Bob Clark’s A Christmas Story will remain a classic for years to come. No matter how many times you watch it, it’ll never fail to get you absorbed into its world of comfort and nostalgia each time. Said to be based on the books by Jean Shepherd, the movie first premiered on November 18th, 1983.
The plot of the film revolves around Ralphie Parker and his obsession with a Red Ryder BB gun. He hopes he can get it for Christmas, although everyone, including his teacher, parents, and Santa Claus at the mall, tells him not to or he’ll “Shoot his eye out”. After a series of hilarious events and related storylines, we see Ralphie finally getting the gun for Christmas, only for him to accidentally shoot himself in the eye. Fortunately, little Ralphie was wearing glasses at the time, so no real damage is done.
A Christmas Story is a compilation of multiple vignettes, with each showing a humorous story that’s related to the events of the film. It is narrated by an adult Ralphie, who explains how the BB Gun was the best present he had ever gotten for Christmas. Peter Billingsley plays the role of Ralphie Parker, while Ian Petrella plays Randy, Melinda Dillon plays Mrs. Parker, and Darren McGavin plays the role of the old man, Mr. Parker.
At first, the movie wasn’t extremely successful, but it was the constant re-runs later on television that made it become a classic from that era.
A Christmas Story: Filming Locations
Most of the filming for A Christmas Story has taken place in Canada and USA. The fictional place where Ralphie lives is called Hohman, Indiana, which is said to be inspired by a place in Chicago.
Tremont Neighborhood, Cleveland, Ohio, USA:
The exterior part of Ralphie’s house in Hohman was the house on 3159 W. 11th Street in Cleveland. Only the exterior of the house was used in A Christmas Story’s scenes. The interior was filmed on a set in Toronto. After the success of the film, the house was later bought by an entrepreneur who transformed the interior of the house to match the one we see in A Christmas Story.
After the renovations, the Parker House was made into a museum sort of place where fans of the original film could come in and explore the home. It was later put up for sale, and no updates have been posted about the place, asides from the fact that fans could even stay at the Parker house for a night.
200 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio:
A Higbee store is where Ralphie sees the BB gun for sale. It was after a lot of requests that the producers of A Christmas Story were able to convince a department store to let them film the movie. A total of three scenes were shot at the department store, which includes the scene where Ralphie sees the Red Ryder gun on display, the Parade scene, and the scene where Ralphie meets Santa.
This Christmas movie’s popularity led to the Santa slide that we see in one of the scenes being used as an attraction for quite a for years. However, in the year 1992, Higbee was changed to a Dillard’s store. By 2002, the store was completely shut down, and the building now stands as a Casino.
In A Christmas Story, we see the Parker family watching a parade that takes place outside the same Higbee. This scene was shot at 200 Prospect Avenue and Cleveland Public Square.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada:
Asides from Ohio, Ontario was the other location that we often see in A Christmas Story. This double filming location situation could be one of the reasons that contributed to the success of this nostalgic Christmas film in both Canada and the USA.
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada:
The school that Ralphie goes to is believed to be filmed at Victoria School, located in Ontario. In the film, the cast refers to it as Warren G. Harding Elementary, which is an actual school that the writer of the story, Jean, had attended. Now that its been years since A Christmas Story’s release, the place has been transformed into a women’s shelter.
Other locations in Toronto include the Cherry Street Bridge, which is where Ralphie says a curse word in front of his father for the first time. The ending scene of the film, where the Parker family arrives to eat Chop Suey, is located at 744 Gerrard Street East, in Ontario.
The classic holiday film, A Christmas Story, is now available to stream at Max and Amazon Prime.
Also Read: A Taste Of Christmas Filming Locations: Where Is The Movie Shot?
