- Sixteen Candles
Infobox Film
name = Sixteen Candles
caption = Theatrical release poster
director = John Hughes
producer = Hilton A. Green
Michelle Manning
Ned Tanen
writer = John Hughes
starring =Molly Ringwald Justin Henry Michael Schoeffling Haviland Morris Gedde Watanabe Anthony Michael Hall
music =Ira Newborn
cinematography =Bobby Byrne
editing = Edward Warschillka
distributor =Universal Pictures
released =May 4 , 1984
runtime = 93 min.
country = USA
language = English
budget = $6,500,000
gross = $23,686,027
website = http://www.highschoolmovies.com/
amg_id = 1:44952
imdb_id = 0088128"Sixteen Candles" is a 1984
coming-of-age film starringMolly Ringwald ,Michael Schoeffling andAnthony Michael Hall . The film was written and directed by John Hughes, and is often associated with the beginning of the Brat Pack.Fact|date=October 2007Plot
Awkward
high school sophomore Samantha "Sam" Baker (Molly Ringwald ) struggles to get through the day of her sixteenth birthday, which her entire family forgets because her older sister, Ginny (Blanche Baker ), is getting married the next day. She is also plagued by her ongoing infatuation with the very popular and very attractive senior, Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling ). Her day at school fares no better when she finds out that her completed "sex quiz," which she surreptitiously slipped to her friend, never reached her (and, unbeknownst to either of them, was picked up by Jake Ryan himself). Sam panics as the quiz contains personal information, including the fact that she is a virgin and is saving herself for Jake.She has a whole new set of problems when she arrives home to find that both sets of grandparents are staying at the Baker home for the duration of the wedding visit. On top of it all, one set of grandparents brings along weird foreign exchange student Long Duk Dong (
Gedde Watanabe ). Sam's grandparents force her to take him along to her school dance that night and, to Sam's amazement, it takes "The Donger" only five hours to find an unlikely girlfriend — the tallish, large-breasted jock, Marlene, promptly nicknamed "Lumberjack." After some ensuing madness with everyone involved, Sam's family eventually makes up before the wedding and apologizes for forgetting her birthday.A running subplot involves a geeky, insecure freshman (
Anthony Michael Hall ) who continually (and unsuccessfully) tries to bed his love interest, Sam, to satisfy a bet with his friends. The character's name is never given explicitly, but it may be "Ted," as he refers to himself as "Farmer Ted." Bryce also calls him "Ted" immediately before he shows Sam's panties in the bathroom. He is credited solely as "the Geek."In the auto-shop room during the dance, Sam and the Geek begin talking and Sam confesses her love for Jake. Upon hearing this, he tells her that Jake had been asking about her at the dance, and they agree that Sam should just go and talk to him. As she's leaving, he reveals the wager to Sam, who, in her excited state, agrees to loan him her
underwear to help him win a dozenfloppy disk s.Later (after a peepshow of Sam's underpants for $1 admission, which she does not find out about until the next day), the Geek and his equally unwelcome friends, Cliff (
Darren Harris ) and Bryce (John Cusack ), crash the senior after-party at Jake's house — during which the entire house is completely trashed. At night's end, Jake finds the Geek trapped under a table and they begin to talk. Jake inquires further about Sam; the Geek explains the situation. Jake makes a deal with the Geek: If the Geek lets Jake keep Sam's panties, then he will let the Geek drive home his inebriated, stuck-up, prom queen girlfriend, Caroline Mulford (Haviland Morris ), in Jake's father's Rolls Royce. Jake later uses the excuse of finding them together to break up with Caroline (who had surprisingly fallen for the Geek, and thus doesn't mind the break-up very much). Afterward, Jake drives to the church just in time to meet an incredulous Sam after her sister's wedding. The movie concludes with them sharing a kiss over a birthday cake with 16 candles.Cast
Main characters:Internet Movie Database. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088128/ Sixteen Candles (1984)] . Accessed 11 January 2008.]
*Molly Ringwald as Samantha Baker
*Justin Henry as Mike Baker
*Michael Schoeffling as Jake Ryan
*Anthony Michael Hall as Farmer Ted, aka "The Geek"
*Gedde Watanabe as Long Duk Dong
*Haviland Morris as Caroline Mulford
*Paul Dooley as Jim Baker
*Carlin Glynn as Brenda Baker
*Blanche Baker as Ginny Baker
*Edward Andrews as Grandpa Howard Baker
*Billie Bird as Grandma Dorothy Baker
*Carole Cook as Grandma Helen
*Max Showalter as Grandpa Fred
* Liane Alexandra Curtis as Randy
*John Cusack as Bryce
*Darren Harris as Cliff
* Deborah Pollack as Marlene, aka "Lumberjack"
*Joan Cusack as Geek Girl #1
*John Kapelos as Rudy RyszczykFilming locations
"Sixteen Candles" was filmed primarily in and around the
Chicago North Shore suburban community ofEvanston, Illinois . [Julia Cameron 1986. CHICAGO: HOOT SPOT OF THE ARTS :What once happened in L.A. and New York now seems to be blooming in our back yard. Chicago Tribune (1963-Current file), March 30, http://www.proquest.com/ (accessed September 10, 2008). Gene Siskel 1984. 'Sixteen Candles': Teenage comedy matures. Chicago Tribune (1963-Current file), May 7, http://www.proquest.com/ (accessed September 10, 2008).] Most of the exterior scenes and some of the interior scenes were filmed atNiles East High School , [Howard Reich 1983. MOVIES :Lucy Salenger: The 'stage mother' who turned Illinois into a movie star MOVIES For Salenger's successor, an 'enormously difficult job'. Chicago Tribune (1963-Current file), July 24, http://www.proquest.com/ (accessed September 10, 2008).] close to downtown Skokie, the setting for Hall's driving the Rolls-Royce. [Wilmette Public Library "Movies filmed on the North Shore" reference page. http://www.wilmette.lib.il.us/reference/record_display_public.php?id=28] A cafeteria scene, gym scene, and auto shop scene were filmed atNiles North High School . The Baker house is located on the 3000 block of Payne St. in Evanston. The church and parking lot where the final scenes take place is in Glencoe. [ Alex Thomas and Dave Wiemer 2002. Hughes Hunt. The Daily Northwestern (online archive), March 7, 2002. http://media.www.dailynorthwestern.com/media/storage/paper853/news/2002/03/07/UndefinedSection/Hughes.Hunt-1909290.shtml (accessed September 10, 2008).]Rating
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