Sad to hear of John Hughes passing on Thursday. I would hazard a guess that I’ve watched more of his movies than any one else on the face of the earth. Growing up in the 80’s you couldn’t miss his movies.
“Pretty in Pink”, “The Breakfast Club”, “Vacation”, “Planes Trains and Automobiles”, “Uncle Buck”, “Home Alone”, “Sixteen Candles”, “Mr. Mom” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”.
Has there ever been a Hollywood writer/director who’s delivered that many iconic movies in such a short period of time? John Hughes entertained and maybe influenced as many people teenagers in the 1980s as anyone else.
It’s interesting because my wife’s favorite movie is “Pretty in Pink” while one of mine, and certainly my favorite Hughes film is “Some Kind of Wonderful”. It’s interesting because these two movies are basically from the same script.
The way I’ve heard the story, John Hughes’ script for “Pretty in Pink” ended with with the girl (Molly Ringwald) choosing the the un-popular boy, Ducky played by Jon Cryer. But, Hollywood didn’t like it. The producers wanted the typical Hollywood ending where Andie Walsh gets the popular boy (Andrew McCarthy).
“Pretty in Pink” went to the screen that way despite Hughes’ disapproval. A year later, when Hughes had made enough money to produce himself, he dusted off “Pretty in Pink” switched the genders and brought us “Some Kind of Wonderful”.
Here’s a clip from that movie: the smoking scene where Keith Nelson (Eric Stoltz) gets a kissing lesson from Watts, played by Mary Stuart Masterson. She’s really in love with him, but is helping him get ready for a date with Amanda. Enjoy.