Believe it or not, I didn’t see A Christmas Story until adulthood. I read at least one of the short stories it’s based on before then, I’m pretty sure, but I may not have seen it until the whole “twenty-four hour marathon” thing started up, long after I’d grown up. So Darren McGavin is not, for me, The Old Man; my view of him as Just This Guy You See Around had been set in stone long before that. Goodness knows he did enough other things over the years.
He was never truly a star, which I suppose makes it appropriate that it’s The Old Man for which he allegedly received two million dollars—it’s a movie that sort of crept up on all of us to hold its pop culture place. Similarly, McGavin sort of drifted through the American consciousness. Despite 79 episodes as Mike Hammer and 42 as Captain Grey Holden on a show called Riverboat, I’m not sure most people would have remembered him were it not for A Christmas Story and Kolchak: The Night Stalker.
Not that I’ve seen much Kolchak, come to that. I picked up the complete series the other day, because my local Half Price Books outlet was having a “whatever you can fit in the bag for $20” sale, and it was there, but I picked it up more for my boyfriend than myself. He’s a fan. I . . . have read a description of the series in Stephen King’s Danse Macabre. I’m not even sure I’ve seen a full episode all the way through. He’s actually been in a few classic films, but again, I didn’t see them until adulthood.
No, I’m afraid I know him from Hot Lead and Cold Feet, wherein he plays the corrupt mayor. That’s okay; it’s a better role than I think most people realize. He’s stacking the deck in the hopes of getting the Bloodshy fortune. And, in pretty much anything but a Disney movie, he’d succeed, since he’s only really defeated by Wacky Coincidences. Maybe various other shenanigans. The misfortune of the character is that he doesn’t realize what kind of movie he’s in. It’s not a great movie, but it’s a lot of fun.
That sums up an impressive amount of his career, I think. His stand-out moment for me in A Christmas Story is toward the end, after he’s presented his son with that much longed-for present. He knows how much it means to the kid, presumably because he remembers that sort of thing from his own boyhood. He knows what a memory he’s making for his son, and he’s warm and gentle in the hopes, subconscious though they may be, as being remembered for that warmth and gentleness. He’s also just genuinely happy to make his son so happy. He’s got his quirks, but he’s basically a good guy and a decent father. And if that’s how most people remember him, well, that’s okay.
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