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
Kevin Bacon	...	Taxi Racer
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

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....

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Plot Keywords:

airport | bad luck | wichita kansas | road movie | road trip | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy

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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, 20 December 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

John Candy and Steve Martin eat dinner on the plane, in a scene that is not in the theatrical version (though it airs on the televised version). The scene ends with a long-haired passenger in front of Steve Martin letting his or her hair cascade down onto Martin's brownie, completely covering it. Seeing that Martin is no longer hungry, John Candy fishes through the hair to retrieve and eat it.

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Goofs

When Neal checks into the hotel and leaves Del in the car, it is snowing on Del as he sits in the car talking to himself. When the camera cuts to Neal looking out the window at Del, no snow is falling.

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Quotes

Del: When I'm dead and buried, all I'll leave behind are some shower curtain rings that didn't fall down. Some legacy, huh?
Neal: At the very least, the absolute minimum, you'll have a woman you love to grow old with. You love her, don't you?
Del: Love... is not a big enough word. It's not a big enough word for how I feel about my wife.
Del, Neal: [raises drink] To the wives!

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Crazy Credits

After all the end credits, we get to see advertising exec William Windom in the office as in the scene in the beginning of the movie, still examining the pictures Neal Page were waiting for him to get through with at that point.

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Alternate Versions

Although it's not included in the theatrical or the network cuts, a shot of Del Griffith brushing his teeth was included on ads for the network version.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Saddest Moments in Comedy Movies (2017)

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Soundtracks

I Can Take Anything
(1987)
(Love theme from Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987))
Written by David Steele, Andy Cox, and John Hughes
Performed by E.T.A. featuring Steve Martin and John Candy

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.