Friday Film Noir

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Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) is a road comedy written and directed by John Hughes. Uptight marketing executive Neal Page (Steve Martin) is desperate to fly home to Chicago for Thanksgiving but gets grounded by a severe blizzard. He is forced to team up with Del Griffith (John Candy), a talkative, overly friendly shower curtain ring salesman. Together, the mismatched duo embarks on a disastrous, three-day cross-country journey utilizing every broken-down mode of transportation available, testing Neal's sanity and revealing Del's deeply hidden loneliness.

Steve Martin was cast early, with John Hughes writing Neal specifically for his controlled, escalating frustration. John Candy’s casting was central to the film, though other comedians, including Bill Murray, were discussed before Hughes settled on Candy. The infamous motel room scene was filmed with multiple improvised variations. Candy has said he approached Del as someone who talks to avoid silence rather than to entertain. Martin, by contrast, focused on precision, making the contrast between the two performances sharper. Upon release, the film became a seasonal favorite and is now widely regarded as one of Hughes’s most character-driven comedies.

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