This is the perfect time for us to cover a classic.
So here are several things you didn't know about Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Based on a true story or based on actual events is the type of thing that studios like to put in the trailers for Oscary movies to make them seem even more Oscary.
So, you might be surprised to hear that Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is actually deserving of the same distinction.
John Hughes, the writer-director, based the story line 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 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 New York.
John Hughes is responsible for more than a few 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 disappear for five or six days and come back with 120 page screenplay.
Following that, he 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 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 screen writing process, just trust us, that's crazy fast.
Guess having that real-life experience in his disastrous journey home to Chicago gave him some extra juice.
Juice indeed.
In case you skipped ahead, that would have made sense if you had watched the previous thing, so shame on you.
Anyway back to John Hughes and his juice, vis-a-vis playing 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 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 3 hours and 40 minutes long.
They even cut it down to a 2 hour version,w hich was shown at some test screens.
And it was 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.
How may I help you?
You can start by wiping that (Bleep) dumb ass smile of your rosy, (Bleep) cheeks.
And you could give me a (Bleep) automobile, a (Bleep) Datsun, a (Bleep) Toyota, a (Bleep) Mustang, a (Bleep) Buick.
Four (Bleep) 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 (Bleep) nowhere with (Bleep) keys to a (Bleep) car that isn't (Bleep) there.
And I really didn't care to (Bleep) walk down a (Bleep) highway and across a (Bleep) runway to get back here and have you smile at my (Bleep) face.
I want a (Bleep) car right (Bleep) now.
In case you weren't counting, that was 18 F-bombs in exactly 1 minute.
And it was this scene alone that took the film from a PG-13 to an R with the MPAA.
They didn't give a (Bleep) about the (Bleep) s in New Zealand, though.
Planes, Trains is rated PG over there, all 18 (Bleep) 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.
And quick bonus Easter egg, Kevin Bacon who stars in 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.
Wow.
That's it for today.
Thanks for reading.