My Top 10 Scenes From
A Christmas Story
This 1983 movie had a very slow start but has become a classic. I didn't see it until the mid 1990s and fell in love with it immediately. Several times that first viewing, I had tears in my eyes laughing. And it's also very sentimental and sweet. Here are my favorite scenes.
1. Randy's mashed potatoes: When Mother tries to get him to eat by using a piggy scheme, it gets him to giggling like I've never heard before. I giggle along every single time.
2. The hidden gift. When Ralphie opens the gift that had been hidden behind the desk and discovers the Red Ryder, it's as touching a family moment as you'll find in film.
3. The leg lamp. When the Old Man gets the "prize" box and finds the lamp, he's so proud it oozes out of him. Mother does her best to put up with it while Ralphie marvels (maybe a little more than a boy his age would).
4. Mother protects Ralphie. Following his fight with Scut Farkus, Ralphie is very fearful of the Old Man's wrath. Mother doesn't tell and Ralphie (and viewers) gains new admiration for the woman.
5. The Chinese restaurant. Perhaps a little racist, it's still done in a loving way when the waiters try to sing Christmas carols as the family sits down to Christmas dinner.
6. Seeing Santa Claus. When Ralphie and Randy finally get up to see the most scary Santa this side of Hades, they freeze up and blow it. Ho, ho, ho!
7. Changing the tire. Ralphie gets to act like a "man" by helping the Old Man change the tire. But the lugnuts go flying and Ralphie doesn't say "Aw nuts" afterward.
8. The Bumpous' dogs. A running gag, they climax by ruining the Christmas turkey, causing the Old Man to let loose with some of his classic colorful language.
9. Stuck tongue. I actually saw a kid get his tongue stuck on a pole in winter. He pried it off and lost a little blood. Double-dog dare ya to try it sometime!
10. Ralphie beats up Scut Farkus. Though it's almost scary to see Ralphie wail away for quite a while, everybody new the Farkus bully had it coming.
I'd take the furnace-fighting father. Hilarious.
ReplyDeleteAnd launching the bundled-up kids out the door where they have to make it to school or perish along the way.