Women We Love: Melinda Dillon

Object of our affection: Melinda Dillon, actress.

- She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance of Honey in the original Broadway production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

- Although it was her third feature film, she received a Golden Globe nomination for "Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture" for Bound for Glory.

- Academy Award nominations came for her supporting roles in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Absence of Malice.

- Other films she has appeared in include Slap Shot, Songwriter, Harry and the Hendersons, The Prince of Tides, To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, How to Make an American Quilt, Magnolia, Adam & Steve and Reign Over Me.

- But it as Ralphie's mom in the beloved yuletide classic A Christmas Story that she is most known. Never seen it? Well, you'll have plenty of chances to spend the holidays with the Parkers starting tomorrow night on TBS as they present their annual 24-hour Christmas Story marathon.

Trivial Pursuits: A Christmas Story Edition

A modern holiday classic, A Christmas Story is a perennial favorite this time of year. But did you know that ...

By the numbers: Ralphie says he wants the Red Ryder BB Gun 28 times during the film's 94-minute running time; that’s approximately once every three minutes and 20 seconds.
Cameos: All three of the film's screenwriters have bit parts in the film. Director Bob Clark plays "Swede", the neighbor who admires the leg lamp. Author and narrator Jean Shepherd is the grouchy guy waiting in line for Santa; Leigh Brown (Shepherd's wife) is standing with him.
Racy beginnings: Three of Shepherd's semi-autobiographical short stories on which A Christmas Story is based were first published in Playboy magazine between 1964 and 1966.
A Christmas legacy: A Christmas Story supposedly inspired the creation of the Emmy Award winning comedy series The Wonder Years. Peter Billingsley even guest starred on the show.
Deleted scene: Ralphie teams up with Flash Gordon against Ming the Merciless in another fantasy sequence. Why isn't this on the DVD?
A different Story: Jack Nicholson wanted to play Ralphie’s dad, but was nixed due because his salary would have doubled the budget. The considerably cheaper Darren McGavin was cast instead as "The Old Man".


Now that's a special effect: A hidden suction tube was used to create the realistic illusion that Flick's tongue had stuck to the metal flagpole (and yes, that really could happen, as seen in an episode of Mythbusters).
And speaking of Flick: Yes, it is true that Scott Schwartz, the actor who played him and also co-starred in the Richard Pryor comedy The Toy, became a porn star, mostly (thankfully?) in "non-sex" roles. He even won an AVN Award.
Musical homage: The music heard when local bully Scut Farkas first appears is the "Wolf" music from Sergei Prokofiev's classic composition Peter and the Wolf. The name "Farkas" is derived from the Hungarian word for "wolf".
The sequel you never heard of: My Summer Story (a.k.a. It Runs in the Family) was released in 1994 with Kieran Culkin, Charles Grodin and Mary Steenburgen playing Ralphie and his parents. Jean Shepherd returned as the narrator, as did Tedde Moore as Miss Shields, Ralphie's teacher.
Fanatic fans: The documentary Road Trip for Ralphie shows how two Canadians visit every location used in A Christmas Story. Scenes include the duo rescuing Miss Shields' blackboard from destruction and tracking down the real-life location of the Chop Suey Palace.
That's a fact: Mrs. Parker is correct when she says the Lone Ranger's nephew rode a horse named Victor.
Oops: And speaking of Mrs. Parker, Melinda Dillon is correctly identified in the opening credits, but her name is misspelled in the end credits as "Dillion".

MD Poll: Christmas Story Gets an A+!

A+! A+! A+! ...

If that reference doesn't immediately bring to mind one of the schoolroom scenes in A Christmas Story, then you probably didn't vote for it as your favorite Christmas movie in last week's MD Poll. But over 30% of you did, enough to make it your #1 pick.

Perennial favorites It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street placed second and third, followed by The Nightmare Before Christmas and White Christmas to round out the top five.

See the comments section below for the full results, and this week's show-stopping poll will be posted shortly.

Click here to vote in the latest MD Poll.
Click here to buy A Christmas Storyon DVD from Amazon.com.

Film Art: You'll Shoot Your Eye Out Edition

A classic scene from A Christmas Story, titled "The Santa Slide", by artist Mark Bodnar.

Click here to buy A Christmas Storyon DVD from Amazon.com.
Link via MarkBodnar.com.

MD Poll: Christmas Cheer

Christmas is a time of tradition, and for movie fans, that means re-watching such yuletide classics as these once more:

• Christmas in Connecticut- Barbara Stanwyck goes all Martha Stewart.
• It's a Wonderful Life- Jimmy Stewart and an angel named Clarence.
• The Bishop's Wife- Cary Grant is the angel in this one, plus Loretta Young and David Niven.
• Miracle on 34th Street- Little Natalie Wood doesn't believe in Santa.
• A Christmas Carol- Alastair Sim is Ebenezer Scrooge in this, the definitive film version.
• White Christmas- Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye ... what more could you ask for?
• Santa Claus Conquers the Martians- The camp classic that marked Pia Zadora's film debut.
• A Christmas Story- "You'll shoot your eye out!"
• The Nightmare Before Christmas- What's this? Tim Burton's animated masterpiece, that's what.
• The Polar Express- Tom Hanks as Santa (and just about everybody else) in this modern fave.

But which is your all-time favorite? That is the question of the week, dear friends, and you can answer it in the MD Poll located in the sidebar. But instead of twelve days of Christmas, this poll only runs for seven, so be sure to check back next week for the results.

UPDATE: This poll is now closed. Click here for the results, and click here to vote in the latest MD Poll.

Click on the above titles to buy them on DVD from Amazon.com.

On Location: The Christmas Story House

This post starts off an occasional feature spotlighting famous movie locations.

If A Christmas Story is your favorite Christmas movie too, then you and I will get along just fine. Which means Brian Jones and I would probably be BFFs, since he took his love of the droll comedy beyond an annual Christmas Eve viewing: he bought Ralphie's house. Not only that, he restored the three-story, wood-frame house in Cleveland to its appearance in the movie and opened it up for all to enjoy about a year ago.

Not only can fans take a tour of the actual house used during filming, but you can even visit the Higbee's Department Store ("I like Santa") and the Chinese restaurant ("fa-ra-ra-ra-ra"), where Peking duck is always on the menu. And of course, you can purchase your very own "major award" at the gift shop. And if you don't know what that is, then you sir, are no friend of mine.

Click here to buy A Christmas Storyon DVD from Amazon.com.
Links via Imdb.com, CBSNews.com, AChristmasStoryHouse.com and YouTube.com.

Monthly Wallpaper - December 2007: Holiday Movies

To celebrate the upcoming holiday season, next month's Movie Dearest Calendar Wallpaper celebrates, naturally, our favorite "Holiday Movies".

Perennial favorites It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, White Christmas and the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol are present, along with some other vintage holiday fare, like Barbara Stanwyck's Christmas in Connecticut and Cary Grant's The Bishop's Wife, plus Judy Garland and little Margaret O'Brien in the Christmas sequence from Meet Me in St. Louis. Contemporary movies are represented by The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Polar Express and my personal fave, A Christmas Story. There's even the golden turkey Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, just for the heck of it.

All you have to do is click on the picture above to enlarge it, then simply right click your mouse and select "Set as Background". (You can also save it to your computer and set it up from there if you prefer.) The size is 1024 x 768, but you can modify it if needed in your own photo-editing program.

And you might want to pick out your favorite out of these too ... there just may be a question about that in the near future ...