jgpo@iwu1c.UUCP (John, KA9MNK) (11/29/83)
a I just saw "Christmas Story" over the weekend. It'll never win any Academy Awards, but it was fun. The movie was based on Jean Sheppard's (sp?) book "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash" and was narrated by Sheppard himself. I'm intrigued enough to go out and search for the book. Has anyone read it? It was a good, kid's-eye view of life, the Universe, and everything. I'd recommend it to anyone who, as a kid, was convinced that there was a secret to coping with the world, that everybody else knew it, but you were hiding behind a door someplace when the secret was revealed. Ah, youth; ah, innocence; ah, sh*t, I'm glad I'm not a kid any more. :-) John (I'd be old at *TWICE* my age!) Opalko
trb@masscomp.UUCP (Andy Tannenbaum) (11/30/83)
I haven't had the chance to see "A Christmas Story" yet, but I've been a long time Jean Shephard fan (I think that's how he spells his last name) so I'll fill you in on a few interesting details. Shep has been a personality and story teller for quite a while. He had stories in New Yorker for a long time. He had a radio show on WOR 710AM radio in NYC, 50KW clear channel, so you might have picked it up even if you lived real far away from NYC. His show was on until, oh, at least 1973, for 45 minutes nightly, from 9:15-10 or 10:15-11 over the years. I could sing you his opening theme music, but I don't know where it's from. He'd talk about the state of the world and he'd tell stories about his (alleged) childhood in Indiana. What great stories. Anyway, his most popular book was called "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash," and, like the rest of his books (as I remember) was a collection of short stories, not a novel. It sounds like "A Christmas Story" is based on his story "FOO, or, Red Ryder Nails the Cleveland Street Kid" where I don't remember what FOO was. Anyway, the name didn't matter, Shep used to tell the story every Christmas eve on the radio. He had other annual stories, his other biggie was one about a drunkard named Ludlow Kissel who, one July 4th, came up with the largest firework that had ever been seen. He'd tell that ever July 4th, and it was always great. I think it's in "In God We Trust" also. (I'm not sure whether we just heard a recording of the story from year to year, I think he actually re-recorded it each time.) Shep also did some TV, his "Shephard's Pie" and "Jean Shephard's America" shows out of New Jersey Public TV were excellent, and he sometimes does color commentary for Tour de France bike racing or auto road racing. He goes on tour a lot, speaking at colleges and such. He usually does a gig each summer at the Clinton Historical Museum in Clinton, NJ, as part of their entertainment series. I saw him there this past summer; he was fantastic, and he mentioned his upcoming movie. He wasn't sure what it was going to be called, but his original choice was "Boys Life," because that magazine is instrumental in the story (he tears out the ad for the Red Ryder BB gun as a hint to his parents). But lo and behold, the movie title "Boys Life" is already owned by someone! Who? Your friend and mine Steven Spielberg. I guess he already owned everything else on earth and was looking for new things to buy when he came upon "Boys Life." Anyway, Shep couldn't secure the title, so he had to go with something else. In conclusion, do look into Shep's short stories, IGWT is probably his best, though he has some other goodies, the only one whose title I remember is "Ferrari in the Bedroom" which was written later. Try the library for a more complete list. I hope this leads to some activity for Shep, he's quite a storyteller, and it'll be nice to see him around again. Andy Tannenbaum Masscomp Inc Westford MA (617) 692-6200 x274
weamc@pyuxa.UUCP (11/30/83)
I just saw "A Christmas Story" and enjoyed it a lot. I haven't laughed
that much at a movie in a long time. In fact, much of the story can
be found in Jean Shepherd's book, "Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories,"
which I ran out and read right after the movie. The book is even funnier.
It is a collection of short stories, which were all originally published
in Playboy.
Andy Cohillruss@mit-vax.UUCP (Russell Finn) (12/01/83)
To shed some light on why Steven Spielberg owns the movie name "Boy's Life" and so Jean Shepherd's movie ended up being "A Christmas Story" instead: It has lately been fashionable for certain well-known movie producers (i.e. Spielberg and George Lucas) to keep the details of their new projects secret -- so secret, in fact, that the movie is produced with a dummy working title, which is then changed before release. For instance, "Return of the Jedi" was shot under the title "Blue Harvest." (No, I don't care to discuss the little I know about the "Return/Revenge" conflict.) And "Boy's Life"? You've all seen it -- or at least heard about it, unless you've just returned from another dimension. It was released as "E.T."! (Extra credit if you remembered the *full* title . . .) Russell "Raiders of the Lost Title" Finn ..!mit-vax!russ
grass@uiuccsb.UUCP (12/01/83)
#R:iwu1c:-17500:uiuccsb:10000034:000:308 uiuccsb!grass Nov 30 12:56:00 1983 I've read the book. It's a classic. PBS has a show they run on occasion called something like "The Great American Fourth of July", also based on material from that book. In some ways the book is a better deal, my mental pictures of the scenes he presents are usually wilder than what ends up on film.