Oh, holiday parties and family gatherings
And yes, those few moment where you find yourself in a conversation lull before the spiked eggnog takes effect or the dreaded mistletoe spotted. So if a “silent night” moment hits when talking with your boss or weird uncle, here’s a bit of useful trivia to entertain the whole gang.
Miracle on 34th Street:
Even though "Miracle on 34th Street" is one of the ultimate Christmas movies, studio boss Darryl F. Zanuck insisted on a May release because he believed more people saw movies during the summer months.
The studio’s PR department was given the difficult task of marketing a movie about Santa Claus while trying to keep the fact that it was a Christmas movie secret.
Zanuck not only insisted on a Summer release of this holiday movie but wasn’t fond of the project to begin with because it was so corny and wouldn’t attract an audience.
Well, prove Darryl wrong and it ended up nominated for a Best Picture Oscar won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay, among others.
It’s a Wonderful Life:
Actor, Cary Grant, not Jimmy Stewart was originally cast for the staring role. But when Frank Capra came on board, he rewrote the part for Stewart.
And thanks to Kellogs and the 1940s, the movies effects departments routinely used corn flakes painted white as snow. One hitch though, when actors walked through the "corn snow," the crunching of the flakes was so loud that dialogue couldn't be recorded. Frank Capra wanted live dialogue in his snow scenes, so he called upon the effects department at RKO Studio to create a new kind of artificial snow. The result: a new chemical snow, blown through a wind machine, for a truly silent night.
"Wonderful Life" was a box office flop in 1946 and couldn’t recoup its production costs. Over the next 30 years and as TV sets invaded household America, networks searched for family oriented holiday programs and “It’s a Wonderful Life” became an annual holiday program.
A Christmas Story:
"A Christmas Story" is considered one of the most beloved Christmas movies around, but its existence is entirely because of the success of director Bob Clark’s previous effort "Porky’s" -- a teen sex comedy that's far less beloved.
Jack Nicholson wanted the role of The Old Man, but the studio wouldn’t consider the actor's fees, which would have doubled the budget.
In 2005 the original home of "A Christmas Story" went up for sale. Avid fan Brian Jones bought it on eBay for on eBay for $150,000. Then added another $500,000 in exterior restoration to make it look exactly like the movie. Turned it into a museum and bought the house next door for a gift shop.
Home Alone:Joe Pesci kept kept forgetting he was staring in a family movie and not “Goodfellas”. He kept dropping the F-bomb during production. Director Chris Columbus told Pesci to say the word "fridge" instead of that other word.
Daniel Stern agreed to have that tarantula crawl on his face for only one take. He had to pantomime the scream, though. Screams tend to freak out the spiders, and it's never a good idea to do that when they're on your face.
Elf: If you look quickly, you’ll see that Peter Billingsley makes a cameo as the elf Ming Ming at the beginning of the film. He is, of course, better known for playing the lead in another Yuletide yarn: "A Christmas Story."
The twelve-second belch Buddy busts loose after downing a two liter bottle of Coca-Cola is real, dubbed by voice actor Maurice LaMarche. That’s some serious talent.
From Winnie and the OGR staff, we wish you and your families, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.
