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Movies for the Rest of Us with Bill Newcott: The Story Behind “A Christmas Story”
“A Christmas Story” might never have been made if a struggling young Miami filmmaker had not happened to be listening to his car radio one December night in 1968.
Peter Billingsley, Bob Clark, and Ian Petrella on the set of A Christmas Story
Comments
Indeed, what a fantastic storyteller Jean Shepherd was! Some of his talespinning can still be found n collections on the internet. He could make the most simple situations into a delightful and entertaining observation of life’s revelations. If encountering a Jersey traffic circle while listening to I’m, you were libel to go around a few times because you were paying attention to the story on the radio rather than defensively seeking the right turn off,
Be interesting to know how Shepherd got started. Too bad night radio doesn’t rely on “Reruns”.
Jean Shepard was the quintessential storyteller. From 10:15 pm -11:00 pm weeknights, on WOR radio, he’d spin his tales. I would listen to him religiously and never did I hear him tell the same story twice.