Random Behind-The-Scenes Stories From Making Of ‘A Christmas Story’ (14 items)

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  (#7) A Flash Gordon Dream Sequence Was Cut From The Film

  Part of A Christmas Story's charm is getting to see Ralphie's innocuous fantasies, like how he envisioned his teacher giving him the best grade in the class for his theme on the Red Ryder. There were several other dream and fantasy scenes that were written or shot but didn't make the final cut.

  One of these scenes, a dream in which Ralphie saves Flash Gordon from the evil Ming, ended up on the cutting room floor due to time restrictions; the studio wanted to keep the film at 90 minutes so it could play every two hours in theaters. 
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  (#1) The Stories That Inspired The Movie Were First Published As Essays In ‘Playboy’

  Writer Jean Shepherd, who also narrated the film, was already a prolific writer before he wrote A Christmas Story. He had columns in The Village Voice, Mad Magazine, and even Playboy. The stories that inspired Shepherd to write the film came straight from some of the essays published in the adult entertainment magazine, which were later collected into a book, In God We Trust; All Others Pay Cash. Scott Schwartz, who played Flick, recalled Shepherd and the movie's origins fondly in an interview with NPR:

  He improvised a great many of his stories on the air, on WOR [New York City], but he also was published in Playboy magazine... One of the many delicious ironies about this movie is the fact that the stories on which it was based were first published in Playboy.
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  (#13) Two Unsuccessful Sequels Were Made

  A Christmas Story wasn't a mega-success right off the bat, but its late-found popularity had MGM ready to make sequels. My Summer Story (1994) was another collaboration between director Clark and writer Shepherd, but it did not feature the original cast, save for teacher Miss Shields (Tedde Moore). Kieran Culkin took on the role of Ralphie, and the movie follows the summertime antics of him and his friends. It wasn't as popular as the first installment, and even Shepherd admitted that the film was "a real turkey."

  In 1988, a direct-to-TV movie called Ollie Hopnoodle’s Haven of Bliss, which followed 14-year-old Ralphie as he tries to get his first summer job, came out. It was equally unsuccessful. In 2012, another straight-to-TV sequel, A Christmas Story 2, came out, but neither Clark nor Shepherd were involved.
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  (#2) Director Bob Clark And Narrator/Writer Shepherd Have Cameos In The Film

  Director Bob Clark makes a brief but memorable cameo in A Christmas Story. After the Old Man has set up all the Christmas lights and is admiring his work (along with his fancy new leg lamp), his neighbor comes out to admire the view. Swede, AKA Clark, is a bit of a doofus, but a lovable one. 

  Writer/narrator Shepherd makes a blink-and-you-miss-it appearance as well. When Ralphie is impatiently making his way through the store to meet Santa, Shepherd yells at him for cutting the line.
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  (#5) Director Clark Also Directed ‘Porky’s,’ Which Made MGM Think He Could Create A Hit Film

  Clark's raunchy teen comedy Porky's came out in 1982 in the US to much fanfare. Even though the subject material between the risqué comedy and A Christmas Story is vastly different, it was Clark's success with Porky's that made MGM confident he could handle A Christmas Story. Peter Billingsley, who played Ralphie, talked about why it was so hard to get off the ground without Porky's success to Vanity Fair:

  I think it took so long to get made because the movie, by modern-day standards, is about nothing. It’s a family a couple of weeks before Christmas, and the kid wants a BB gun. That’s not exactly a pitch in which you’d say, "Let me get the president of the studio on the phone!"
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  (#6) The Role Of Ralphie’s Dad Was Supposed To Go To Jack Nicholson, But Creators Worried He Would Want Too Much Money

  "I love [Jack], but thank God he didn’t [end up with the part] because Darren is the Old Man," said director Clark. Clark pushed really hard to have Darren McGavin as Ralphie's dad, even though Nicholson was reportedly interested in the role.

  Still, the studio was nervous that Nicholson would ask for too high of a rate, and since Clark was pushing so hard for McGavin, they stuck with him.

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