The scene, as I remember it, is this: the “taxman” comes to the house of a wealthy family. I don’t know if taxmen actually went to peoples’ houses in the old days, but that’s what happens here, I think. He goes around the house trying to find objects that he can tax the family on. (I don’t think it works that way, maybe at some point they actually did that, I don’t know.) Everything he tries to collect a tax on, the wife comes up with some excuse, like saying it was a gift and they didn’t actually buy it. He comes to an elephant’s-foot stool, and the woman insists that “the circus was in town and one of their elephants was sick and they had to shoot it and they gave them the foot for free.”
What am I thinking of here? Thanks in advance for the answer.
Give us everything you remember about the film. Was it in English? What country was it set in? What year was it made and what year was it set? Was it black and white or color?
A Tony Randall/Debbie Reynolds comedy from the 50s, The Mating Game, has a plot similar to the one you’re describing. Randall’s an IRS agent sent to seize the assets of a farmer who’s never paid taxes and as he appraises everything in the house to apply to the debt it’s always an elaborate story that ends with the item actually being a tax credit. (I think the family ultimately is owed a million dollars for interest and non payment for some horses the Union took in the Civil War.)
I think you might be talking about the delightful sequel to A Christmas Story, called It Runs In The Family (aka My Summer Story). The family was far from wealthy though. Mother is played by Mary Steenburgen, Charles Groden is The Old Man, Kieran Culkin is Ralphie Parker and younger brother Christian Culkin is younger brother Randy.
Various other plot points include The Old Man’s continued warring with the loud, dog-loving hillbilly neighbors, Mother collecting an excess amount of gravy boats at the movies (Ronald Coleman Gravy Boats, I believe), and Ralphie obsessing about a Top.
This movie’s always gotten grief for one specific reason: it isn’t A Christmas Story. Well, foo. This may not be, well, is not, the undeniable classic that ACS is, but that doesn’t make it a bad movie. I always find it highly enjoyable. It’s funny and heartwarming and has the same feel and atmosphere as ACS. That’s because, like ACS, it too was written (and narrated) by Jean Shepherd and directed by Bob Clark. Kieran Culkin is actually a better actor in general than Peter Billingsley, but Billingsley fit the role of Ralphie Parker so perfectly, it’s hard for some people to let go and accept Kieran in the role. Ditto for Groden and Steenburgen. Whatever. I’ll continue to enjoy both movies for what each has to offer.