One of my favorite memories from the holiday season just past is the night my wife and I and her parents who were visiting from Pennsylvania watched the movie A Christmas Story. We'd all seen it multiple times before, but we laughed as hard as ever at the holiday hijinks involving Ralphie, Flick, the old man, Scut Farkas, the leg lamp and Chinese turkey. I'm not saying director Bob Clark was one of our great American directors (among his many other credits are Porky's, Porky's 2 and Karate Dog) but ACS is a terrific piece of work. It seems to have been one of those happy accidents that took on a life of its own. Much of the credit has to go to writer Jean Shepherd, whose voice-over is the glue that holds the entire contraption together. While the story is set in the 40's the movie has a 70's quality to it that gives it an odd timeless quality. Whatever, it works. Perfectly.
A Christmas Story is set in Hammond, Indiana, and plays like an ode to the Midwest, but the house used for the Parker's home was in Cleveland. Recently, a guy named Brian Jones bought the house on eBay, restored it to the way it looked in the film, and turned it into a museum. As if one needed another reason to visit Cleveland! Here's a short documentary on the grand opening:
Don't forget to drink your Ovaltine. . .
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