Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Hughes
Produced by	John Hughes
Written by	John Hughes
Starring	Steve Martin John Candy
Music by	Ira Newborn
Cinematography	Donald Peterman
Editing by	Paul Hirsch
Studio	Hughes Entertainment
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	November 25, 1987 (1987-11-25)
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$150,823,000

Planes, Trains and Automobiles is a 1987 American comedy film released by Paramount Pictures. It was written, produced and directed by John Hughes. The film stars Steve Martin as Neal Page, a high-strung advertising executive, who meets Del Griffith, played by John Candy, an eternally sunny, overly talkative, well-meaning, but accident-prone shower curtain ring salesman who seems to live in a world governed by a different set of rules. They share a three-day odyssey of misadventures trying to get Neal home to Chicago from New York City in time for Thanksgiving dinner.

Plot

Neal Page is trying to return to his family for Thanksgiving in Chicago after being on a business trip in New York. His journey is doomed from the outset, with Del Griffith (John Candy) interfering first by leaving his trunk by the side of the road causing Neal to trip when racing an uncredited character (Kevin Bacon) for a cab, then moments later again by inadvertently snatching the taxi cab that Neal had bought from an attorney just before. The two inevitably pair up later and begin an error-prone adventure to help Neal get back to his home. Their flight from LaGuardia Airport to O'Hare is diverted to Wichita due to a blizzard in Chicago, which ends up dissipating only a few hours after touchdown in Kansas. When every mode of transport (including a train and a rental car) fails them, what should have been an 1 hour and 45 minute New York-to-Chicago flight turns into a three-day adventure. To complicate matters even further, on the first night in Wichita, a thief breaks into the poorly-locked motel and steals almost $1,000 aggregate from the two men.

Neal frequently blows up at Del, blaming him for much of their misfortunes, including the robbery of the first night. These ravings are not all unjustified, as Del's carelessly discarded cigarette sets fire to the rental car, melting all but the radio. Del in turn regards Neal as a pretentious and uptight cynic while Del is less afraid to be himself. After a much heated argument between the two men, a bond between them forms, and Neal finally manages to overcome his self-centeredness. Both men pull together to finally make their way home, while Del manages to raise money by selling off his entire inventory of shower curtain rings, to kids and adults alike, who think they make good earrings.

Under the assumption that Del has a wife and family of his own (he frequently mentions his wife Marie and puts a framed picture of her on his various motel nightstands), the two men part ways. However, Neal later pieces together things Del said and realizes that Del is alone. He goes back to the train station where he had left Del and sees him sitting alone, inside an empty station, after they finally make it back to Chicago. Del tells Neal that Marie actually died eight years prior and that he has been homeless ever since. Neal, having softened considerably during the journey, invites Del to enjoy Thanksgiving with his family.

Cast

• Steve Martin as Neal Page
• John Candy as Del Griffith
• Laila Robins as Susan Page
• Michael McKean as State Trooper
• Kevin Bacon as Taxi Racer
• Dylan Baker as Owen
• Olivia Burnette as Marti Page
• Larry Hankin as Doobie
• Richard Herd as Walt
• Matthew Lawrence as Neal Page, Jr.
• Edie McClurg as St. Louis Car Rental Agent
• Bill Erwin as Man on Plane
• Ben Stein as Wichita Airport Representative
• Lyman Ward as John (uncredited)
• William Windom as Bryant (uncredited)

Production

In a 1987 interview, John Hughes said that the movie was inspired by an actual trip he took from Chicago to New York in which he was supposed to return the same evening, but wound up in Wichita and made it home five days later.

Hughes shot over 600,000 feet (180,000 m) of film, almost twice the industry average. The rumored three-hour version of the film does indeed exist, although not in order.^{[citation needed]} Hughes later commented that "it's a mess of footage" that would take "months, maybe even years" to transform into an actual film. The excess footage remains locked away in a Paramount vault, and according to Hughes (who died in 2009), most of it has "probably deteriorated by now".

No transportation company wanted to appear inept or deficient in any way, so crews had to rent twenty miles (32 km) of railway trackage and refurbish old railway cars, construct a set that looked like an airline terminal, design a rental car company logo and uniforms, and rent 250 cars for the car rental scene.

The interior of the Wichita airport scene was filmed on a studio lot in Los Angeles and was the final scene using extras on the shoot.

Hughes had originally selected Kankakee, Illinois (60 miles south of Chicago) for its train station for several scenes, but a lack of snow prevented the filming from occurring. Indeed, the winter weather was so warm that film crews were unable to utilize snowmaking equipment. While actors and crews waited for colder weather, several interior scenes were shot in a deserted warehouse in Kankakee using what are called "cover sets." Ultimately, the crew opted for Buffalo, New York for snow scenes.

Local officials in Kankakee that were working with producers worked feverishly to keep the crew in town in the hopes of the arrival of colder weather. The hotel scene in which Candy and Martin share a hotel bed was shot during this waiting period at a hotel in nearby Braidwood, Illinois, thanks to the efforts of the local Convention and visitor bureau.

The hotel which Steve Martin and John Candy stayed in when they drove the rental car into the building, was filmed in Gurnee, Illinois at the El Rancho Motel located on US 41, which has now been converted into studio apartments.

The film is rated R by the MPAA for a scene where Steve Martin goes on a tirade against a car rental agent (Edie McClurg) and says the word "fucking" 18 times in a minute. It ends with the agent stating "Oh, boy... you're fucked." The US body is the only body which internationally gives a 17+ rating; in most countries (in Canada and New Zealand, for example), the film is rated PG.

The rental car was a 1986 Chrysler LeBaron Town and Country with a 2.2L turbo engine that was customized for the film. Modifications included the tail lights, steering wheel, and owner's manual from a Dodge 600, custom paint, custom wheel covers, a very long antenna, a 'D' hood ornament, fender badges that appear to say 'Gran Detroit' and a trunk lid that was off of an older K-car convertible due to the luggage rack.

Reception

The film marked a widely noticed change in the repertoire of John Hughes.^[1] It was greeted with critical applause in 1987, a surprising revelation in that, Steve Martin and John Candy were both considered low-brow comedians and Hughes was considered a teen angst filmmaker.^[2] The film was a financial success earning over $150,000,000 on a $15,000,000 budget. It has 94% positive ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and is featured in Roger Ebert's Great Movies collection.

Casey Burchby of DVD Talk said, "John Hughes, like a lot of other filmmakers who specialized in comedy during the 1980s, knew how to explore a varied range of tones in crafting a full-bodied movie that went well beyond the one-note comedies that are par for the course. Hughes took comedy sub-genres such as the teen film, the buddy movie, the family comedy, and the road film, and boosted these flattened-out, cliché-bound stories with robust characters capable of generating believably absurd cinematic situations. Planes, Trains and Automobiles displays Hughes' powers at their height, as well as Steve Martin and John Candy in two of their very best roles."^[3]

While some reviewers were critical of the gushy tones and silliness seen in the movie, which affected the ability to convey emotional range,^[2] most applauded the humor itself.^[4][5][6][7] Leonard Maltin called the movie a "bittersweet farce," adding that Hughes "refuses to make either one (Martin or Candy) a caricature—which keeps this amiable film teetering between slapstick shenanigans and compassionate comedy."^[8] Maltin added that the movie was "hurt by an awful music score."^[8]

Home media

The film was released on DVD in 2000 in a 'bare bones' presentation. A special edition ('Those Aren't Pillows Edition') was released on October 20, 2009. The film was released on Blu-ray disc on 26 September 2011.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to Planes, Trains and Automobiles features a mix of rock and roll, country and pop. The frenetic musical score by Ira Newborn makes extensive use of the folk song "Red River Valley", including a rock and roll version of the song "Red River Rock", performed by British group Silicon Teens. Among other tracks is a cover version of "Back in Baby's Arms". The song, popularized by Patsy Cline, is performed by Emmylou Harris.

The soundtrack album was released in 1987, but has since gone out of print.

Track listing

1. "I Can Take Anything" ("Love Theme from Planes, Trains and Automobiles") (David Steele, Andy Cox and John Hughes) – 3:46
   • Performed by ETA featuring Steve Martin and John Candy
2. "BA-NA-NA-BAM-BOO" (Elizabeth Westwood, Nick Burton & Robert Andrews) – 2:58
   • Performed by Westworld
3. "I'll Show You Something Special" (Desmond Morris, Mark Morriss and Steve Brown) – 3:28
   • Performed by Balaam and the Angel
4. "Modigliani" ("Lost in Your Eyes") (Susan Ottaviano, Jade Lee and Theodore Ottaviano) – 3:53
   • Performed by Book of Love
5. "Power to Believe" (Nick Laird-Clowes and Gilbert Gabriel) – 5:13
   • Performed by The Dream Academy
6. "Six Days on the Road" (Earl Green and Carl Montgomery) – 3:06
   • Performed by Steve Earle & The Dukes
7. "Gonna Move" (Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe) – 3:32
   • Performed by Dave Edmunds
8. "Back in Baby's Arms" (Bobby Montgomery) – 2:02
   • Performed by Emmylou Harris
9. "Red River Rock" (Tom King, Ira Mack and Fred Mendelsohn) – 3:26
   • Performed by Silicon Teens
10. "Wheels" (Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons) – 3:08
    • Performed by Stars of Heaven

References

External links

Film portal

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Planes, Trains and Automobiles

• Planes, Trains and Automobiles at the Internet Movie Database
• Planes, Trains and Automobiles at AllRovi