FAQ for
A Christmas Story (1983)

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. It is assumed that no one who is diligently avoiding spoilers will be visiting this page in the first place.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for A Christmas Story can be found at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085334/parentalguide.

A Christmas Story is based on a 1966 anthology of short stories, titled In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash by American author Jean Shepherd [1920-1999]. Shepherd also helped to adapt his stories to the screen for A Christmas Story, and it is his voice narrating the movie as adult Ralph.

Many have asked this question, and it sure looks realistic in the film. Could they have really stuck his tongue this way back in the 80s? Several websites devoted to this movie include statements that a trick was used. The trick was that they had cut a small hole on the flag pole and had a type of vacuum hose attached that would suck the boys tongue in. The hose trick worked so well that the actor was actually stuck to the pole until they would turn the hose off. They actually played a prank on him one day on the set and left the hose on while they all went to lunch.

1948 in the fictional northern Indiana town of Hohman (based on real-life Hammond, Indiana).