Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)

A man must struggle to travel home for Thanksgiving with an obnoxious slob of a shower curtain ring salesman as his only companion.

Director:

John Hughes

Writer:

John Hughes

Stars:

Steve Martin, John Candy, Laila Robins

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Martin	...	Neal Page
John Candy	...	Del Griffith
Laila Robins	...	Susan Page
Michael McKean	...	State Trooper
Dylan Baker	...	Owen
Carol Bruce	...	Joy
Olivia Burnette	...	Marti
Diana Douglas	...	Peg
Martin Ferrero	...	Second Motel Clerk
Larry Hankin	...	Doobie
Richard Herd	...	Walt
Susan Kellermann	...	Waitress (as Susan Kellerman)
Matthew Lawrence	...	Little Neal
Edie McClurg	...	Car Rental Agent
George Petrie	...	Martin (as George O. Petrie)

Storyline

All that Neal Page wants to do is to get home for Thanksgiving. His flight has been cancelled due to bad weather, so he decides on other means of transport. As well as bad luck, Neal is blessed with the presence of Del Griffith, shower curtain ring salesman and all-around blabbermouth who is never short of advice, conversation, bad jokes, or company. And when he decides that he is going the same direction as Neal....

---

Plot Keywords:

shower curtain ring | shower curtain | shower | thanksgiving | airport | 

---

Taglines:

Steve Martin had no reason to panic...until John Candy came along.

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 November 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Filming Locations:

LaSalle/Van Buren CTA Station, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,009,482, 29 November 1987, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$49,530,280

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Hughes Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After Del "steals" Neal's cab at the beginning of the movie, Neal looks down and sees that the cab is gone. In the puddle on the ground, there are two shower curtain rings.

---

Goofs

Right after Del backs into the motel room, you can see a turn signal showing a left turn on their car, yet in the next scene we see Del using his hand for a turn signal.

---

Quotes

Bus Lover: Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer.

---

Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits after the title, which scrolls across the screen like a plane, train, and automobile.

---

Connections

Referenced in NCIS: Dead Reflection (2011)

---

Soundtracks

Mess Around
(1953)
Written by Ahmet Ertegun
Performed by Ray Charles
Produced by Ahmet Ertegun & Jerry Wexler
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp., a division of Warner Special Products

User Reviews

The best Thanksgiving movie ever!

When jittery advertising executive Neal Page (Steve Martin) is trying to go home for Thanksgiving, he gets stuck with boorish shower ring salesman Del Griffith (John Candy). Their experiences over the next two days are some of the funniest moments ever to grace the silver screen. The best parts are the "pillow" scene, the car rental scene, and the freeway scene (warning: you may very well laugh yourself to death). But overall, the reason that the movie is so good is because we come to understand why these two men are like they are.

I can't do "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" justice by trying to describe it. You have to see it to understand how hilarious it is. You won't have a dull moment in it.