What changed for you personally after the success of the film? Q: What were your feelings about it when the film was released in 1982? You were only 14 years old at that time. Gleason about episodes of The Honeymooners, singing the Superman theme with Richard Donner (he begged me not to jump off the roof of the house into the pool and told me, "You may sound good, but you can't fly"). &Too many stories really: going to see Poltergiest at the movies with Richard Pryor, sharing laughs with Mr. To this day that still applies as I have run into people from the film, cast and crew and we still have good words and share time talking about the filming. The cast, the crew, everyone really treated me well and most of the time went above and beyond to show they cared. Scott: The Toy was four months of shooting that, of course, I'll never forget. Q: How do you recall your overall experience making The Toy back then? Any other interesting stories or memories about making The Toy that you can share with us? His "eye" for scenes and set-ups was amazing he could just see things before they happened. I tried to watch him as much as I could to see how a director works, but I ended up laughing as much as I did learning things. He'd be laughing and joking quite a bit during filming. His charm and sense of humor was really unexpected as normally a director is very serious during filming and he wasn't that way at all. What do you remember about your experience working with him? What did you learn from that experience? ![]() Q: The film was directed by the great Richard Donner. ![]() Off screen he was pretty quiet, basically saving the energy he had for his onscreen time, but we had a LOT of conversations during down-time. Gleason taught me how to shoot pool, told me all kinds of stories about his life. He and I got along really better than most people expected as I showed him very early on I wasn't out to steal scenes, I knew WHO he was and appreciated his work. At the core, though, are lessons for the characters in friendship, love and respect. The boy, who can pick out anything he wants at the toy store, is really desperate for somebody to play with and demands that he wants the actual cleaning guy (Pryor) instead of a toy (cue the slavery comparisons). It is about a spoiled boy (Schwartz) who does not get the love and attention he desires from his wealthy father (Gleason). I loved this film when I saw it as a kid, but looking at it now there are some racist undertones that can be interpreted many of which are due to the storyline. It was the 14th highest grossing film of that year. The Toy is a 1982 comedy directed by Richard Donner and starring the legendary Richard Pryor and Jackie Gleason alongside Scott Schwartz. It took 8 auditions, several screen-tests. Scott: I auditioned for it, like everyone else, over 5,000 real actors tried out and another 5,000+ went to their local Toys-R-Us store where they had a contest for a "Jackie Gleason" look-a-like. Q: How did the role of "Master Eric Bates" in 1982's The Toy come your way? From commercials to Off-Broadway to Broadway, 150+ commercials later. A guy there produced some commercials and asked if I wanted to do one. I was going to an "old movie" club in New York City with my dad. Just like the ones he had growing up.Scott: I started in 1977. This story will take place in the 1970s, and features an adult Ralphie returning to his house on Cleveland Street to deliver his kids a magical Christmas. The script comes from Nick Schenk ( Gran Torino). Titled A Christmas Story Christmas, Clay Kaytis ( The Christmas Chronicles) will be at the helm. And it stars the original Ralphie himself, Peter Billingsley. and Legendary Pictures are teaming up for this continuation. Announced via The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. Cable channels run 24 hours marathons of the film on Christmas to this day.Īnd now, as the movie approaches its fortieth anniversary, it’s getting a sequel at long last. Catchphrases like “you’ll shoot your eye out, kid” and gags like the infamous leg lamp have become iconic. ![]() Although a box office disappointment upon initial release, endless showings on television made it a holiday staple, right up there with It’s a Wonderful Life. One of the greatest American holiday films of all time is Bob Clark’s A Christmas Story.
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