rush at that great moment. I went rt back to my past in his vision and not a whole lot of entertainment out there has done that. It's really gotta be something special that makes it immediately personal.

[@GrumpyOldGuyPlaysGames]

Its the line, "I got one when I was 8 years old..." that does it for me. There was never a chance Ralphie *wasnt* going to get that b-b gun.

[@AuspexAO]

I know when I was a kid, I loved my dad but was also kinda scared of him (for no reason, he wasn't a mean or abusive man). I mostly talked to my mom during the day, so she would be the one who would "field" our Christmas toy requests. It always blew my mind how my dad would get us the presents my mom never would. Even when I believed in Santa, I somehow also knew my dad was behind certain gifts. They were always the coolest ones that really understood what I was into, and he was always overjoyed to watch me play with them. I think this show nails the relationship between Ralphie and his dad. It really gets me on a more emotional level as an adult.

[@timroebuck3458]

Tough exterior and a soft heart.

[@sirraf23]

I got a shotgun when I was 8 at Christmas and I was just as excited as Ralph. The only difference was I only got to use it while squirrel hunting with my dad.

[@chrisg9196]

My favorite line: "My father worked in profanity the way other artists might work in oils or clay. It was his true medium, a master."

[@heidifedor]

I begged my mother to take me to see in 83. She reluctantly took me to see it, because she thought she was going to hate it, but it ended up being her favorite movie of all time.

[@greenmonsterprod]

My family have been Shep fans for decades. My brother Bri & I treated our Mom & Dad to a showing of this back when it was first released, and we all really enjoyed it.

[@emilytrott]

I think that the scene where mom is coming down the stairs after putting the boys to bed, and then sits on the arm of the old man's chair is one of the most romantic scenes I've ever seen. You can feel the love emanating from the screen. ❤

[@dr.burtgummerfan439]

I've seen a lot of younger reactors who didn't grasp that much of the movie was from a child's perspective. Sort of an unreliable narrator not to be taken literally. Glad you got it!

[@ShanelleRiccio]

Oh yeah that was so so fun!! All of it is a hazy Christmas memory, but that makes it all the more heightened. Like everything happens all at once kind of deal

[@MrParkerman6]

He isn't an unreliable narrator, yu dumbass. It is literally Jean Shepherd's ( thr narrator) autobiography. It is a true story of him as a kid.

[@VenathTehN3RD]

​@@MrParkerman6 No, it's not his autobiography. It's based on semi-autobiographical anecdotes of his childhood that featured fictionalized versions of people and locations that were *inspired* by the people he knew and places where he lived. They were in no way literal, factual accounts of those events, and even Shepherd himself frequently stated in interviews that these stories were works of fiction and not memoirs. Furthermore, this film is an adaptation that made its own fair share of changes in the transition from novel to film, such as turning it into a single cohesive narrative focused entirely on his childhood as opposed to a series of short stories being reminisced upon by Ralphie as he discusses the current state of his hometown with Flick in the latter's bar. And none of that is even taking into consideration that, when looking at actual human memory, we often *are* unreliable narrators the further removed we are from the events we're recalling, because humans are generally pretty garbage at accurately recalling details over long periods of time. If anything, an autobiography is going to have arguably unreliable narration by default due to human error, while the reliability of the narration in a work of pure fiction is based entirely on the author's whims. In this case, Ralphie is pretty obviously intended to be an unreliable narrator who is reflecting on his childhood with rose-tinted glasses decades after the fact.

[@treystewart544]

@@ShanelleRiccio I love you 💕💕💕💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

[@3DJapan]

The narrator is actually voiced by the author of the book.

[@mem1701movies]

He was the angry man in the Santa line and his wife next to him that helped him write

[@jejohnson1982]

@@mem1701movies the one that told him where the line began?

[@keithsampino4095]

@@jejohnson1982 Yes.

[@OofusTwillip]

Jean Shepherd (the narrator) told stories on his radio show, for many years. These radio episodes are on KZbin. Shep's original stories are somewhat different from the way they are in the movie. For one thing, in the radio version, the Bumpass hounds stole a ham, not a turkey.

[@MrSheckstr]

@@OofusTwillip the ham makes sense when you consider the line about it giving him worms if he eats it raw.

[@garylee3685]

They used suction to hold the kid's tongue to the pole. The reaction to the duck in the restaurant was real.

[@ShanelleRiccio]

oh yeah her unscripted reaction is my favorite!! you can totally tell!

[@mattsnyderARTIST]

They used a suction primarily because the young (15 compared to the other kids) actor was being a brat on set and Clark didn't tell him it would get sucked. That kids reaction was real. Bob Clark cameos as the guy on the street lookibg at the leg lamp. The kid in line for Santa who says he likes the wizard of oz was an extra who improvised his lines. The film was shot in Canada and Ohio for the house exteriors. You can visit that house in Cleveland 😊

[@kinas3973]

My father is 85 and he laughed so effing hard when he first saw this movie because he wanted a red Ryder BB gun and he couldn't get one because his mom said he would shoot his eye out..... So years later about four Christmases ago my sister mother and I got my dad a replica red Rider carbon action BB gun it's a daisy etc and he still has it

[@chrismitchell9689]

Mine hangs in the garage😊. Got it 10 years ago at an antique mall when I was 40.

[@rustybarrel516]

My wife got me one last Christmas and made me tear up.

[@gettingpissedoff]

you should get him the leg lamp this year.

[@wheelmanstan]

That's sooo cool. It's a timeless film. Yeah I got one back in the late 80's, lever action with medallion in stock and leather fringe tied on it. Just a great little gun. I was 8 when I got it I think. But I recommend a pellet gut because those bb's ricochet. I actually drank some ovaltine last night too. haha, that stuff lasts forever

[@billolsen4360]

My mom always used the "you'll shoot your eye out" defense against me bringing "a firearm" in our home. AND, she was an emergency room nurse who'd seen that happen. I was TRAPPED. But she did pay for me to take a hunters safety course and that was cool because we got to shoot .22 rifles!!

[@keithsampino4095]

I always thought it was interesting that Ralphie finally got his BB gun from the one person he didn't think to ask.....

[@vovindequasahi]

EXACTLY! His Old Man knew...

[@3DJapan]

23:44 Early plastic from those days, bakelite, was very brittle and prone to shattering. Now, whether it would sound like glass I can't say, maybe it was the bulb breaking?

[@jeffphillips9588]

Did you know the Christmas Story House is in Cleveland and you can take a tour of the house and basically re-create famous scenes of the film? We took the tour and it was so fun!

[@ShanelleRiccio]

I saw the website! I want to go!! $15 admission for a trip into movie bliss

[@CasperC1451]

@@ShanelleRiccio you can also sleep over in the top floor. It’s an inn

[@jeffphillips9588]

So much fun. You can put on the bunny outfit, put soap in your mouth, hide under the sink lol. Too much fun and hope you get a chance to get out there.

[@d8trace]

I've been there also, so much fun.

[@wrigleyville]

@@ShanelleRiccio The part where the boy's tongue gets stuck to the pole was a suction device that simply held his tongue to the pole.

[@davidfischer8307]

Favorite scenes are when Ralphie looks out the window with everything covered with a snowy winter landscape. The wonder and silence of that moment is just beautiful. To close out Christmas day, in the late evening, his parents finally take a deep breath and get to relax and enjoy a moment for themselves - while also looking out the window at the snow with the beautiful serene glow of the Christmas tree lights. Wonderful screenplay as it ties so many elements together. Though we can't have that same joyful innocence of Christmas as when we were kids, It is that wonder that I miss and one of the few things we as adults can still be captured by. The same joy is captured by his father, getting the "surprise" gift for his son. The sheer delight on his father's face is priceless.

[@willbacewicz2087]

In 1996 my brother (9 years old) and I (10 years old) both got bb guns for Christmas, clearly because of this movie. Never found out if it was both parents or just Dad, but regardless it felt magical to have a (superficial) connection to a movie the family watched every December.

[@Hiraghm]

Yes, every evening meal had to include potatoes in my house. If not mashed, then (my father's preferred) fried. It also had to include some form of red meat, usually pot roast. Filling meals were very important to my Dad. His way of showing love was stuffing you with food. My mom used to speak of how, when we were babies, he'd feed us until we puked. At one time we had a little indian pony, and the guy at the feed store asked if we had a pregnant mare, because he bought so much grain. Did I mention he grew up in the Depression?... He knew real hunger growing up. (sorry for the anecdotes... the movie brings back memories).

[@curtisw502]

My Grandmother grew up in the Depression and was the exact same way...you gonna eat something

[@thatpatrickguy3446]

Anecdotes are awesome. Just saying. 🙂

[@msdarby515]

Same with my farming grandparents. You had to save and re-use everything. Nothing was wasted. Grandma had a 2 acre garden and we were harvesting and canning the end of summer into fall; tomatoes, green beans, carrots, peppers, and multiple types of pickles. Making multiple gallons of sauerkraut that I still don't like. lol Grandpa planted a field of potatoes and a field of sweet corn. Even at 4 yrs old I was out in the field picking up potatoes. We would unload a pickup truck full into the cellar via a coal shoot. We canned and froze corn for days and days. We even canned our own creamed corn. Our pantry shelves were full!

[@dragon-ed1hz]

So glad you gave Peter Billingsley his due. One of the best performances by a child actor ever.

[@shainewhite2781]

"You'll shoot your eye out, kid." Ralphie:😱 lol! You can feel his pain!

[@ShanelleRiccio]

That was my favorite running gag! Each time so heartbreaking 😂

[@patrick1984ist]

Ouch the pain lol

[@OofusTwillip]

Zack Ward played Scut Farkus, the bully. Zack's mom is my friend and mentor. She was a big star in Canada, in the 1950s-1980s.

[@coreymeyer6488]

I enjoyed his work on "Titus"

[@gator7082]

@@coreymeyer6488 Titus was very underrated, very funny show.

[@JimmyMcTrill]

Fun fact: Ralphie is also the elf from Elf that tells Buddy he’s not a cotton headed ninny muggins

[@eliberdinner4808]

Peter Billingsley. He was also a co-producer on Elf.

[@greenpeasuit]

Why have I always been under the belief that Ralphie, aka Messy Marvin, died shortly after filming this, due to childhood cancer? That is a very specific set of memories to have believed my whole life. Is it a mandela effect or something?

[@videodromeTVversion]

_Elf_ is low brow trash. Who cares about it?

[@ericstoverink6579]

@@greenpeasuit nope. It's just a poor memory, just like every so called Madela effect thing.

[@Oathodian]

@@greenpeasuit there is a sequel now (A Christmas Story Christmas (2022)) with Ralphie, same actor even, grown up and is now a father. I never heard of Peter Billingsley dying.

[@LovelessDogg1]

The kid that plays Ralphie grew up to be the producer of the first Ironman movie. He also cameos in it as a scientist. In the film, Robert Downey Jr makes a passing joke about his character looking like the kid from “A Christmas Story” referencing who he actually is. He also shows up again in the MCU playing the same exact scientist in Spiderman Far From Home.

[@Kelga80]

The duck head reactions are genuine reactions caught on film. Her reactions are priceless!

[@Kelga80]

Now I saw the part where you read about that. ;)

[@ccjtv809]

Her:saying it’s hell waiting for parents to yell at you. Me:laughing because I always got my ass whooped and wish that my parents only yelled at me

[@ShanelleRiccio]

I feel for you!! But waiting for that yelling/whooping is like THE WORST kind of waiting. I felt Ralphie's pain!

[@GodOfTriforce17]

I got my grandpa one of those lamps even though it was a mini version. He got a kick out of it, and would always say "dont touch my girl". I later had it as a reading lamp during college.

[@ShanelleRiccio]

😂😂😂 dont touch my girl!! I’m dying at that

[@GodOfTriforce17]

@@ShanelleRiccio Haha he always had a great sense of humor. I hope your channel continues to grow

[@joeymac3777]

I still watch this movie multiple times a tear at Christmas time. It's nostalgic for me because my grandfather and I watched it every year when i was a child in the early and mid 90's. I also very much relate to it, for multiple reasons. I was very much like Ralphie as a child...imaginative and obsessed over Christmas. Hell...i still do. I also relate because much of the movie was shot in Cleveland (the opening downtown sequences, the house, and a couple other locations and scenes), which is where I live. The house is actually now open year round for tours, and there is a gift shop accross the street. I have been to the house a few times. Once, whennit first opened, that time it was in August....and again twice during the Christmas season a few years ago. It was a different feeling going in Novemeber and December than it was in August. This movie is tops on my Christmas movie list. TBS actually plays this movie for 24 hours straight starting Christmas Eve night.

[@ShanelleRiccio]

I would absolutely love to visit this place!! Would be so fun. Maybe one day I’ll make the road trip :) I’m happy I’m in the club now -having finally seen A Christmas story

[@ShanelleRiccio]

@Marty McFly II I have not!

[@Liverpoollassie]

Same

[@joeymac3777]

I did see it. It was more like the stage play version. Yes there is a stage version of this. I don't know if the stage version is strictly done here in Cleveland or not. I would guess not though, since it's a classic movie...but it's incredibly popular here though. They perform it here at Playhouse Square anually....except of course for this year. But yes, i saw the live TV version of it. I didn't like it as much as the movie. I liked it, but not nearly as much. The way they did it, is like they do it on stage. Ralphy as an adult is actually shown taking us to the places in the story, as opposed to simply narrating it. I didn't care for that part too much.

[@DSGodiva]

They show this movie on TV for 24 hours straight every Christmas. And I have it on, even just in the background, every single year. Definitely a classic.

[@DAMIENDMILLS]

Fun fact: For the tongue on the pole scene, there is actually a small hole with a small vacuum suction, not too strong to rip his tongue off, but enough to keep it in place. The rest is just that kid's acting like it's stuck. In reality he could have just stepped away from it and it would have been fine.

[@OofusTwillip]

He could step away IF the crew turned off the air pump. At one point, they didn't. On purpose.

[@jameskoralewski1006]

My most memorable reenactment of the frozen tongue stick was that of Jeff Daniels from Dumb and Dumber.

[@MrParkerman6]

Wrong! There is a small tube placed in the hole that has the suction that his tongue is against. Get your facts Straight!!!!

[@FallenHellscape]

I figured it was vacuum suction. Thanks for confirming.

[@billolsen4360]

Is that the straight dope? Like from The Fireman's Certified & Approved Training Manual?

[@jimpemberton]

This is by far my favorite Christmas movie. These vignettes were from Jean Shepherd's famous accounts. He was the narrator and made a cameo in the department store ("Hey kid, the line starts here; it ends there."). Peter Billingsly (Ralphy) is still active in the industry today, but mostly as a producer and director, although you can still catch him in bit parts: He's a scientist in the MCU movies, and played Buddy's elf supervisor in Elf, for example.

[@cliffendicott7832]

When my son was 10 I watched this movie with him specifically because he hadn't asked for much for Christmas, and I had bought a few things just hoping that he would like them. One of the things I had for him was a Red Ryder BB gun and I kept mentioning throughout the movie that it was a cool thing for a boy to have. He opened it Christmas morning and was surprised, and ended up loving shooting at the trees in the backyard all day. At Christmas dinner I heard him telling his grandmother that he got a BB gun and that, "I didn't even know I wanted one!" Success ;)

[@TheMadMurf]

I'm always a bit surprised when I hear that someone hasn't seen A Christmas Story just because there are TV marathons showing it leading up to Christmas.

[@nickmattio3397]

“OHHHHHH FFFFFFFFUUUUUNNNNGGGG....” fun fact, Peter Billingsly, Ralphy, was an executive producer/actor on the first Iron Man with RDJ among other Job Favreu comedieslike Elf, 4 Christmases etc really funny

[@AutoPilate]

He also directed Couples Retreat, which gets a bad rap but makes me laugh.

[@CaptainFrost32]

He was a casting director on Jon Favreaus's movie Zathura. You will see the leg lamp in the house.

[@davidschecter5247]

The department store is Higbee's in Cleveland. I used to live there in the 1980s and they still had those wonderful wooden escalators. Easily one of the greatest Christmas movies ever made, and it NEVER gets old.

[@markmac2206]

im amazed how much Cleveland looks like Hammond, the town this is supposed to be. really hard to tell the difference and ive lived here most of my life.

[@heidifedor]

If I had gotten in a fight, my dad would have been thrilled with me.

[@mena94x3]

It is most definitely a Christmas tradition, I can’t imagine a Christmas without it. Favorite part of the movie? Picking a favorite of anything is an impossibility for me. 😂😂

[@mack7882]

The dad seems detached and unaware of the kids battles and needs, but on Christmas he shows he totally gets his kids. He knows about the BB gun and gets it unilaterally for his son, he understands the humiliation of the bunny suit and sticks up for and speaks for Ralphie, and when Christmas dinner is destroyed and he saves it by taking the family out and having a good time. The scene with Ralphie getting the BB gun gets me, especially when his dad asks if he knows how to open it and to be careful as those BB's "go everywhere." This is just about 10 years from my childhood in the 50's and early 60's. So very relatable with the cars, changing tires, the tree and the lights, the toys, the clothes. My dad used to cuss when fixing things. When I raised my kids I was always careful not to swear or cuss in front of them or so I thought. I was making that point one time when my oldest now adult daughter chimed in, "Well dad, unless you were fixing something." She nailed it and this movie nailed it.

[@peteg475]

Well said. What it tells me is that parents are more aware of things than kids think they are, and especially at Christmastime you realize they really do love you and want the best for you and love to see you happy, and they aren't just an obstacle to be overcome. "My parents are cooler than I thought" is a sentiment kids feel a lot at Christmas.

[@viclagina347]

This was the age of innocence.... Which ended around 1985 sadly...... Thank you for reacting to this.... I watch it every year...... Wouldn't change my childhood for anythi,g

[@billolsen4360]

For kids, there will always be an age of innocence, even if you're a barefoot slum kid in Juarez living in a wooden pallet house.

[@rabooey]

Filmed in Cleveland, Ohio, both their house and downtown Cleveland. The house is now a tourist attraction, in which one can witness all up front and personal like and in all its glory at 3159 W. 11th St., the legendary A Christmas Story Leg Lamp. Side note, two of my cousins(whom I used to babysit throughout my high school years), starred in the roles of two of the Bumpus kids in the A Christmas Story sequel, My Summer Story(1994), the little chubby girl and boy(uncredited)! Toronto's house is a replication of the actual house, although most of the interior scenes were indeed filmed in a Toronto sound stage/set.

[@robertpearson8798]

Something like the flagpole scene happened at my Wife's school when she was a kid. A kid put his tongue on the metal railing of a foot bridge and it stuck. The bell rang and everyone went back inside. A teacher had to come out with a glass of water. I sometimes drive past the school in St. Catharines, Ontario, where that scene was shot.

[@billolsen4360]

Great memory!

[@anothermonday5664]

good add, Shanelle. Fully anticipating the "frag-jee-lay" moment for the Italian reference 🤣. The gift reveal was done so flawlessly. The music, the lead up, that the Dad was aware the whole time, and even his elation at watching his kid get something got when he was younger. Ace.

[@hayleybotte7836]

OMG I'm so surprised you've never seen this!!!! Congrats on 1k+ !!!!!!!

[@ShanelleRiccio]

Thank you!!

[@izzonj]

I can't tell you how much I enjoy your reactions to some of my favorite movies! I first saw this when my daughter was about 6. We enjoyed it together, many times. We would re-enact the Santa scene with my daughter climbing on my lap as I did a menacing HO HOHO and whenever she was about to ask for something I'd make her side off my lap and he laughter hysterically! My father was born in 1935 and says that Ralphie was him! He listened to little orphan Annie on the radio, with his decoder ring and wanted a red rider bb gun but his mother said, "you'll shoot your eye out!" I think the lamp probability would have been glass. Plastic was a pretty new thing and wouldn't be used for something trivial like that.

[@kellygilbert621]

I totally identified with Ralphie growing up...only my childhood took place in the 70s. When I was a little kid I had an extremely active imagination and I would break the fourth wall to my imaginary studio audience...it always got an imaginary laugh. My childhood holy grail Christmas gift was ANYTHING Star Wars, especially the action figures and their vehicles! I somehow never even knew about A Christmas Story until I was in my 20s and saw it on tv. The kids screaming and crying while visiting the shopping mall Santa is my favorite...I went through the same thing with the mall Santa 😂 Santa was a scary mofo! Snacks during the movie is a MUST! 😋

[@CaddyJim]

Another culture classic movie with a voice over is *(Stand by Me)*

[@Rogn1]

This is another one that @Shinelle Riccio needs to see.

[@Rmlohner]

You may recognize Ralphie as the guy who gets told "Tony Stark was able to build this in a CAVE! With a BUNCH OF SCRAPS!"

[@DAMIENDMILLS]

And the one that told Buddy that he wasn't a "cotton-headed ninny muggins", he's just special

[@ShanelleRiccio]

I knew he became a big shot producer!! But didn’t realize he was still acting also!

[@dezo343]

Yeah, those eyes are unmistakable!

[@patrickflanagan3762]

@@ShanelleRiccio He became friends with Vince Vaughn when they did an afterschool special. (Not sure if that's still a thing or not, but it was a sort of ongoing anthology series of nothing but Very Special Episodes about teen problems. I think theirs was about steroids.) Then I think through Vaughn he became friends with Jon Favreau and became a producer on his films as well as doing a cameo in Favreau's first IRON MAN movie.

[@OofusTwillip]

Peter's aunt is Barbara Billingsley, who played Mrs. Cleaver on "Leave It to Beaver". They're also related to Sherman Billingsley, who owned the Stork Club, a world-famous NYC nightclub, in the 1930s-1960s.

[@CraigKinsey]

I've watched this movie countless times and have never seen the full Western genre connection. Brilliant! You are a pleasure to watch movies with.

[@andyleclerc3600]

Darren McGavin's reaction when Randy shows his Mom how the piggies eat slays me😅😅😅. No continuity error with the broken lamp. The top part is clearly seen being cracked☺

[@pinewaves]

I love the scene at the restaurant where the waiters were trying to sing, “fa la la la la la, la la la la” but instead sang, “Fa ra ra ra ra, Ra ra ra ra” to Deck the Hall. The actors were trying not to laugh too.

[@williamjamesrapp7356]

I had a friend in High School whose parents put their Christmas tree up on Christmas eve and took it down the day after Christmas. I think they were aliens

[@Hiraghm]

sounds like my sister. My mom once gave her all our Christmas ornaments... she tossed them out, and her tree was plastic with every ball ornament identical.

[@KabukiKid]

LOL! My family actually used to put up the tree and decorate it on Christmas Eve... but we left it up into the New Year for a while, at least. lol At some point, my family halted doing that and we had the tree up much earlier.

[@krissiep1317]

I loved, loved this reaction! You tie up everything in a nice little bow. Dead right about the kids and parents enjoying this movie when it was released. Definite nostalgia factor. Thank you!

[@ThomasStClair-zr2lb]

Just found your channel and I really enjoy your videos. Reading through the IMDB trivia at the end of the videos is a great idea. For my favorite toy, it's when when I got a super nintendo on Christmas in 1992 and I called my best friend to tell him and he had gotten one too. Best day ever.

[@ShanelleRiccio]

welcome aboard! thank you for watching!! and yeah I love when you and your friends all get that same awesome present, you get to all be in on the joy.!!

[@badkittie23]

You understood that this was from a child's POV and the nostalgia it inspires. My son at 9 years old got a red rider bb gun for Christmas. My husband had the same look as Ralphie's dad, when our son opened the gift. We watch this every Christmas.

[@slytheringingerwitch]

This movie is adorable and takes me back to being a kid. Always imagining the worse etc etc. I just wish that in the UK we'd get more merchandise as I want a leg lamp even in miniature.

[@kemowery]

I was the age of these kids in the early '80s in Ohio. My late stepfather was that age in Texas in the 1940s, and my dad was that age in the 1950s in West Virginia. We all agree that this movie captures the exact feeling of what Christmas was like as a kid, and what it was like to be a kid. And that's why this is my favorite Christmas movie.

[@mem1701movies]

The writer/narrator was the angry “HEY KID” man in Santa line

[@ShanelleRiccio]

I didn’t clock his voice! So different sounding when it’s narrated

[@gawainethefirst]

Also the Radio DJ in Jingle All The Way.

[@caspence56]

He was also the Santa Claus at Higbees.

[@gawainethefirst]

@@caspence56, no. He was the man who pointed out where the line starts.

[@MysterD.]

I grew up in ancient houses and neighborhoods like that. Some of my aunts and uncles, and my grandparents lived simple, old world lives that were not quite in step with what was then the current era. Though a child of the 70's and 80's, I can easily relate to lifestyles back to the 40's and further, as I had a lot of exposure to lingering environments. I had Ralphie's goofy imagination, too. I LOVE this flick!

[@billolsen4360]

In the 1960's, I thought our family's 1910 house was ancient as a little kid. Now, 2023, I live in a house that was built when Nixon was President, just 50 some years ago, looks pretty modern to me, LOL.

[@Hiraghm]

I was past being a child in 83, and I saw myself in this. Aside from the technology, this was very much the kind of world I grew up in.

[@billolsen4360]

I remember being chagrined in second grade with how mean kids could be to each other, even tho I'd been mean to a few as far back as Kindergarten. Mom waited til I was 15 to tell me that my Kindergarten teacher told her that the only thing she saw in my future was a stiff rope and a short drop. We had a good laugh after I swallowed hard, know that my nefarious side had been revealed 10 years before.

[@gemmapalmisano7837]

12:26 I love when Flick said “shh your mother mother shh.” It was funny.

[@leffew2000]

I love how you referenced "The Wonder Years". Daniel Stern, who did the narration on the TV show also played Marv in "Home Alone 1&2" along side Joe Pesci.

[@claymccoy]

And played the father in A Christmas Story 2...

[@dougimmel]

Shepherd, a Hammond, Indiana guy, and later in NY radio, was revered in print and radio. We Hoosiers can relate to the stories - July 4th, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. His books, stories and shows are hilarious. He's the narrator and the guy in the Santa line in the store - "the line starts back there..." I have the lamp in miniature. You could have your picture taken with it and the tree in a little living room mockup at the Indiana Historical Society last Christmas, with pink bunny suits, etc. Too much. Loved this movie since college. My brother introduced me to his writing. Great memories.

[@markmac2206]

yep. ive lived in NW Indiana most of my life and you can tell he is one of us!

[@djordan9821]

Congratulations on 1k

[@ShanelleRiccio]

Ahhh thanks!!!!

[@ericalexander3526]

Ralphie's mom hated that lamp, and I'm convinced she accidentally broke it on purpose. Another great line from this film: "Randy looked like a tick about to pop." Classic '50s style americana

[@joeymac3777]

They shot the movie in Cleveland, Ohio where i live, and in Ontario

[@ShanelleRiccio]

I want to visit the house!

[@OofusTwillip]

I live about a mile and a half from the bridge where Ralphie said THE word. There's a documentary DVD called "Road Trip For Ralphie", that tracks down all of the locations, including the studio where the interior scenes of Ralphie's house were filmed. It's the same studio where the last few seasons of "SCTV" were done.

[@joeymac3777]

There's a lesser known sequal from 1994 titled "My Summer Story", starring Charles Groden, the Dad from Beethoven and Mary Stienbergen as Mom and Dad Parker. Ralphie and Randy are played by the brothers of Maccully Culkin. That movie takes place the summer after the events of "A Christmas Story" They used the same house, but I'm not sure if Toronto was used at all in that one. That movie wasn't as good as it's Christmas counterpart. It wasn't at all bad either though...in my opinion anyway. In "My Summer Story", they introduce the Parkers" Hillbilly neighbors, The Bumpases, with all the dogs.

[@ffjsb]

Some of it was shot in Canada.

[@joeymac3777]

@@ffjsb yes...thats what i said. Cleveland and Ontario.

[@danielbonett7818]

I also have to comment that you have the most adorable laugh and it really adds to the enjoyment of these videos. Your chuckles, gafaws and bursts are just too cute

[@Downstreamphoto]

I was 10 years old in 83, I fully believe they gave him real chewing tobacco, the world was a different place back then. My dad would send me to the convenience store to buy him cigarettes and I never had any problem buying them if I said it was for my dad. Adults often found it amusing to let kids try cigarettes or chewing tobacco because they knew it would make them sick and often did it to discourage future use.

[@billolsen4360]

That's right! I was sent to the grocery to buy a carton of Pall Mall straights at age 7 for a widower/family friend who was about to turn 80. All the checker said to me was, "Looks like you're gonna be doin' a lot of smokin'."

[@chiefsteps-in-poo8447]

Alright, I'm 43 and I watch this movie every Christmas (a cable channel plays this for 24 hours straight on Christmas day). I laugh all day at the scene when Flick gets his tongue frozen to the flag pole. I lose it watching him alone with his tongue frozen to that pole and he's trying not to lose his balance. Cracks me up every year.

[@CaddyJim]

Another culture classic is *(Goonies)* & there's an unscripted shot in that movie when the kids come up from the water & see the ship

[@andreadeamon6419]

Cleveland chick here. Most of this was filmed on the west side of Cleveland. The rest was filmed in Canada. You can visit the house and other buildings around it where they have the firetruck - car - some of the kids original clothes and you can drive to medina and actually go down the slide that was in the old higbees store (now Jack casino)

[@andreadeamon6419]

All the snow - was potato flakes and soap

[@andreadeamon6419]

Ian still has his zeppelin 🥰

[@honorsilverthorne7227]

"Not a finger!" means "Do not lay a finger on it!" 🎄😊❄️

[@cliffchristie5865]

Sorry to disagree but the line the old man speaks at that moment is just intended as more flustered gibberish, like all the rest of his swearing.

[@honorsilverthorne7227]

@@cliffchristie5865 I was merely referring to what the phrase means. 💁

[@trailrvs]

A Wrist Rocket Slingshot! I loved this in 1983 as a 21 year old. Now we watch it every Christmas. The adult narrator actually reminded me of Johnboy Walton at the beginning and end of each episode we watched as kids in the 70’s.

[@thrakkorzog75002]

Fun fact, the one person Ralphie didn't tell he wanted a BB gun was his dad. So dad was paying attention, just wasn't showing it.

[@Fardawg]

Always loved that. The one person he didn't figure would care about it ended up being the one who actually did. His reaction to watching Ralphie open it is great. He is remembering his own childhood and is happy to see Ralphie happy. He turned out to be a great dad.

[@jeffking887]

The old man’s comment at the end of the “Higbee’s”scene: “He knows. He always knows,”

[@NoCampDad]

I remember the first time my dad heard me cuss. We were riding an ATC together and we crashed and I said the s word and then I said shoot shoot shoot. He laughed it off of course. Another great review and this movie really brings me back to my '80s childhood. Thank you so much for helping me relive emotional and important times of my life.

[@patrick1984ist]

The Daisy red rider still has metal bebe's

[@ShanelleRiccio]

So scary! You’ll shoot your eye out!! My neighbors would shoot with the plastic Bebe’s and then make the little siblings collect them 😂😂

[@MigPlz91LivestreamOnly]

Some Walmarts actually sell that brand of Rifle. Same box design too.

[@blackguardharper7005]

BB's.

[@starlord5032]

This isn't just the best christmas movie ever, it is one of the best movies ever period. Loved your reaction to one of my all time fave movies. I was about the same age as ralphie and yes that all felt very relatable.

[@chrispittman8854]

HONESTLY! WHEN are they going to give us a "love" button. Not just "like..." "love." Great work... again.

[@Me4u2c42]

It’s so hot the way you talk about movies. Usually I’m the one teaching people about movie stuff, but you seem to shine. I love it. Keep up the good watch.

[@chrispittman8854]

"The Lamp" is my FB profile pic and the kid with his tongue on the pole is my cover.

[@justinp4996]

This is one of my favorite Christmas films and this year got to show it to a family member for the first time. Very similar reactions to yourself. So many little trivia tid bits for this movie!

[@Hiraghm]

"Why would a plastic lamp be fragile?" Because it's a fragile form of plastic. Look up filament for 3d-printers.

[@ffjsb]

Plastics were in their infancy at this time, a lot of plastic items were absolute crap. That's why "plastic" got such a bad rap.

[@melissas4874]

@@ffjsb This. One of the oldest plastics would be something like polystyrene which comes in 2 forms, one of which is considered a glassy form. In fact, the trays in your refrigerator may be made from this. This isn't as flexible and can break or shatter easily depending on how it is made.

[@Psilocybin77]

There was a Disney movie I remember based on a story from the same author. I recall the father and mother being the same as A Christmas Story. The movie was called Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss and remember loving it as a youngster.

[@mem1701movies]

I wasn’t going to watch reactions to A CHRISTMAS STORY because a lot reactions have been ruining movies for me but yours didn’t

[@jimchabai3163]

Simple: don't watch reactions to films you HAVEN'T seen.

[@CraigKinsey]

Thats a great compliment and she deserves it. She is so insightful and fun.

[@mem1701movies]

@@jimchabai3163 you obviously didn’t get what I mean. Watching a beloved movie get butchered and ruined by some idiot reactor.

[@EShelby2127]

Ralph putting the BBs in to the gun, in the living room, always gets me. The dad, motioning with his hands how to pour them carefully in, without spilling them. When I got Daisy air rifle for Christmas, we had shag carpeting in the living room, where we opened presents... shag carpeting... When mom vacuumed the next day, I heard my spilled BBs going up the metal wand of the vacuum, into the bag. I remember a small round cardboard tube was 10¢ and a large one was 25¢ at the hardware store.

[@Hiraghm]

"Kids only know how to be authentic, you guys" That's a popular myth. Kids are every bit as scheming and deceitful as adults... they're just not very good at it yet.

[@CraigKinsey]

She didn't say there weren't scheming and deceitful. She said they were authentic. Authentic doesn't mean, as far as my pea brain understands it, doesn't mean virtuous. It just means that they have not fully learned how to hide themselves from themselves yet and then convey that falseness to the world as if it were the real them. Thats a convoluted way to describe it, but being unauthentic is convoluted. :)

[@Hiraghm]

@@CraigKinsey okay... you win. :)

[@ricksgamemisc10]

This is such a perfect movie and does a fabulous job of putting you in the character. I always describe it as "Nothing at all like that happened to me, and yet I remember every bit of it."

[@billolsen4360]

Ralphy suffered all the insurmountable roadblocks to achieving his heroic potential that I did, yeah.

[@pmickeyny6002]

Love your reaction! So observant and spot-on, but still really fun.

[@ShanelleRiccio]

Thanks so much Paul!!

[@billolsen4360]

Yup, Shanelle has insight!

[@kjmorley]

I loved this movie when I first saw it in the 80s, because it so perfectly captured my childhood, right down to the tongue stuck on the flagpole. My fantasy Christmas gift, was a Transonic cassette recorder. I took that thing everywhere!

[@michaelbastraw1493]

Never had a bar of soap in my mouth, but I knew my parents knew where to find one. Best. Leo.

[@popandroid]

one of the very few things that can make me actually feel Christmas-y is the TBS xmas eve/xmas Christmas Story 24 hr marathon. to me it's like a 100x better version of xmas music or Alvin & the Chipmunks playing in the background...SO calming.

[@LBrobie]

i turned 20 in 1983, and you uploaded this on the 20th of 2020. and i'm watching this exactly one year later, on the 20th of 2021. :)

[@RichardinNC1]

My nephew's favorite movie. He has a leg lamp. I've watched it for about the last 15 years.

[@banjoman101145]

Jean Shepard, who is the writer-narrator in this film did radio broadcasts out of New York two nights each week usually about similar coming of age tales of his youth. He was a prolific talker filling up his ninety minute time slots with stories that would give his listeners true belly laughs. This was back around 1960. He was great!

[@billolsen4360]

The tone of his voice mirrored my kid memories. How ridiculously important we thought those events of childhood were.

[@jrshipley4364]

My family watches this every year, I have always loved how well it portrays being a child, but somthing I only got recently (since I became a parent) is how it portrays being a parent at Christmas. Just little things like how the mom plays down the fight Ralph got in, or how the Old Man becomes like a kid himself watching Ralph load the air rifle. There is just somthing so timeless about the characters in this movie.

[@fionnmaccumhaill3257]

"Waiting to get yelled at"? Who in the world worried to get yelled at? Back then you waited for you dad to come home and give you the belt! Lol

[@ThePloppy]

61.6 thousand subscribers later, and also a subscriber myself for what I think has to be from around that initial first couple thousand subs, I believe this might be my first time watching this reaction. This is my favorite Christmas movie ever. Thanks Shanelle! I was 11 years old when this movie came out and I felt such a connection with Ralphie, his brother and friends. Somehow the correlation of the 40's and the 80's cultures mixed so well. I wonder how well this movie goes over with the newer generations of kids. At least the general ideas have to resonate, right?

[@stevenjones916]

Instant like. Congrats on hitting your first thousand subscribers. There are many more to come, I'm sure.

[@stevesilsby9668]

We screen "A Christmas Story" every year to formerly kick off our Christmas season. Other movies we watch every December are the animated classics "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol" (1962) and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (1966). Then "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947), "Scrooged", "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation", and the original "Die Hard". We tune the television to TBS for the entire day that they do the "A Christmas Story" marathon. We go about all our normal routines all day but when near the TV we stop everything to enjoy favorite scenes when they come around again. Actually, we pair up "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol" (1962) and "Scrooged" (1988) screenings. You can't help but lose it after seeing these two together. They take us from the songs "I'm All Alone in the World" right through to "Put a Little Love in Your Heart". There's definitely something in my eye.

[@thissailorja]

The movie takes place in the range of 39-41. Dosent really say but I think 1940 because of the decoder ring and nothing about the war yet.

[@thissailorja]

i have a 3 inch leg lamp ornament.

[@peteg475]

You nailed it. Christmas 1940, I think. The last Christmas of peacetime in America when everyone's Christmas wasn't pre-occupied thinking about the War.

[@gerry_atric]

1st off- great sweater, has an Atari Breakout feel. New sub here. You're 1 of the better channels cuz I wanna get some noteworthy back 'n forth feedback out of the experience, not just someone with "Oh man nothin I can I say that was great" generic recap. 48yo and this is my favorite Christmas movie. My brother got my dad the leg lamp this year, so randomly funny. Enjoy your content and binging your vids to close out my Friday night.

[@agustin_mlimon_jr5985]

I thought it was just the mushrooms I ate that made you so funny...it wasn’t! Your sidebars into the camera are ducking hilarious!

[@TTM9691]

I've waited about seven months to watch this with you, Shanelle! You were the first reactor I ever saw ("American Graffiti") and you are still and forever in my top tier of reactors, the gold standard tier Every time I come to your channel, I feel like I'm coming home! And I am VERY excited to watch this with you right now! :D / ......and you did not disappoint! Oh my gosh, you have a great eye!!!! I won't comment anything else since it's an old video but.....have yourself a merry little Xmas this year, sister-in-cinema. You have made this year go by so much easier, there aren't even words to express it, many happy hours spent with you and your channel. Thank you, my fellow New Yawker, and looking forward to whatever else you watch next! (PS: You celebrating 1000 subscribers in this video is so cute...almost quaint! As of this writing you have 29 times that amount!)

[@timothyholland7982]

You referenced “Porky’s” in the trivia. You should absolutely review Porkys! Definitely one of those movies that would never fly today but totally an old school “guys” movie. One of Kim Cattrall’s first movies and a number of scenes of actors breaking into what HAS to be genuine laughter. Anyway, you’re killing it, Lady! Keep em coming!

[@healthhealingandhappinessw6060]

At the beginning of this video you said you have 1000 subscribers. You now have over 30,000!! Whoa! Oh and I’m in Cleveland….. leg lamps everywhere this time of year!

[@ironlung2323]

18k subs now. it's been a good year! congrats! Love the channel.