The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters | |
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Directed by | Richard Bartlett |
Written by | Jean Shepherd |
Produced by | Olvia Tappan |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Peter Hoving |
Edited by |
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Music by |
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Production companies | |
Distributed by | Public Broadcasting System (PBS) |
Release date |
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Running time | 75 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters is an American made-for-television family-comedy film, directed by Richard Bartlett, with a script written by Jean Shepherd. Produced by Olvia Tappan, the film is the second installment in the Ralph Parker franchise. Based on Shepherd's book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash and similar to all the other Parker Family films, the film depicts fictionalized events from his real-life childhood.
Released exclusively as it aired on American Playhouse, season one, episode ten, the film was met with moderately positive critical reception. In the years since, the film has been labeled as a 4th of July holiday movie classic film. [1]
Set during the late-1940s to early-1950s America, high school-aged Ralph Parker prepares himself for the perceived date of his life, with his friend's attractive cousin named Pamela. While he plans the event with precision, his mother and father each respectively prepare to celebrate the nation's Independence Day. Mrs. Parker passes a chain letter around the neighborhood, while inheriting a large sum of wash rags. Mr. Parker decides to display his patriotism by lighting off Roman Candle fireworks from his pockets that night during the neighborhood event. Though Ralph believes he's prepared for the date, he ultimately embarrasses himself. Meanwhile, the parents come to terms with the neighbors' perceptions of their family. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters was released on March 16, 1982, during an episode of the anthological television series American Playhouse.
The film was followed by a number of sequels, as a part of a larger franchise of films, an adaptation for stage, and a television broadcast adaptation of that play. The film's direct follow-up, albeit a prequel chronologically, A Christmas Story , was released in 1983. [2] It would be the second and final time that James Broderick played the Old Man, and his last significant role in his lifetime, as he died of cancer in November 1982. [9]
Cybill Lynne Shepherd is an American actress and former model. Her film debut and breakthrough role came as Jacy Farrow in Peter Bogdanovich's coming-of-age drama The Last Picture Show (1971) alongside Jeff Bridges. She also had roles as Kelly in Elaine May's The Heartbreak Kid (1972), Betsy in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976), and Nancy in Woody Allen's Alice (1990).
Matthew Broderick is an American actor. His roles include the Golden Globe–nominated portrayal of the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), the voice of adult Simba in Disney's The Lion King (1994), and Leo Bloom in both the Broadway musical The Producers and its 2005 film adaptation. Other films he has starring credits in include WarGames (1983), Glory (1989), The Freshman (1990), The Cable Guy (1996), Godzilla (1998), Election (1999), Inspector Gadget (1999), You Can Count on Me (2000), and The Last Shot (2004). Broderick also directed himself in Infinity (1996) and provided voice work in Good Boy! (2003), Bee Movie (2007), and The Tale of Despereaux (2008).
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a 1961 musical by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead's 1952 book of the same name. The story concerns young, ambitious J. Pierrepont Finch, who, with the help of the book How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, rises from window washer to chairman of the board of the World Wide Wicket Company.
Jean Parker "Shep" Shepherd Jr. was an American storyteller, humorist, radio and TV personality, writer, and actor. With a career that spanned decades, Shepherd is known for the film A Christmas Story (1983), which he narrated and co-scripted, based on his own semiautobiographical stories.
A Christmas Story is a 1983 Christmas comedy film directed by Bob Clark and based on Jean Shepherd's semi-fictional anecdotes in his 1966 book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, with some elements from his 1971 book Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories and Other Disasters. It stars Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, and Peter Billingsley, and follows a young boy and his family's misadventures during Christmastime in the 1940s. It is the third installment in the Parker Family Saga.
My Summer Story is a 1994 American comedy film directed by Bob Clark that serves as a sequel to his 1983 film A Christmas Story. Like the previous film, it is based on semi-autobiographical stories by Jean Shepherd, primarily from his book In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash.
Michael Bell is an American actor who is most active in voice over roles. He has acted in video games and animated series, including Legacy of Kain, The Transformers, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, The Houndcats, Rugrats, The Smurfs, The Incredible Hulk, and Snorks and appeared on-screen in film and television, including the TV programs Dallas and Star Trek.
Peter Billingsley, also known as Peter Michaelsen and Peter Billingsley-Michaelsen, is an American actor and filmmaker. He is best known for portraying Ralphie Parker in the 1983 movie A Christmas Story and its 2022 sequel A Christmas Story Christmas. He also played Jack Simmons in The Dirt Bike Kid, Billy in Death Valley, and Messy Marvin in a series of commercials for Hershey's Syrup in the 1980s. While an infant, he began acting in television commercials.
Pasadena Playhouse is a Tony Award-winning historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engagements each year.
James Joseph Broderick III was an American actor. He is known for his role as Doug Lawrence in the television series Family, which ran from 1976 to 1980, and he played a pivotal role in the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon.
A Christmas Story House is an attraction and museum in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. The 19th-century Victorian, which was used in the exterior and some interior scenes of Ralphie Parker's house in the 1983 film A Christmas Story, was purchased by a private developer in 2004 and has been restored and renovated to appear as it did in the film both inside and outside. The museum is part of a complex of four buildings devoted to the film and is open to the public year round.
Sarah Jessica Parker is an American actress and television producer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including six Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022.
A Christmas Story 2 is a 2012 American Christmas comedy film directed by Brian Levant and starring Daniel Stern and Braeden Lemasters. The film is a direct sequel to the 1983 film A Christmas Story and ignores the events of the 1994 film My Summer Story. The film, set six years after the original, follows fifteen-year-old Ralphie as he wishes for a 1939 Mercury Eight convertible for Christmas, but crashes the car before he even owns it. Now, Ralphie and his friends, Flick and Schwartz, must find a way to raise enough money to fix the car before Christmas.
A Christmas Story: The Musical is a stage musical version of the 1983 film A Christmas Story. The musical has music and lyrics written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and the book by Joseph Robinette. The musical takes place in the 1940s in Indiana and focuses on a child named Ralphie, who wants a Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas.
A Christmas Story Live! is an American television special that was originally broadcast by Fox on December 17, 2017. It was a live, televised musical remake of the 1983 film A Christmas Story, and incorporated the 2012 stage musical version A Christmas Story: The Musical. The live musical was executive produced by Marc Platt and Adam Siegel, directed by Scott Ellis and Alex Rudzinski, and starred Matthew Broderick, Andy Walken, Maya Rudolph, Chris Diamantopoulos, and Jane Krakowski.
The King's Man is a 2021 British-American spy action film directed by Matthew Vaughn from his story and a screenplay he wrote with Karl Gajdusek. The third installment in the British Kingsman film series, which is based on the comic book The Secret Service by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, in-turn based on a concept by Millar and Vaughn, it is a prequel to Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) and Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017). Its ensemble cast includes Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Harris Dickinson, Daniel Brühl, Djimon Hounsou, and Charles Dance. It focuses on several events during World War I and the birth of the Kingsman organization.
The Parker Family Saga, is a collection of American family-comedies based upon the stories of author Jean Shepherd. The stories originated on Shepherd's radio programs and in his books before being adapted into a stage play, two theatrical films, four made-for-TV films, one straight-to-home video film, one unaired pilot episode for a planned television series, one musical adaptation, one live television adaptation of that musical and one made-for-streaming film.
A Christmas Story Christmas is a 2022 American Christmas comedy film directed by Clay Kaytis with a script he co-wrote with Nick Schenk, from an original story co-written by Schenk and Peter Billingsley. It is a legacy sequel to A Christmas Story (1983) and is the eighth installment in the Parker Family Saga franchise, while ignoring the events of My Summer Story (1994) and A Christmas Story 2 (2012). The film was produced by Billingsley and Vince Vaughn along with Cale Boyter, Jay Ashenfelter, Marc Toberoff and Irwin Zwilling. Billingsley reprises his role as Ralphie Parker alongside Ian Petrella, Scott Schwartz, R. D. Robb, Zack Ward, and Yano Anaya returning as Randy, Flick, Schwartz, Scut Farkus, and Grover Dill respectively. Erinn Hayes, River Drosche, and Julianna Layne play Ralphie's wife and kids, with Julie Hagerty as Mrs. Parker. In the film, after the Old Man dies, Ralphie takes his family to his childhood home, reuniting with his mother and old friends, while being tasked to deliver a memorable Christmas.
The Phantom of the Open Hearth is an American made-for-television family-comedy film, directed by Fred Barzyk and David R. Loxton, with a script written by Jean Shepherd. Produced by Loxton, the film is the first screen adaptation to feature Shepherd's character Ralphie Parker, and is notable for influencing studio interest in A Christmas Story years later. Based on Shepherd's book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash and similar to all the other Parker Family films, the film depicts fictionalized events from his real-life childhood.
The Star-Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski is an American made-for-television family-comedy film, directed by Fred Barzyk, with a script written by Jean Shepherd. Produced by Olvia Tappan, the film is the fourth installment in the Ralph Parker franchise. Based on Shepherd's book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash and similar to all the other Parker Family films, the film depicts fictionalized events from his real-life childhood.