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    • Quick Hits: Short Takes on Recent Viewing >
      • Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache
      • Elevator to the Gallows ('58)
      • Days of Heaven
      • Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
      • Incindies (2010)
      • In the Mood For Love (2000)
      • Last Picture Show Teaser Intro
      • Le Silence De La Mer ('49)
      • The Princess Bride ('87) Intro
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    • The 1910's >
      • The Lubitsch German Silents
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      • The Odessa Steps Sequence as Continuing Film History
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      • Becky Sharp (1935)
      • Blonde Crazy
      • Bombshell ('33)
      • The Cheat
      • The Conquerors
      • The Crowd Roars
      • The Divorcee
      • Frank Capra & Barbara Stanwyck: The Evolution of a Romance
      • Heroes for Sale
      • The Invisible Man (1933)
      • L'Atalante (1934)
      • Let Us Be Gay
      • My Man Godfrey
      • No Man of Her Own (1932)
      • Platinum Blonde ('31)
      • Reckless ('35)
      • The Sign of the Cross (1932)
      • The Sin of Nora Moran (1932)
      • True Confession ('37)
      • Virtue ('32)
      • The Women
    • The 1940's >
      • Casablanca (1942)
      • The Story of Citizen Kane
      • Criss Cross (1949)
      • Double indemnity
      • Jean Arthur in A Foreign Affair
      • The Killers 1946 & 1964 Comparison
      • The Maltese Falcon Intro
      • Moonrise (1948)
      • My Gal Sal (1942)
      • Nightmare Alley
      • Notorious Intro ('46)
      • Overlooked Christmas Movies of the 1940's
      • Pursued (1947)
      • Remember the Night ('40)
      • The Red Shoes (1948)
      • The Set-Up ('49)
      • They Won't Believe Me (1947)
      • The Third Man
    • The 1950's >
      • The Asphalt Jungle Secret Cinema Intro
      • Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ('58) Intro
      • The Crimson Kimono (1959)
      • A Face in the Crowd (1957)
      • In a Lonely Place
      • A Kiss Before Dying (1956)
      • Mogambo ('53)
      • Niagara (1953)
      • The Night of The Hunter ('55)
      • Pushover Noir City
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      • Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
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      • The Searchers ('56)
      • Singin' in the Rain Introduction
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        • Some Like it Hot Intro (Beyond the Bay)
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      • The April Fools (1969)
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      • The Hustler ('61) Intro
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      • The Misfits ('61)
      • The Umbrellas of Cherbourg/La La Land
    • Underworld USA ('61)
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      • Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
      • American Graffiti Introduction
      • Chinatown Introduction
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      • Jaws Intro
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      • Blood Simple ('84)
      • A Christmas Story Intro
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Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

​Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Useless Trivia & Interesting Facts
Tonight’s feature film at Starlight Outdoor Cinema is Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which was released on June 11th, 1986 & was directed by John Hughes.  While Hughes only directed 8 films before dying at the age of 59, he helped create the ‘teen movie’ wave of the ‘80’s that included The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles & Weird Science.  He also wrote more than 50 movies including the first 3 Home Alone movies, 101 Dalmations, the Miracle on 34th St remake & National Lampoon’s Vacation.  Hughes was born in Lansing, MI & spent the first 12 years living in Grosse Pointe, but located most of his films in Chicago, including Ferris Bueller’s.  In fact, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club & Sixteen Candles all take place at the fictional Shermer High.  Hughes used a 1 line pitch to studio heads at Paramount to set the movie up, telling them “the movie is about a kid who takes a day off of school, but that’s all I know so far.”  He then went back & wrote the script in 6 days.
Hughes always professed that he wrote the part of Ferris for Matthew Broderick to play, but casting directors at one point considered John Cusack for the part & Anthony Michael Hall (from 16 Candles) believed that the part was really written for him.  Jennifer Gray, who plays Ferris’ sister actually began dating Broderick during the filming & the 2 got engaged & planned to marry, before breaking up.  The actors who play Ferris’ parents, however, did end up getting married in real life & had 2 kids, but didn’t name them Ferris or Jeanie.  Alan Ruck, who plays best friend Cameron was 29 years old when they shot the film, while Broderick was 23.  At one point John Candy auditioned for the part of Cameron, but was turned down because he was too old.  He was 35.  Molly Ringwald (Breakfast Club & Sixteen Candles) wanted to play Ferris’ girlfriend, but Hughes told her the part was too small.  He actually wanted someone older than Broderick to play the part, but Mia Sara, the actress who ultimately got the part was 5 years younger than Broderick & the only main actor who was actually in high school when the film was shot.  Charlie Sheen, who plays the police station bad boy, was recommended by Jennifer Gray after the 2 played together in Red Dawn. Sheen stayed awake for 48 hours to get the strung out look of his part & was supposed to have a much longer back story to explain the character.  All that remain in the final movie are a few oblique references to his family’s name, Volbeck.  The family Ferris’ mom is showing around is named Volbeck & the tow truck that tows Rooney’s car is from Volbeck Wrecking Service.
The famous 1963 Ferrari 250 California Spider that is at the center of the film is actually one of the rarest cars ever made.  In 2008 one of them was auctioned off for nearly $11 million dollars.  At the time of filming if they had destroyed one it would have cost more than $300,000, so Hughes had 3 cheap replicas made for all the shooting.  One of the replicas, which survived the shooting was sold for $235,000 in 2013.  Cameron’s Red Wings jersey was a gift from Wings legend Gordy Howe, after Hughes, a huge Wings fan from his days in Detroit, indicated he wanted it to be in his film.
Fans of the film have determined that Ferris’ actual skip day was June 5th, 1985 because the Cubs game that Rooney sees on the TV was taken from a real game played between the Cubs & the Braves on that date.  The game that Ferris, Cameron & Sloane actually attended was a game played on September 24th, 1985 between the Cubs & the Montreal Expos, who happened to have similar uniforms to he Braves.  The parade in the film was an actual parade in Chicago that took place in September of 1985 & producers entered a float in the parade, but never told parade organizers what the float was for.  What they couldn’t capture during the actual parade was shot the next day after filmmakers put out a notice on Chicago radio stations for crowds to recreate the parade.  Jennifer Gray was so excited to be in the scene & not miss the fun that she can be seen in disguise with a big wig on asking for an autograph.  The Beatles song “Twist & Shout” was approved for use by Paul McCartney, but after hearing the final version in the film he was disappointed because he thought there was too much brass.  Broderick couldn’t do most of the planned choreography for the songs in the parade because he had injured his knee shooting the scenes running through backyards.
2 months before the film opened the actors & studios executives watched a preview of the final film & everyone believed it was going to bomb because no one laughed.  Hughes & his editor (Paul Hirsch) then spent 2 weeks re-cutting the entire film into the version that was released.  Although the film opened at #2 for the week, Rodney Dangerfield’s Back to School was number 1, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off went on to be the #10 Box Office movie of the year.  In 2014, in fact, it was added to the National Film Registry due to its “cultural, historic & aesthetic significance” & will be preserved forever along with other classic films.  Here, then, is the classic, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
 
Nuggets
-Ruck & Broderick previously starred on Broadway in Biloxi Blues, playing similarly aged characters.
-Ben Stein’s iconic role was supposed to be played off screen, but was expanded due to Stein’s unique presence & delivery.  Hughes had Stein improvise on a subject he had a lot of knowledge, so Stein chose supply side economics.  Having been a script writer for presidents Nixon & Ford he was well versed on the subject.
-Emilio Estevez turned down the role of Cameron.
-Robert Smith of The Cure wrote an instrumental piece for the museum, but Hughes never used it.
-the random shot of the construction works during the parade scene was captured by Hughes cameras & put into the final film.
-The Bueller family house is actually in Ong Beach, California & was used for 10 days of shooting, with the family living in the house the entire time.  Filmmakers did have to reimburse the family $1,000 after leaving the fridge unplugged & allowing food to spoil because it was making too much noise during shooting.
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  • Home
  • Top 10 Lists
    • My Top 10 Favorite Movies
    • Top 10 Heist Movies
    • Top 10 Neo-Noir Films
    • The Top 10 Films of the Troubles (1969-1998) >
      • The Troubles Selected Timeline
    • Top 10 Films from 2001
    • Director Top 10's >
      • Top 10 Film Noir Directors
      • Top 10 Coen Brothers Films
      • Top 10 John Ford Films
      • Top 10 Samuel Fuller Films
      • Top 10 Alfred Hitchcock Films
      • Top 10 John Huston Films
      • Top 10 Fritz Lang Films (American)
      • Val Lewton Top 10
      • Top 10 Ernst Lubitsch Films
      • Top 10 Jean-Pierre Melville Films
      • Top 10 Nicholas Ray Films
      • Top 10 Preston Sturges Films
      • Top 10 Robert Siodmak Films
      • Top 10 William Wellman Films
      • Top 10 Billy Wilder Films
    • Actor/Actress Top 10's >
      • Top 10 Joan Blondell Movies
      • Top 10 Clark Gable Movies
      • Top 10 Ava Gardner Films
      • Top 10 Gloria Grahame Films
      • Top 10 Jean Harlow Movies
      • Top 10 Miriam Hopkins Films
      • Top 10 Grace Kelly Films
      • Top 10 Burt Lancaster Films
      • Top 10 Carole Lombard Movies
      • Top 10 Myrna Loy Films
      • Top 10 Marilyn Monroe Films
      • Top 10 Robert Mitchum Noir Movies
      • Top 10 Paul Newman Films
      • Top 10 Robert Ryan Movies
      • Top 10 Norma Shearer Movies
      • Top 10 Barbara Stanwyck Films
    • Top 10 Noir Films (Classic Era)
    • Top 10 Pre-Code Films
    • Top 10 Actresses of the 1930's
  • Reviews
    • Quick Hits: Short Takes on Recent Viewing >
      • Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache
      • Elevator to the Gallows ('58)
      • Days of Heaven
      • Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
      • Incindies (2010)
      • In the Mood For Love (2000)
      • Last Picture Show Teaser Intro
      • Le Silence De La Mer ('49)
      • The Princess Bride ('87) Intro
      • Pulp Fiction ('94) Intro
    • The 1910's >
      • The Lubitsch German Silents
    • The 1920's >
      • The Odessa Steps Sequence as Continuing Film History
      • Sunrise (1927)
      • Wild Orchids ('29)
    • The 1930's >
      • Becky Sharp (1935)
      • Blonde Crazy
      • Bombshell ('33)
      • The Cheat
      • The Conquerors
      • The Crowd Roars
      • The Divorcee
      • Frank Capra & Barbara Stanwyck: The Evolution of a Romance
      • Heroes for Sale
      • The Invisible Man (1933)
      • L'Atalante (1934)
      • Let Us Be Gay
      • My Man Godfrey
      • No Man of Her Own (1932)
      • Platinum Blonde ('31)
      • Reckless ('35)
      • The Sign of the Cross (1932)
      • The Sin of Nora Moran (1932)
      • True Confession ('37)
      • Virtue ('32)
      • The Women
    • The 1940's >
      • Casablanca (1942)
      • The Story of Citizen Kane
      • Criss Cross (1949)
      • Double indemnity
      • Jean Arthur in A Foreign Affair
      • The Killers 1946 & 1964 Comparison
      • The Maltese Falcon Intro
      • Moonrise (1948)
      • My Gal Sal (1942)
      • Nightmare Alley
      • Notorious Intro ('46)
      • Overlooked Christmas Movies of the 1940's
      • Pursued (1947)
      • Remember the Night ('40)
      • The Red Shoes (1948)
      • The Set-Up ('49)
      • They Won't Believe Me (1947)
      • The Third Man
    • The 1950's >
      • The Asphalt Jungle Secret Cinema Intro
      • Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ('58) Intro
      • The Crimson Kimono (1959)
      • A Face in the Crowd (1957)
      • In a Lonely Place
      • A Kiss Before Dying (1956)
      • Mogambo ('53)
      • Niagara (1953)
      • The Night of The Hunter ('55)
      • Pushover Noir City
      • Rear Window (1954)
      • Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
      • Red Dust ('32 vs Mogambo ('53)
      • The Searchers ('56)
      • Singin' in the Rain Introduction
      • Some Like It Hot ('59) >
        • Some Like it Hot Intro (Beyond the Bay)
    • The 1960's >
      • The April Fools (1969)
      • Bonnie & Clyde (1967)
      • Cape Fear ('62)
      • Cool Hand Luke (1967) Intro
      • Dr Strangelove Intro
      • For a Few Dollars More (1965)
      • Fistful of Dollars (1964)
      • The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1968)
      • The Hustler ('61) Intro
      • The Man With No Name Trilogy
      • The Misfits ('61)
      • The Umbrellas of Cherbourg/La La Land
    • Underworld USA ('61)
    • The 1970's >
      • Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
      • American Graffiti Introduction
      • Chinatown Introduction
      • The Friends of Eddie Coyle ('73)
      • Jaws Intro
    • The 1980's >
      • Blood Simple ('84)
      • A Christmas Story Intro
      • Scarface (1983)
    • The 1990's >
      • The General (1998)
    • 2000's >
      • Belfast (2021)
      • Blonde (2022)
      • Hunger (2008)
      • In Bruges (2008)
      • Joy Division
      • Mank (2020)
      • No Man's Land (2001)
      • Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
      • Wall-E
      • Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001)
      • The Top 10 Films I watched in 2020
  • Artists
    • Actors/Actresses >
      • Joan Blondell
      • Faye Dunaway: 1967-1976
      • The Noir Villainy of Dan Duryea
      • Clark Gable Bio
      • Jean Harlow Bio
      • Veronica Lake
      • Norma Shearer
    • Directors/Producers/Cinematographers >
      • Founders Series: Alice Guy-Blache
      • John Alton
      • Joan Harrison-Producer/Writer
      • Hitchcock & Cary Grant
      • Paul Verhoeven
      • William Wellman
    • Books >
      • Book Reviews >
        • Book Review: Clark Gable by D. Bret
      • Pre-Code
      • Actor Bios
      • Film Noir
      • Director Bios
      • Studio Head Bios
      • Hollywood History
    • Studio
  • Resources
    • Sight & Sound Top 100 2022
    • NOTES >
      • American Graffiti Notes
      • Anatomy of a Murder Notes
      • The Asphalt Jungle Outline
      • Breakfast Club Notes
      • Citizen Kane Notes
      • It's A Wonderful Life Notes
      • Rebel Without a Cause Notes
      • Singin' in the Rain Notes
    • CMBA Interview/Profile
    • Bay Cinema Society Press
    • Hollywood History >
      • Production Code
      • Film Noir
  • Video Introductions
    • Video Introductions
  • Last Picture Show Notes