Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: A Christmas Story (1983)

 

A Christmas Story is one of those films that has made it into social conciseness. Even those who have never seen it, know quotes from it and quite a few of the comedic bits. Though released decades later, for many this has become just as much of a Christmas staple as It's a Wonderful Life (1946). 

Everyone knows the basic story of this film. 9-year-old Ralphie (Peter Billingsly) wants nothing more than a Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas, however his mom is dead against it, telling the kid "You'll shoot your eye out." This basic story is really an excuse for various vignettes revolving around childhood and Christmas time. 

This film is best remembered for its comedic moments, and it is downright hilarious. The kid getting his tongue stuck to a pole, the father winning a leg lamp (a major award), the pink bunny suit and the younger brother being too bundled up for the snow to move are all laugh out loud funny. What makes the comedy so funny is how instantly relatable it is. As kids, we have all had the types of daydreams that Ralphie has and we have all done something stupid because someone dared us to. Also, as kids we have all had times where getting the right toy for Christmas is the most important thing in the world and had moments of disillusionment like Ralphie discovering that Little Annie's message is just an advertisement. At the same time, we can relate to the fact the father is so proud of winning a major award that he can't see how tacky it is. We laugh because we see ourselves in each of these situations. If you ever see this movie with an audience, you will see just how funny this film actually is. 

Underneath the comedy, this movie has a lot of heart. Much of this comes from how this movie perfectly captures what it is to be like a child at Christmas. It does this so well that the film transcends cheap nostalgia. We become children again for the hour and a half we watch it. And to see Christmas again as a child is a truly wonderful thing. This movie also has an ending that perfectly captures the feeling of Christmas in a small and unassuming way. The parents simply look out the window reflecting on Christmas and the two kids lying peacefully in bed with their toys captures the feeling of the end a great Christmas day. 

The movie also benefits from the family being perfectly cast. Of course, Peter Billingsly is incredibly charming as Ralphie. Darren McGavin captures the father figure perfectly. He takes a character who could have been an over the caricature and brings a real humanity to him. Jack Nicholson was originally thought of for the role but as much as I love Jack, Darren McGavin is the better casting. Melinda Dillon is perfect as the mom, bringing a perfect balance of warmth and humor. Ian Petrella is charming and hilarious as the younger brother.

 

This movie was based off the stories of American humorist and radio star, Jean Shepard (who also narrated this film as adult Ralphie), whose comedy revolved around recalling his own boyhood in Indiana. Shepard would include serval of these stories in a book called In God We Trust, All Others Must Pay Cash. Director and co-writer Bob Clark (at this time known for the horror film, Black Christmas (1974) and the raunchy comedy Porky (1981)) had wanted to make a film based off of Shepard's work for twelve years. MGM offered him a small $4.4 million budget and Clark even used $150,000 of his own money. 

The movie opened around Thanksgiving with mostly positive reviews from critics. It received a modest $19 million at the box office but was out of theaters before Christmas. However, in the following years with home video and TV airings, it would become a true Christmas staple. 

Resources Used

Christmas in the Movies by Jeremy Arnold.  

Cowboy Church #246

 Hello my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church. 

Today's musical selection begins with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans with a medley of What Child Is This and Sweet Little Jesus Boy. This comes from their 1967 album, Christmas Is Always.

This is followed by Floyd Cramer with O Holy Night. This hymn was written in 1847. The lyricist for the song (even though this is an instrumental version here) was Placide Cappeau. Cappeau was a poet who rarely wrote about Christian subjects; however, the local priest asked him to write a poem for Christmas mass. He didn't know what to write so he looked at the story of Jesus' birth in the book of Luke and tried to place himself there. He then asked his friend Adolphe Charles Adams (who had composed over 80 operas) to write some music. This hymn would gain controversy in France, when the church learned of its writers. Cappeau had left the church and joined the socialist party. Adams was not Christian, but rather Jewish. The idea that neither of the writers of a Christian hymn were in fact Christian, upset many church leaders. These church leaders denounced the song and deemed it not fit to sing in a church. Yet despite this the hymn was one of the most popular Christmas songs in France at the time. This recording comes from Floyd's 1996 album, We Wish You a Merry Christmas. 

Afterwards is the Sons of the Pioneers with their 1937recording of Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. This hymn began with a man named Anthony Showalter. As a fan of gospel music and an elder in a Presbyterian church, he held many "singing schools" at various churches in the south. One day he received two letters from former students who were struggling after their wives had passed. To respond to these letters, Showalter consulted scripture. He came across Deuteronomy 33:27, "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." After reading this verse lyrics for a song chorus went through his head and he wrote down, "“Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms; Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.” After using this in the letters to his former students he sent this chorus to his friend hymnist, Elisha Hoffman. In the letter he also wrote, “Here is the chorus for a good hymn from Deuteronomy 33:27, but I can’t come up with the verses.” Hoffman then wrote the rest of the lyrics to which Showalter put to music. The hymn was published in 1887.

Then comes Washington Phillips with his 1929 recording of I Had a Good Father and Mother.


This is followed by Johnny Cash with I Heard thew Bells on Christmas Day. This song began as a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on December 25th, 1864. At this time the United States was still in the midst of a civil war and this poem reflected and commented on this, ending with a message of hope, that even through all this war and violence, "God is not dead nor does he sleep." This poem featured two stanzas that were not used in the later hymn that directly referenced the Civil War. John B. Calkin composed the music in 1872.

Next comes Gene Autry with Frosty the Snowman. Gene recorded and released this song in 1950 (with When Santa Claus Gets Your Letter as a B-side). Later that same year, Jimmy Durante recorded it later the same year. This song was written by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins, who wrote another holiday themed song (though for a different holiday), Here Comes Peter Cottontail, which Gene Autry also recorded in 1950.

Next is Emmylou Harris singing Light of the Stable. Emmylou recorded this song in 1975. She would later state "Light of the Stable is one of my favorite tracks we ever cut. It was the jelling of the original recording group, the combination of Brain's [Brain Ahern] production and how incredibly creative those guys were was perfect. There is almost more space on the track then there are notes and I always loved that." The song would become the title track of her 1979 Christmas album, which I personally consider one of my favorite Christmas albums. [the quote comes from the liner notes of that album]

Today's musical selection ends with Gillian Welch performing Beulah Land.  

Now for a Christmas Sermon.

Today's movie is Tex Ritter in The Whispering Skull (1944). 

Psalm 76

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of Asaph. A song.

1 God is renowned in Judah;

    in Israel his name is great.

2 His tent is in Salem,

    his dwelling place in Zion.

3 There he broke the flashing arrows,

    the shields and the swords, the weapons of war.

4 You are radiant with light,

    more majestic than mountains rich with game.

5 The valiant lie plundered,

    they sleep their last sleep;

not one of the warriors

    can lift his hands.

6 At your rebuke, God of Jacob,

    both horse and chariot lie still.

7 It is you alone who are to be feared.

    Who can stand before you when you are angry?

8 From heaven you pronounced judgment,

    and the land feared and was quiet—

9 when you, God, rose up to judge,

    to save all the afflicted of the land.

10 Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise,

    and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.

11 Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them;

    let all the neighboring lands

    bring gifts to the One to be feared.

12 He breaks the spirit of rulers;

    he is feared by the kings of the earth.

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again. 

Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #259

 Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons.

Today's cartoon selection begins with one of my favorites of the early Merrie Melodies cartoons, The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives (1933). I love the atmospheric feel to the early scenes in this cartoon. There is a delightful amount of detail in these opening moments. I also simply love the title song. Despite being a Christmas cartoon, this film was released to theaters on January 7, 1933, just barely missing Christmas. The animation of the dolls singing, and dancing was reused from an earlier Merrie Melody, Red Headed Baby (1931).

Next is The New Three Stooges cartoon, Dizzy Doodlers (1965). The Stooges voice themselves in this made for TV cartoon. This is one of my favorites of The New Three Stooges cartoons. 

Next comes the Terry Toons short, Prescription for Percy (1954). This cartoon was directed by Mannie Davis. Mannie Davis had been with producer Paul Terry, since Terry's silent Aesop's Fables cartoons of the 1920's. Davis remembered working on these Aesop's Fables silents stating, "The story was very sketchy. The main thing was to get a laugh out of each little act. You know, a little piece of antic that a character would do. Today it wouldn't mean a damn thing; it's got to be acted out, and it's got to have continuity of thought. We'd be springing all over the lot. But we would keep it ... in the location it started out in. If it's an African story, everything would be down in the jungle, and then in the desert and all that. I was my own director, my own story man, and my own animator. Each man did his own little thing, his little reel, and we had, I think one month to make them ... and there were five of us making them and [we] rotated." Davis would continue working with Paul Terry and Terry Toons up until 1961. 

Now for a classic Donald Duck film, Toy Tinkers (1949). This movie features Donald once again going up against Chip and Dale. This film is directed by Jack Hannah, who at this time was directing the majority of the Donald Duck cartoons. When Chip and Dale had their very short-lived series of shorts, Jack Hannah directed all three cartoons in that series. This cartoon is laugh out loud funny. The slapstick is spot on and timed perfectly. Every joke works and they are all very funny. The humor is also displayed perfectly through the great character animation one should expect form a Disney cartoon. While Disney cartoons are often called sweet and cute in contrast to the hilarious antics at studios like Warner Brothers and MGM, the Disney studio could make slapstick cartoons as great as the rest of them (this is not an insult to Warner Brothers and MGM as I love there cartoons a lot as well). This stands as one of Disney's funniest shorts (a joke involving a telephone never fails to make me laugh out loud). The music in this cartoon was provided by Paul J. Smith, making it the first Donald Duck short in over four years to have music by someone other than Oliver Wallace. Smith's score briefly quotes a bit of music from an earlier Disney cartoon, the Silly Symphony, The Country Cousin (1936), whose music was by Leigh Harline. Unlike many theatrical Christmas cartoons, this short was actually released during the Christmas season. It hit theaters on December 19, 1949. The cartoon was nominated for an Oscar but lost to the Pepe Le Pew cartoon, For Sent-imental Reasons (1949). 

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Now for the Van Beuren cartoon, The Family Shoe (1930). The gag where the four singers' mouths all morph into one mouth was used in quite a few of these black and white Van Beuren cartoons. There is a surreal quality to this film that makes it very endearing.   

Next comes a delightful Christmas treat from Famous Studios with Hector's Hectic Life (1948). This movie was directed by former Disney animator, Bill Tytla (probably my favorite Disney animator). Tytla had worked on some of Disney's finest feature films including Snow White (1937), Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940) and Dumbo (1941) and his animation was often a highlight even in these masterpieces. Though the Famous Studios cartoons he directed might not be as highly praised as his animation for Disney, these films often showed him as a very capable director. This movie is a good example of this. 

Now for the Terry Toons cartoon, The Lion's Friend (1934). 

We close with The Simpsons in Simpsons X-Mas (1988). This is one of the shorts made for The Tracey Ullman Show before the animated family got their own TV show. 

Thanks very much for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry. 

Resources Used

Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Brothers Cartoons by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald 

 Of Mice and Magic: A History of the American Animated Cartoon by Leonard Maltin.

Donald Duck: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein

Video Link: Walt Disney Presents: From All of Us to All of You (1958)

Movie Review: Dust Bunny

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A

A wonderful nightmarish fantasy. 

This film's director and writer, Bryan Fuller has already proved himself to be one of the most unique voices in television. For TV he created such shows as Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies (a show I used to watch regularly) and Star Trek: Discovery as well developing Hannibal. With Dust Bunny, he brings his unique vision to cinema screens for the first time. The results are delightful. 

In the wonderful creative storyline, a little girl (Sophie Sloan) hires an assassin (Mads Mikkelsen) to kill the monster under her bed after it eats her parents. 

What makes this movie work so well is that it fully puts us into the mind of a child. For most of the movie, we only get fleeting glimpses of the monster as we spend much time viewing everything from under her covers with us. This brings us back to being unable to sleep at night because of all the noises we hear. While the monster is fully seen in later parts of the film, keeping it hidden during these early scenes was very much the right choice. Also helping these scenes bring us back to our childhood fears is none of the grownups believing her. This was always one of the most frustrating parts of being a child and it is perfectly captured here. The idea of no grownup believing us, also tending to make our fears worse. The sheer creativity in the storytelling also reflects, how our minds worked as a child. The idea of only being in danger if you touch the floor and the girl's creative ways of touching it are just the type of creativity that we all had as children. As this movie reaches out to our inner child, it does so from our most cynical side. Rather than dragging the child into the adult world, this film drags the cynical and skeptical adults into the child's world. This makes us as an audience more susceptible to this movie's childlike charms. 

As well as capturing our childlike fears, this movie is also wildly entertaining. The creepy scenes are delightfully creepy without ever becoming too scary. The action scenes are a lot of fun. The humor is often really funny. Even the relationship between the little girl and the assassin are surprisingly heartwarming. The cast is also excellent without a single weak member. Mads Mikkelsen and Sophie Sloan are wonderful as the two leads and have great chemistry with each other. Sigourney Weaver also often steals the show in her supporting role. The score by Isabella Summers (the keyboardist for the band Florence and the Machine) is also a delight and perfectly fits the tone of the film. 

Typical of a Bryan Fuller product, this move has a wonderfully creative and atmospheric look to it. The sets and the use of color are wonderful and heavily atmospheric. It is no wonder this was by the guy responsible for Pushing Daisies. Though the monster is kept mostly hidden in the early scene, when we finally see it in all its glory, the design is wonderfully creative being whimsical and scary at the same time. 

It is a shame this movie got an R rating. I am not quite sure of the reason for this as I have seen PG-13 movies that are much more intense than this. However, I think this would be a perfect gateway horror movie for kids and there is not much here that is inappropriate for at least older kids. Yet this R rating is going to keep this perfect protentional audience away from this great film. 

This is a true delight that I hope one day finds a big audience. It deserves that.  
   

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