It being the Festive Season, I've just bought a DVD of 'Christmas Story' featuring, according to the cover, John Turturro and Noah Emmerich. It does - but only their voices as the film is, unfortunately, dubbed being made in Finland of all places! I would much prefer they had simply let the actors gabble away in Finnish and used subtitles.
The story is about Nicholas, a little orphan boy who grows up in a small Finnish village hundreds of years ago. He makes little wooden toys and, every year at Christmas, places them on the doorsteps of the other children in the village as anonymous presents.
Otto Gustavsson plays Nicholas aged 13 as he is adopted by different families. Eventually, he goes to live with a bad tempered woodcarver who teaches him his trade and becomes a mentor and good friend to Nicholas. When the boy grows into manhood he puts on his famous red tunic and trousers, finds a sleigh and some reindeer and continues to place wooden toys on the doorsteps of the children. So is the legend of Father Christmas born, according to the film anyway.
I found the film quaint and interesting with some wonderful outdoor wintry scenes of snowy Finland. Otto Gustavsson is quaint, too, though that is probably because you don't get to see many boy actors from Finland and because, throughout the film, Nicholas wears a brown, leprechaun-like leather hat that must have been fashionable for boys to wear at one time in Finland.
'Christmas Story' was made in 2007 and directed by Juha Wuolijoki.
I am sure I can count on Hosenhaus to provide a pic of Otto Gustavsson if anyone has even heard of him!