Planes, Trains and Automobiles

"What he really wanted was to spend Thanksgiving with his family. What he got was three days with the turkey."

1987 1h 32m EN

👍

7.3

SOLID

★7.3TMDB · 2,335

Comedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

An irritable marketing executive, Neal Page, is heading home to Chicago for Thanksgiving when a number of delays force him to travel with a well meaning but overbearing shower curtain ring salesman, Del Griffith.

“What he really wanted was to spend Thanksgiving with his family. What he got was three days with the turkey.”

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Cast

Steve Martin
Neal Page
John Candy
Del Griffith
Laila Robins
Susan Page
Michael McKean
State Trooper
Dylan Baker
Owen
Kevin Bacon
Taxi Racer
Olivia Burnette
Marti Page
Carol Bruce
Joy Page

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Hughes
Writers: John Hughes
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.3× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

39 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Hughes, shot by Donald Peterman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Ira Newborn. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Paul Hirsch shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Steve Martin and John Candy and Laila Robins carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "What he really wanted was to spend Thanksgiving with his family. What he got was three days with the turkey.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0093748 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Hughes directs. Donald Peterman behind the camera. Ira Newborn scores. Paul Hirsch cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 3.3× over at the box office.
239 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by John Hughes, shot by Donald Peterman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Ira Newborn. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Paul Hirsch shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Steve Martin and John Candy and Laila Robins carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "What he really wanted was to spend Thanksgiving with his family. What he got was three days with the turkey.".
8IMDB entry: tt0093748 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 24 themes, including "chicago, illinois", "new york city", "holiday", "thanksgiving".
10Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Donald Peterman
Original score: Ira Newborn
Editing: Paul Hirsch
Production design: John W. Corso
Costume design: April Ferry
Makeup / hair: Frank Griffin
Sound: David E. Campbell
Stunt coordinator: Bennie E. Dobbins
Runtime: 92 min · 1h 32m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.78:1 (16:9)
Status: Released
Budget: $15,000,000
Box office: $49,500,000
Return: 330% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)

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What people are saying

John Chard2019-06-10
★ 9/10
How about those Bears? Planes, Trains and Automobiles is written, produced and directed by John Hughes. It stars Steve Martin and John Candy. Music is by Ira Newborn and cinematography by Donald Peterman. Marketing man Neal Page (Martin) is in a last ditch dash to get from New York to Chicago in time for the family Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately obstacles halt his every advancement, the biggest of which is the man who fate has decreed is his companion for the trip; Del Griffith (Candy), a larger than life shower ring salesman whose outlook on life is considerably different to Neal's. If you haven't seen it yet? Then what is your excuse? You owe it to yourself to let this wonderful film into your life. John Hughes pitches two of America's then biggest comedy stars together and puts them on a trip where everything that can go wrong, does! Cue chaos with the methods of transport in the title. Yet as funny as the mishaps are, and they are, with a number of events being things many of us can associate with, they would be nothing without the expert characterisations. Both as performed by a never better Martin and Candy, but also as written by Hughes. Neal Page is anal retentive, snobbish and cynicism in a suit, Del Griffith appears oafish, over talkative and comes bedecked in cheapo winter wear. As time, options and sanity start to ebb away, desperation takes a hold and a surprising co-dependency starts to form. Something that beautifully sets us up for a finale that is as touching as it is genuinely surprising. It has mature comedy characterisations for the grown ups and chaotic actions for the younger crowd. Perfect and it should be prescribed at least once a year for a pick me up. 9/10
r96sk2020-12-30
★ 8/10
Entertaining 1987 flick from John Hughes. <em>'Planes, Trains and Automobiles'</em> is an enjoyable watch, pure and simple. The pairing of Steve Martin and John Candy is a great one, with both holding their own and bringing a lot of humour to events. Away from those two, you also have interesting bit part roles for Kevin Bacon and Michael McKean. The plot is one that could've got repetitive, but the film keeps it interesting for the whole 93 minutes. I will say, not that it's an all that noteworthy thing, that it has more (overly?) dramatic moments than I was anticipating, especially at the end. I was expecting a flat-out comedy, but the additional heart fits in well enough. It's a film 100% worth watching, if only for the humour of the two leads; there are some funny gags in there.