John Hughes’ classic holiday film turns 30 this month, so we’re putting the leftovers down to talk about Steve Martin and John Candy’s cross country travel nightmare. Here are 7 things you didn’t know about Planes, Trains and Automobiles… probably!
This video was originally published on Nov 27, 2017 on CineFix.
This is the perfect time for us to cover A classic not only are we still elbow Deep in Thanksgiving leftovers but just Two days ago this movie hit its 30th Anniversary of its theatrical release What more could you want even more Turkey that's insane so here are seven Things you didn't know about Planes Trains and Automobiles probably Based on a true story or based on actual Events is the type of thing that Studios Like to put in the trailers for oscarry Movies to make them seem even more Oscaring so you might be surprised to Hear the Planes Trains and Automobiles Is actually deserving of the same Distinction John Hughes the writer Director based the storyline of the film On something that really happened to him He was working in New York and had Planned to fly home to Chicago for a day Or two but thanks to snow storms there Were all sorts of flight cancellations Delays as well as flights getting Diverted to other cities and he's Somehow wound up in Wichita Kansas just Like the characters in the movie Hughes Didn't even make it to Chicago until Five days later well after he was meant To have already returned to New York John Hughes is responsible for more than A fair share of iconic films but most People don't know just how quickly he Was able to write all of these Classics
Typically Hughes would straight up Disappear for five or six days and come Back with a 120 page screenplay Following that he'd do upwards of 20 to 25 rewrites along the way of actually Making the film in fact he was so Inspired after his first meeting with Molly Ringwald that he wrote 16 Candles In just one weekend boom bonus thing Rumor is for Planes Trains and Automobiles he was able to write the First draft in just three days cranking Out the first 60 pages in a mere six Hours if you don't know much about the Screenwriting process just trust us That's crazy fast guess having that real Life experience of his disastrous Journey home in Chicago gave him some Extra juice Juice indeed in case you skipped ahead That would have made sense if you'd Watch the previous thing so shame on you Anyway back to John Hughes and his juice Vis-a-vis Planes Trains and Automobiles Not only did he write it super quickly But the script wound up being 145 pages Long that's super long for any genre let Alone a comedy especially when you take Into the account that the final film is Only about 90 minutes long before Photography started Steve Martin asked John Hughes which scenes he thought he'd Be cutting and Hughes was completely Befuddled he had no intentions of
Cutting the film down at all obviously They did cut quite a lot in the end but They shot over 600 000 feet of film Which was damn near twice the industry Average and according to Paul Hirsch the Editor the first cut was three hours and 40 minutes long they then cut it down to A two-hour version which was shown at Some test screenings and is more than Likely decaying in a vault somewhere in Paramount never to see the light of day Merry Christmas everyone It's easy to forget that Planes Trains And Automobiles is an R-rated comedy Until you re-watch this scene that is Start by wiping that dumbass Smile off your rosy cheeks Then you can give me a Automobile Four wheels and a seat I really don't care for the way you're Speaking to me And I really don't care for the way your Company left me in the middle of Nowhere with keys to a Car that isn't there and I Really didn't care to walk down A highway and across a Runway to get back here to have you Smile at my face I won a car right In case you weren't counting that was 18 F-bombs in exactly one minute and it was This scene alone that took the film from
A PG-13 to an R with the NBAA they Didn't give a about silver in New Zealand though playing strange is rated PG over there all 18 included boom bonus Thing but it was also this scene that Made Steve Martin want to do the movie At all Martin said it was the car rental Tirade along with this scene in the car With John Candy adjusting his seat that Made him say yes to the film those two Scenes alone were enough for him to know That Planes Trains and Automobiles was Going to be great and on that additional Bonus thing let's move on to our next Non-bonus thing number bye Like most holiday movies Planes Trains And Automobiles is all about heart and Togetherness in the end which makes this Scene with Neil thinking about Dell on The train pivotal but it took some doing And creative editing to get it John Hughes changed the ending of the film in Post from what he had planned originally And to get what he wanted he had to Scour previously unused footage with Editor Paul Hirsch to find a shot that Would work luckily they'd kept the Cameras rolling in between takes while Filming on the Chicago train so what we See here is actually Steve Martin on Some down time not knowing he was being Filmed at all and most likely just Thinking about what his next lines were Hughes felt that the expression on his
Face worked so well for what he needed That he repurposed the footage giving us This all too important moment in the Film We mentioned earlier that to a large Extent Planes Trains and Automobiles was Art imitating John hughes's life Unfortunately for the cast and crew the Process of making the film turned out to Be quite a bit of Life imitating art Snow is a critical element of the story And they scheduled production according Planning to shoot the whole thing in Chicago during the snowy months faking Various locations for the other cities They needed along the way as luck would Have it the snow just didn't come the Whole production wound up chasing snow Going from Chicago to Buffalo New York And back all In Search of the snow they Needed only for it to melt as soon as Production would get there Steve Martin Said that they were all basically living The plot of the movie hopping Planes Trains and Automobiles trying to find The snow that kept eluding them Let's wrap this up with an Easter egg as We often like to do you guys know that We do it often take a look at this scene Where we see Neil's wife watching TV you Know intercut with Neil living his Personal version of Hell the we can't See it if you listen closely John Hughes Fans might recognize that she's actually
Watching she's having a baby another John Hughes movie a movie that wasn't Released until after Planes Trains and Automobiles by the way so the question Here really is how did she get a pirated Copy oh and quick bonus Easter egg Kevin Bacon who stars and she's having a baby Is also the guy who beats Neil to the Cab in the beginning of Planes Trains And Automobiles though he's simply Called taxi racer in the credits John Hughes super fans theorize that he's Actually playing Jake from she's having A baby in this scene which then makes it Extra weird that Neil's wife is watching She's having a baby later on in Planes Trains so resolve that John Hughes fan Theorists
