One part of the mythos of “A Christmas Story” is its lack of initial success.

The movie was no blockbuster or barnburner when it was released to theaters on November 18, 1983.

“You try to make a good movie and put it out there,” said Peter Billingsley, one of the stars of the film, in a phone interview with Fort Wayne magazine. “It did okay. It was not a world beater when it came out. It sort of came and went. And you thought, ‘Oh, well. That’s it. That’s the life of the film.'”

Another part of the mythos of the film is how it became such a huge hit on home video and basic cable that Billingsley is on a tour 41 years later talking about the film.

Billingsley will answer questions after a screening of “A Christmas Story” on Thursday at the Embassy Theatre.

Billingsley said he remembers the moment when he realized that the life of the film wasn’t quite over after all.

But he wants to save that story for Thursday’s screening.

One of the things that makes “A Christmas Story” such a classic is that Ralphie Parker, the boy that Billingsley played when he was a boy, is not the sort of saccharine kid one might encounter in other Christmas entertainments.

He is calculating, mercenary and deceitful, yet thoroughly likeable.

Billingsley was older than the character seems to be when he played him. He said he turned 13 while filming was taking place.

Adults’ memories of what they were doing when they were 12 and 13 tend to be murky-to-non-existent.

But Billingsley said his memories of filming “A Christmas Story” are vivid.

A series of related questions he gets asked a lot have to do with the departed, much-admired and much-missed Darren McGavin, who played his father, known mostly if not comprehensively throughout the film as “The Old Man.”

McGavin played The Old Man as someone with a lust for living. Some of that lust was expended on complaining lustily about the difficulties of living.

If you are tempted to undervalue McGavin’s contribution to the film (not that anyone ever is), watch Charles Grodin, Daniel Stern and Chris Diamantopoulos fail to do justice to the character in sequels to and adaptations of the original film.

Billingsley remembers McGavin as being a consummate pro.

“On camera, he was an incredibly well-prepared, extremely intense guy,” he said. “In a good way. That makes acting opposite him easy because that intensity that you see on screen, you feel in his presence. When you see Ralphie and Randy kind of shrinking…he’s really in the moment and you can feel it.

“And he was such a great, giving guy,” Billingsley said. “You know, when you do these movies – especially that one, it was a few months, and it was just long days. And for the moment, they kind of become like a surrogate dad to you. He was lovely.”

He said McGavin was also extremely knowledgeable about, and fascinated by, the filmmaking process and often gave technical advice to the crew, advice that the crew followed.

Decades later, Billingsley powerfully paid tribute to the character and the actor in the sequel “A Christmas Story Christmas” in a scene where Ralphie gets a call informing him that his father has passed away.

“We wanted to honor the character, but also honor the man,” he said.

Despite their characters’ sometimes contentious relationships in the film, the child actors in “A Christmas Story” all got along.

This was not necessarily good news for director Bob Clark, who tried to keep the actors who played the bullies away from the actors who played the bullied.

“He wanted that genuine sense of fear on camera,” Billingsley said. “He didn’t want us getting too friendly with them.”

The actors managed to stay close over the years, he said.

And despite a career that has included being involved in various capacities in several movies made by his friends Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau, Billingsley said he has never tried to disassociate himself from the role that will likely always define him in the minds of a lot of people.

“I have a very good relationship with the film,” he said. “Some people, when they’re very closely associated with a film, try to get distance from it. Even though they’ve done numerous other things, like myself, they’re always trying to get distance from this thing that they’re known for. I never felt that.

“I think it’s a film that brings a lot of people a lot of joy,” Billingsley said. “So, how do you not like that? The fan base is great. They’re warm, they’re friendly. They want to say hi, they want to share their stories with me about how they grew up with the film.”

Billingsley said he is grateful in hindsight that the film wasn’t a hit out of the gate.

“I think, because it wasn’t an overnight success for me, it was better,” he said. “It was a slow build. So, it wasn’t like you wake up one morning – which can happen to people – and it’s like your entire life has changed. Now you’re in a blockbuster, you know? Within 24 hours, the whole game board has shifted. For me, it was such a gradual gaining of popularity in such a genuine way.”

“A Christmas Story” is a movie of the fans, Billingsley said.

“They’re the ones that did this, they’re the ones that built it. You kind of keep a lot of gratitude with that, at least I do.”

Billingsley said he is especially excited for the Embassy screening because the film is set in the fictional town of Hohman, Indiana, which is an alias for Hammond, the childhood home of author Jean Shepherd, whose writings formed the basis for the film.

“I always love coming back to Indiana,” he said. “It’s ground zero. It is where the movie is set and where Jean is from. This movie has fans everywhere. But Indiana is very different.

“I love it because it’s so genuine,” Billingsley said. “They feel such a personal connection to the movie. They are just invested on a second layer than all of the other fans are. So, I really always love coming back to the state, getting a chance to meet and hear from the folks. I’m really looking forward to it.”

An Evening with Peter Billingsley and “A Christmas Story” – $25 to $60, 7:30 pm Thursday, Embassy Theatre, 125 W. Jefferson Boulevard, 260.424.6287, fwembassytheatre.org