Sure enough, the prop man, who’s responsible for the chewing tobacco, comes up to me with a pouch that says Red Man on it. And the script says he’s chewing tobacco. The scene says he’s dressed as a sheriff. But the scene almost ended in disaster after the prop master gave Peter Billingsley actual chewing tobacco for the shot, as he explained on That Scene with Dan Patrick: In his quest for the Christmas present of all presents, Ralphie fantasizes about being a sheriff defending his family from Black Bart and his gang. (Image credit: MGM/UA Entertainment Co.) Peter Billingsley Was Given Chewing Tobacco For The Cowboy SequenceĪlthough A Christmas Story is a series of vignettes, there is a narrative thread running throughout it, and that is Ralphie’s quest to get a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle for Christmas. The scene, and the way in which it was filmed, just shows you how much Bob Clark and company were able to get out of such a small budget. I can make the sound effect, but you can't write that. So when you put your tongue there or finger or whatever, it just stuck. It had a little hole in it with a suction tube that went into the snow - you couldn't see it, it was a little motor, like a small vacuum cleaner, the hole-opening was about the size of your pinky nail. They made a piece of plastic that they slid over. And although it looks like Flick’s (Scott Schwartz) tongue was actually stuck to a frozen flagpole on the schoolyard, the gag was pulled off with the help of an ingenious as Schwartz (the actor, not the character of the same name) revealed during a 2017 conversation with Yahoo! Entertainment:

The triple-dog dare flagpole scene is not only one of the most memorable scenes from A Christmas Story, it’s also one of the most iconic moments in the history of cinema.

(Image credit: MGM/UA Entertainment Co.) The Hilarious Flagpole Scene Was Pulled Off Thanks To A Hole And A Vacuum Tube

A christmas story by jean shepherd