* "A Christmas Story" was released in 1983. This film tells the story of Ralphie Parker and his quest for a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. It was not a movie that existed in the 1940s.
* Cary Grant was a popular film star in the 1940s, but he was not associated with a film like "A Christmas Story". Grant's career spanned decades, and his films were typically comedies, romances, and thrillers.
It sounds like you might be thinking of a different movie or combining elements from different films. Perhaps you're recalling a film from the 1940s that has a Christmas theme, but it's not actually "A Christmas Story."