Planes, Trains and Automobiles is an American comedy film produced by Paramount Pictures in 1987. It was written and directed by John Hughes and stars Steve Martin and John Candy.
Plot
Steve Martin plays the tightly wound Neal Page, a bundle-of-nerves advertising executive. John Candy portrays the innocent and well-meaning, but accident-prone, overly talkative and somewhat feckless, Del Griffith (Director of Sales, American Light and Fixture, Shower Curtain Ring Division), a shower curtain ring salesman who seems to live in a world governed by a different set of rules from those governing Neal Page's marketing life.
The film follows the story of Neal Page as he tries to return to his family for Thanksgiving in Chicago after being on a business trip in New York. The journey is doomed from the outset, with Del Griffith interfering by inadvertently snatching the taxi cab that Mr. Page had hailed for himself. The two inevitably pair up later and begin an absurdly error-prone adventure to help Page 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 a 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, an unidentified thief steals almost $1000 aggregate from the two men and is not seen subsequently.
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 had ruined the rental car, melting all but the radio. Del in turn regards Neal as pretentious and uptight, while Del is less afraid to be himself. After much heated argument between the two men, a bond between them forms, and Neal finally manages to overcome his self-centeredness and both men pull together to finally make their way home.
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), Neal is taken aback when he later pieces together things Del said to realize that Del is alone. He goes back to the train station where he had left Del and sees Del sitting alone, inside an empty station, after they finally make it back to Chicago. Del tells Neal that Marie actually died eight years ago and that he's been homeless ever since. The bond between the two men strengthens further when Neal invites Del into his home for Thanksgiving.
Cast
Production
John 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 - moreover it's a mess of footage that would take "months, maybe even years" according to Hughes to transform into an actual film. It is locked away in a Paramount vault, and according to Hughes, 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 train track and refurbish old railroad cars, construct a set that looked like an airline terminal, design a rent-a-car company logo and uniforms, and rent 250 cars for the infamous Rent-a-Car sequence.
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, weather that winter was so warm that crews couldn't even use 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 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 local CVB's efforts.
The hotel which Steve Martin and John Candy stayed in when they drove the rental car into the building was filmed in Gurnee, IL 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 including a substantial amount of obscene language. In one scene, Steve Martin goes on a tirade against a car rental agent (Edie McClurg) and says the word "fucking" 18 times in just over a minute. It ends with the agent stating "Oh, boy... you're fucked." The US body is the only one internationally to give an 17+ rating, with the film in most countries (in Canada and New Zealand for example) 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 ordiment, fender badges that appear to say 'Gran Detriot' and the trunk was off of an older K-car convertable due to the luggage rack
Reception
The film marked a widely noticed change to the repertoire of John Hughes.[1]
The film, the second to pair John Candy and Steve Martin, was greeted with critical applause in 1987, a surprising revelation given the fact that at the time Steve Martin and John Candy were both known as relatively low-brow comedians and John Hughes was considered a teen angst filmmaker.[2] Their attempts at producing an 'adult' comedy resulted in one of the most highly regarded films of the decade. (It now has 95% positive ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and is featured in Roger Ebert's Great Movies collection.) In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted it the 10th greatest comedy film of all time. The film also was a financial success earning over $150,000,000 on mere $15,000,000 budget. This has proved to be one of John Candy's highest grossing films.
While some film reviewers were critical of the gushy tones and silliness seen in the film, which affected the ability to convey emotional range,[2] most applauded the humor itself.[3][4]
In the Baby Not on Board episode from the TV series Family Guy, Peter Griffin recites John Candy's speech almost word for word.
Home video
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.
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", used during the scene when Steve Martin's and John Candy's characters wake up embracing each other in the morning. 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. Songs featured in the film but not included on the soundtrack album include "(Meet) The Flintstones" (sung on the bus) and "Three Coins in the Fountain" (which Steve Martin's character tries to sing on the bus), "Blue Moon of Kentucky" (sung while driving a fire-damaged rental car), and "Mess Around" by Ray Charles, the song John Candy's character is listening to when he plays "air instruments" while driving; swerving and puffing cigarettes, while Steve Martin's character sleeps. An additional track by Steve Earle, "Continental Trailways Blues", was composed for the film, but was not included on the soundtrack album. The song is included on the 1996 compilation, Ain't Ever Satisfied: The Steve Earle Collection. Not included in the soundtrack is the song "Everytime You Go Away" performed by Blue Room at the end of the film.
Track listing
- "I Can Take Anything" ("Love Theme from Planes, Trains and Automobiles") (David Steele, Andy Cox and John Hughes) – 3:46
- "BA-NA-NA-BAM-BOO" (Elizabeth Westwood, Nick Burton & Robert Andrews) – 2:58
- "I'll Show You Something Special" (Desmond Morris, Mark Morriss and Steve Brown) – 3:28
- Performed by Balaam & The Angel
- "Modigliani" ("Lost in Your Eyes") (Susan Ottaviano, Jade Lee and Theodore Ottaviano) – 3:53
- "Power to Believe" (Nick Laird-Clowes and Gilbert Gabriel) – 5:13
- "Six Days on the Road" (Earl Green and Carl Montgomery) – 3:06
- "Gonna Move" (Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe) – 3:32
- "Back in Baby's Arms" (Bobby Montgomery) – 2:02
- "Red River Rock" (Tom King, Ira Mack and Fred Mendelsohn) – 3:26
- "Wheels" (Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons) – 3:08
- Performed by Stars of Heaven
References
- ^ `PTA' Transports John Hughes Beyond His Teen Comedy Image; [Home Edition] JACK MATHEWS. Los Angeles Times (pre-1997 Fulltext). Los Angeles, Calif.: Dec 15, 1987. pg. 1
- ^ a b 'PLANES, TRAINS' NEVER GETS OFF THE GROUND; [THIRD Edition] Jay Carr, Globe Staff. Boston Globe (pre-1997 Fulltext). Boston, Mass.: Nov 25, 1987. pg. 34
- ^ PLANES, TRAINS' A PERFECTLY GOOFY COMEDY VEHICLE; [3 STAR Edition] Jay Boyar, Sentinel Movie Critic. Orlando Sentinel. Orlando, Fla.: Nov 27, 1987. pg. D.1
- ^ Flights of comedy, down-to-earth characters Martin and Candy are on a roll in 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' MICHAEL JANUSONIS Journal-Bulletin Arts Writer. Providence Journal. Providence, R.I.: Nov 27, 1987. pg. D-04
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