As with all movies there are several scenes in the script and filming that do not make it into the final cut of the movie. According to Stan Cole, editor of A Christmas Story there was pressure from the movie studio, MGM to keep the movie to around 90 minutes so that the movie could be shown every 2 hours in the theatre. Among the scenes cut were several possible opening sequences, a fantasy sequence in which Miss Sheilds visits Ralphie’s house and then Ralphie rescues Flash Gordon from Ming the Merciless on planet Mongo, and another fantasy sequence in which Ralphie rescues Santa from Black Bart and his men. Interestingly enough Flash Gordon and Ming the Merciless still made it into the credits for the movie. The costumes, sketches and pictures from this scene are part of the collection at A Christmas Story Museum. Unfortunatley none of the film footage of the scenes survived.
Excerpts from the movie script below detail the deleted scenes.
Deleted Miss Shields and Flash Gordon Scenes
Picture of the deleted fantasy scene with Ralphie and Flash Gordon
Ming the Merciless and Flash Gordon were still included in the credits even though the scene was deleted
Deleted Ralphie Rescues Santa Scene
