The comic mishaps and adventures of a young boy named Ralph, trying to convince his parents, teachers, and Santa that a Red Ryder B.B. gun really is the perfect Christmas gift for the 1940s.

Credits: TheMovieDb.

Film Cast:

• Mrs. Parker: Melinda Dillon
• The Old Man (Mr. Parker): Darren McGavin
• Ralphie Parker: Peter Billingsley
• Ralphie as an Adult (voice): Jean Shepherd
• Randy Parker: Ian Petrella
• Flick: Scott Schwartz
• Schwartz: R.D. Robb
• Scut Farkus: Zack Ward
• Grover Dill: Yano Anaya
• Miss Shields: Tedde Moore
• Santa Claus: Jeff Gillen
• Woman: Leigh Brown
• Swede: Bob Clark
• Christmas Tree Man: Leslie Carlson
• Freight Man: Jim Hunter
• Kid with Goggles: David Edward
• Street Kid: Rocco Bellusci
• Boy in School: Tommy Wallace
• Boy visiting Santa: Jordan-Patrick Marcantonio
• Christmas Shopper (uncredited): Gary A. Jones
• Head Elf: Patty Johnson
• Male Elf: Drew Hocevar
• Black Bart: Dwayne McLean
• Wicked Witch: Helen E. Kaider
• Chinese Father: John Wong
• Waiter #1: Johan Sebastian Wong
• Waiter #2: Fred Lee
• Waiter #3: Dan Ma

Film Crew:

• Casting: Jane Feinberg
• Casting: Mike Fenton
• Casting: Marci Liroff
• Sound Effects Editor: David Evans
• Producer: Bob Clark
• Novel: Jean Shepherd
• Original Music Composer: Paul Zaza
• Original Music Composer: Carl Zittrer
• Director of Photography: Reginald H. Morris
• Editor: Stan Cole
• Production Design: Reuben Freed
• Art Direction: Gavin Mitchell
• Set Decoration: Mark S. Freeborn
• Costume Design: Mary E. McLeod
• Assistant Editor: Neil Grieve
• Producer: René Dupont
• Associate Producer: Gary Goch
• Production Manager: Marilyn Stonehouse
• Assistant Editor: Richard Cadger
• Dialogue Editor: Wayne Griffin
• Assistant Sound Editor: Ann Heeley-Ray
• Sound Supervisor: Kenneth Heeley-Ray
• Assistant Art Director: Carmi Gallo
• Makeup Artist: Ken Brooke
• Hairstylist: James D. Brown
• Wardrobe Supervisor: Linda Kemp
• Property Master: J. Tracy Budd
• Sound Recordist: Joe Grimaldi
• Script Supervisor: Blanche McDermaid
• Special Effects: Martin Malivoire
• Camera Operator: Harald Ortenburger
• Sound Recordist: David Appleby
• Color Timer: Stephen R. Sheridan
• Still Photographer: Shin Sugino
• Production Office Coordinator: Suzanne Lore
• Screenplay: Leigh Brown
• Assistant Camera: Gordon Langevin
• First Assistant Director: Ken Goch
• Production Accountant: Joanne Jackson
• Key Grip: Ron Gillham
• Sound Effects Editor: Steven Cole
• Sound Mixer: Alan Bernard
• Gaffer: Chris Holmes
• Unit Publicist: Janice Kaye
• Assistant Sound Editor: Gudrun Christian
• Assistant Sound Editor: Tom Hanrath

Movie Reviews:

• Peter McGinn: Okay, I know this isn’t a perfect movie, perhaps not close to it. We just watched it again and I teasingly pointed out small plot or action gaffes here or there. But for me it is my all time favorite Christmas movie.

  Partly I suppose because it feeds into my memories of growing up in a snowy, cold small town, though this predates my childhood by several years. And rarely do I feel like an ensemble cast made up of both adult and child actors do so well together. The Parkers, husband and wife, have their duel over the “major award,” and at times their sensibilities reside on different planets: his love of sports and her submersion into the details of raising children, but they are a unit and comically in love.

  And I even think part of the charm for me is the voice of the narrator. Adult Ralphie is of course Jean Shepherd, one of the screenwriters and the author of the source book “In God we Trust; All Others Pay Cash, a book I once owned in paperback. For years I listened to his radio show, late at night, my ears glued to a small transistor radio. He spoke in a hushed, dramatic voice about his childhood and other stories. I remember once he intoned about a magic place called “Maine,” where his father hunted or wanted to hunt. Of course I lived in Maine so it was a sort of revelation to hear it was a special place. (And it is.)

  So A Christmas Story ticks all of the boxes for me in nostalgia and humor and covers the major elements of Christmas for kids, all achieved without the Christmas miracle a lot of holiday films trot out at the end.