This humorous, nostalgic look at Christmas in 1940s Indiana is a holiday classic concerning 9-year-old Ralphie's (Peter Billingsley) desperate wish for a "Red Ryder carbine-action, 200-shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock and a thing which tells time." As Ralphie wages an all-out campaign to convince his parents (Darren McGavin and Melinda Dillon) the toy is safe, his dad wins a major award -- and displays it in the window.