Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

 On this date in 1987, "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" was released.

Upon receiving the script through his agent, Steve Martin was surprised to discover the script's 145 page length, with a comedy typically aiming for 90 pages. When Martin met with John Hughes, he asked if he had any intention of cutting the script. According to Martin, Hughes looked at him strangely and said "Cutting?" making Martin realize he had no intention of cutting the script.

According to editor Paul Hirsch, the original cut of this movie was three hours and forty minutes long. He and Hughes edited it down to two hours. Hughes shot over 600,000 feet (180,000 meters) of film, almost twice the industry average. The rumored three-hour version of the film does indeed exist, although not in order. It's allegedly a mess of footage that would take "months, maybe even years" according to Hughes (prior to his death) to transform into an actual film. It is locked away in a Paramount vault, and according to Hughes, most of it has probably deteriorated by now.

Hughes was known for staging improvisational moments for his actors in order to capture a genuine reaction. Since he was not satisfied with the scene where the character of Owen (played by Dylan Baker) meets Martin's character, he privately instructed Baker to wipe spit in his right hand hand just before shaking hands with Martin. As Martin was not expecting this, his disgusted reaction to shaking Baker's saliva slathered hand was entirely natural. The film crew reportedly exploded in laughter as Martin ran off to wash his hands immediately following the encounter. Hughes got the reaction he needed, and the footage was kept in the film.

On instruction from Hughes, Edie McClurg's role as the St. Louis rental car agent (below) was partially improvised. Hughes told her to simply riff a fake phone conversation with someone about Thanksgiving plans while Martin remains waiting in line staring at her to finish up. McClurg came up with the idea to speak with her sister about who was going to make what adding "You know I can't cook!" Hughes asked her how she came up with those lines so quickly and she replied that, like his scripts, she just drew it from her own life.

Elton John and lyricist Gary Osborne were commissioned to compose the theme song for the film. They had nearly completed writing it when, just two days before they were to record it, Paramount Pictures issued a last minute demand that the original song master become property of the studio. Elton's record company, Polygram, would not allow this as he was under contractual obligation to give Polygram rights to all his released music. Paramount and Polygram could not reach a deal in the impasse and both composers withdrew from the project. Paramount instead opted to license Paul Young's "Everytime You Go Away" as the movie's theme song. Elton John's original theme song was never recorded.