Corrected entry: When Ralphie is looking at the store window display, there is Snow White and a dwarf depicted behind the toys. The scene is supposed to be set in 1939/1940 but Snow White didn't come out in theatres from Disney until 1944.
Corrected entry: The first time Ralphie and Randy (and their friends) approach the bullies, they run home towards the left of the screen (where the broken fence is on their right). Every other time they are shown running from them, they are running home the wrong way.
Correction: I've always believed that they are chased both on the way to school, and on the way home.
Corrected entry: Characters from The Wizard of Oz appear in the parade and at the department store. But that movie, which premiered in 1939, initially bombed in theaters and didn't become widely known to the public until re-releases in the late 1940s and TV showings starting in the 1950s. It seems unlikely the characters would have been featured.
Correction: Characters from The Wizard of Oz were used in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade as early as 1939, so their appearance in the film is entirely plausible. http://laughingsquid.com/macys-thanksgiving-day-parades-through-the-years/.
Corrected entry: When "saving" his family from Black Bart and his gang, Ralphie shoots the one climbing the rope, who then falls to the ground. When they show Black Bart standing behind the monkey bars, the guy that fell off the rope is in the background, supposedly dead. But, when Black Bart is talking to Ralphie, you can see the guy's breath because of the cold weather.
Correction: This is a dream sequence. Whatever happens is provided by a young boys (Ralphie) imagination thus not a valid mistake per submission rules.
Corrected entry: When Ralphie imagines himself saving his family from Black Bart with his BB gun, his mother says she knew Bart would be back. In the very next shot, Ralphie addresses her as "Dad."
Correction: Again, this is a daydream sequence, entirely made up. Normal rules do not apply to dream sequences. Ralphie can do/say whatever because it is his dream.
Corrected entry: After Black Bart springs over the fence (with the aid of the obvious trampoline), there's only one "dead" guy lying on the ground. After the cut scene, the four "dead" men are sitting back-to-back in a circle under the monkey bars.
Correction: This entire scene is taking place within Ralphie's imagination, so it doesn't have to follow the standard movie rules of continuity.
Corrected entry: In Ralph's daydream, when the bad guys jump the fence, it is obvious they are using trampolines to spring over.
Correction: It's a silly kids daydream that is being imagined his own way. Daydreams are like any dreams. Anything can happen, therefore not a mistake.
Corrected entry: At the Christmas parade, a band is heard playing the song "Santa Claus is Coming To Town". That song didn't debut until the early 1970s.
Correction: The song "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" came out in 1934. It's the stop motion film that didn't come out until 1970.
Corrected entry: When Ralphie's friends are walking home from school, the bully pushes Randy down. When he does this, you can see some sort of wire or pole in Randy's hand.
Correction: It looks to me like Randy might have a thin branch in his hand. There are many trees lining their path home and he might have grabbed one as he walked home.
Corrected entry: This movie is supposed to take place in 1940 in Indiana. However, in Ralph's class at school (in more than one scene), there are at least two African American children. Integrated schools did not come to northern Indiana until 1945 or later.
Correction: That all depended on exactly where in northern Indiana the school was and the school itself. If they were in an area where there were not many African American children to begin with; they didn't have enough children to have another school for them so it was either integrate them or not allow them into the school. While there were schools that refused to allow them to attend school, there were others that did. Since there seems to be very few African American students at this school, it's safe to assume this was a case where there were not enough students to segregate into their own school and this particular school allowed them to attend.
Corrected entry: Randy is laughing cheerfully as Dad returns to the car after Ralphie said "fudge." This is because the young actors were anticipating Mom's reaction to the previous take where "fudge" was mentioned. A giveaway is when Darren McGavin scolds "Randy" as he gets into the car.
Correction: The dad said "Randy" because he did not want Randy to lean forward and hear the bad word he was about to whisper. Randy then attempts to lean forward and listen anyway where it can be assumed his giddy look is because he knows it's some sort of secret and little kids often view listening into conversations they're not supposed to hear as a game and think it's funny. I did this plenty of times myself as a kid and got the same scold from a parent who warned me not to listen by using my first name.
Corrected entry: While the family is driving home after picking out their tree and before the tire blowout, the kids and the wife are singing "Jingle Bells". On the driver's side of the car, a shadow of a microphone is seen bouncing up and down to the song, conducting the cast as they sing the song.
Correction: After looking closely at the scene, the shadow on the Old Man's side of the car is Ralph's stocking cap. This can be told because it is the shape of Ralph's cap, moves in time to his movements and comes from behind, rather than in front of, the Old Man.
Corrected entry: The movie is supposed to be set in 1939-1940. However, since Christmas Day falls on a Sunday (his father reads the Sunday comics), it either had to be 1938 or 1949. To further confuse the issue, in neither year did the Bears and Packers play each other in December.
Correction: This movie is not set up to be a historic documentary; it is fiction. Therefore, the movie makers have leeway to make minor changes.
Corrected entry: Ralphie hands in his theme and the teacher tells him to sit down. His classmates laugh at him, and as he goes to sit down, a classmate says, "You're a geek." - a typically 1980s phrase but not a typically 1930s/40s phrase.
Correction: Whereas "geek" means "nerd" nowadays, back in the 1930s/40s it meant something more along the lines of a freak, specifically someone who performs in a side show by eating live animals. So it is not so unreasonable that the kid would call Ralphie a "geek" as a way of saying he is a weirdo.
It sounded to me liked he used the word "genius".
Corrected entry: When the kids are putting gifts on Mrs. Shields' desk, the words "Merry Christmas" are written on the board behind her in red chalk. Later, when handing back the themes, the 'M' in Merry and the 'C' in Christmas are now written in white or yellow chalk, and the rest of the lettering is in a lighter red or orange chalk.
Correction: It's a completely different day at school. Anyone who has ever been in a school knows that the original "Merry Christmas" on the chalkboard wouldn't have lasted long.
Corrected entry: Toward the end, Ralphie has his new BB gun outside ready to fire at the target. Trouble is, as he ran through the house, he only had the BB gun, and nothing else. The target magically set itself up on the metal sign that the BB ricocheted off.
Correction: Ralphie is holding the paper target with his BB gun as he runs toward the door.
Corrected entry: Ralphie's father complains after reading in the paper that "The Sox traded Bullfrog!" which is a reference to Chicago White Sox pitcher Bill Dietrich. Dietrich was released by the Sox, not traded, in 1946.
Correction: The Bullfrog he was referring to is a fictional character. He was traded for Shottenhoffer. There has never been a MLB player named Shottenhoffer.
Corrected entry: Watch when all the kids are putting the fake teeth in their mouth near the beginning of the movie. Ralphie's friend, the kid who sits in front of him, just pretends to put the fake teeth in at that point. Very obvious.
Correction: We don't see the students put in the teeth. When they say "Good Morning, Miss Shields" his teeth are loosened and he readjusts them.
Corrected entry: When Randy is playing with his fire truck on Christmas morning, Ralphie pushes it away from Randy, causing him to whine. When the parents come downstairs, every sound except for Randy's whine and imitation of the fire truck's sound can be heard from when Ralphie did this.
Correction: Randy doesn't whine he says Hey! when Ralp pushes away the firetruck. The sounds you hear when the parents come downstairs is the boys playing. No audio problems here.
Corrected entry: In the scene where Ralphie's father is gluing the leg lamp back together, there is no cord on the lamp.
Correction: Completely untrue. Not only is the cord CLEARLY visible, after the lamp falls apart the entire top of the lamp, including the shade are hanging by the cord.
Correction: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was released in 1937 to great acclaim, and was awarded an honorary Oscar in 1939. It was re-released in 1944 and many times after that.
Jon Sandys ★