Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Infobox_Film
name=Planes, Trains and Automobiles


caption = The movie poster for "Planes, Trains and Automobiles".
amg_id=1:38289
imdb_id=0093748
writer=John Hughes
starring=Steve Martin
John Candy
director=John Hughes
music=Ira Newborn
cinematography=Donald Peterman
editing=Paul Hirsch
distributor=Paramount Pictures
released=November 25 1987
runtime=92 min.
country=flagicon|United States United States
language=English
movie_series=
awards=
producer=John Hughes
budget= |

"Planes, Trains & Automobiles" is an American comedy movie 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, but always skewered, 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 movie 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 snatching the taxi cab that 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 fails them, what should have been a 1 hour and 45 minute New York-to-Chicago flight turns into a three-day adventure.

Neal frequently blows up at Del, blaming him for much of their misfortunes, though mere fate is more at fault. Del in turn regards Neal as pretentious and uptight, while Del is less afraid to be himself. After much heated arguments 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 station where he had left Del and sees Del sitting alone at the empty Union Station, after they finally make it back to Chicago. Del tells Neal that Marie actually passed away eight years ago and that he's been homeless ever since. The bond between the two men strengthens further when Neal invites him into his home for the holidays.

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 Little Neal Page
Edie McClurg as 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)

Reception

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. Their attempts at producing an 'adult' comedy resulted in one of the most highly regarded films of the decade. (It now has 97% positive ratings on [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/planes_trains_and_automobiles 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.

Rating

The film is rated "R" by the MPAA for a scene including a substantial amount of strong language. In that scene, Steve Martin goes on a tirade against a car rental agent (Edie McClurg) and says "fuck" and "fucking" 19 times in just over a minute.

The scene is sometimes dubbed for television, and the rest of the film is family-friendly.Fact|date=September 2008

Releases

The film was released on DVD in 2000, and although there is a three-hour version of the film in the Paramount Studios film vault,Fact|date=May 2007 the original theatrical version is featured on the DVD in a 'bare bones' presentation.

A known deleted scene of Neal and Del eating airline food, that is commonly seen on the version of the film edited for television, is not on the disc either.

Film Notes

John Hughes shot over convert|600000|ft|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.

oundtrack

Infobox Album
Name = Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Type = soundtrack
Longtype =
Artist = various artists


Cover size = 0
Released = 1987
Recorded =
Genre = Rock and roll
Country
Pop
Length = 34:32
Label = MCA
Producer =
Reviews =
Last album =
This album =
Next album = The soundtrack to "Planes, Trains & 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) 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, "". 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 & Automobiles") (David Steele, Andy Cox and John Hughes) – 3:46
#*Performed by ETA featuring Steve Martin and John Candy
#"BA-NA-NA-BAM-BOO" (Elizabeth Westwood, Nick Burton & Robert Andrews) – 2:58
#*Performed by Westworld
#"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
#*Performed by Book of Love
#"Power to Believe" (Nick Laird-Clowes and Gilbert Gabriel) – 5:13
#*Performed by The Dream Academy
#"Six Days on the Road" (Earl Green and Carl Montgomery) – 3:06
#*Performed by Steve Earle & The Dukes
#"Gonna Move" (Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe) – 3:32
#*Performed by Dave Edmunds
#"Back in Baby's Arms" (Bobby Montgomery) – 2:02
#*Performed by Emmylou Harris
#"Red River Rock" (Tom King, Ira Mack and Fred Mendelsohn) – 3:26
#*Performed by Silicon Teens
#"Wheels" (Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons) – 3:08
#*Performed by Stars of Heaven

External links

*
* [http://www.fast-rewind.com/planestrains.htm Planes Trains & Automobiles at the 80s Movie Gateway]
*
* [http://www.i-mockery.com/minimocks/planes-trains-automobiles/ Planes, Trains & Automobiles list of top moments with photos]