Despite being staple family viewing for decades in the US, Bob Clark’s 1983 comedy A Christmas Story made little impact outside his native land. But its time will come

• Date: 19 December 2020
• Author: Donald Clarke
• Published date: 19 December 2020

For the last century or so, worried old people have complained that European and American culture were merging into an amorphous mass of low-brow gloop. We all listen to the same things. We all watch the same things.

This argument has some merit as regards film. We all went to see Gone With the Wind, Jaws, Star Wars, ET and Avatar. American Graffiti was nothing like the hit here it was at home, but we did eventually come round to that nostalgic romp. Occasionally patriotism gets in the way. Clint Eastwood's American Sniper, the tale of deadly marksman Chris Kyle, was the highest grossing film in the US released in 2014, but, dragging way behind less kill-happy pictures such as How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Maleficent, it managed only number 14 worldwide.

Sports films also fail to travel. An American correspondent recently suggested potential contenders for the ultimate "dad film": Field of Dreams, Die Hard, Rudy? You what now? Apparently that last film is some 1993 drama about some sort of American football player who did something or other at some point. It is a sensation among certain US demographics. Preliminary research suggests that nobody born east of Nova Scotia has seen it.

Rudy does not, however, come close to being the US film that has travelled least successfully. That honour (thanks for waiting) falls to Bob Clark's 1983 comedy A Christmas Story. As we noted in this space recently, Christmas films have a habit of setting in slowly. Anyone over the age of 50 can confirm that Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life did not gain divine status until as late as the 1980s. Opening to mixed reviews and ho-hum box office, it only became a favourite when replayed on TV and re-released on VHS.

A Christmas Story went through a more accelerated journey. Focussing on a young boy's frustrated desire for a "Red Ryder BB Gun", Clark's movie was released before Thanksgiving and, following polite notices, was mostly forgotten by Valentine's Day. But, this time, the ancillary fightback began almost immediately. Within a few short years, it had gained the status of Christmas classic. The cable services TNT and TBS have, since 1997, run it on a continuous loop for the 24 hours leading up to the evening of Christmas Day. In 2012, a musical version of the film opened on Broadway to decent reviews. Just this month, Esquire magazine rated it at number three in its list of "best Christmas movies of all time". By way of contrast, Time Out...