| | | | Pretty In Pink
(1986) |
ndie Walsh (MOLLY RINGWALD) is a poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks with an obsession for pink paraphenalia. She lives (literally on the wrong side of the tracks) with her unemployed father, Jack (HARRY DEAN STANTON). Most of the time she works in a record store called 'Trax' for her eccentric friend Iona (ANNIE POTTS), a 30-something mother-figure to Andie who sports a variety of radical hairstyles throughout the movie.
Andie attends a typical John Hughes High School where a lot of the kids are 'richies.' She has befriended a good-hearted geek named Duckie Dale (JON CRYER) who is the saving grace of the film.
Between encouraging her depressed father to find a job, she nurtures her crush on a wealthy kid named Blane McDonough (ANDREW MCCARTHY).
"Blaine?!? His name is Blane? Oh! Gah! That's a major appliance, that's not a name!"
Soon enough, a picture of Blane appears on her computer screen. Andie stands up and looks around. Blane stands up from the terminal across from hers. Love blossoms.
Blane's friend Steff McKee (JAMES SPADER) is a the sinister bad-guy who roams the halls of the school in a white suit looking more like a 25-year old Record Executive than a student. He has tried his charms with Andie in the past and failed. He tells Blane that he can't believe his best friend is interested in a "mutant" like Andie.
Duckie however digs the mutant, and worries about how to tell Andie he is in love with her. Perhaps the best scene in the movie occurs at 'Trax' while Andie and Iona wait for Blane to arrive. Iona puts on 'Try a Little Tenderness' by Otis Redding. Duckie enters and lip-syncs to the song. Some might argue that Jon Cryer has always been the poor man's Matthew Broderick, and though this is not as joyous a scene as the 'Chicago Street Parade' in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Cryer does well within the confines of a mostly sentimental teen flick.
Blane takes Andie to a friend's party. Andie thinks his superficial 'richie' friends won't accept her. She'd be right then! Everyone is drunk, and they react badly to Andie's presence. Steff is there with his girlfriend, Benny. She is awful to Andie and the two leave. She asks Blane to drop her off at Trax. Growing increasingly upset, Andie finally admits that she doesn't want him to see where she lives. Blane drives Andie home anyway. He asks her to the prom. Andie accepts, and kisses him.
Swayed by Steff, Blane lets the relationship stall. Andie goes to school determined to talk to Blane. She corners him in the hall and asks him about the prom. He tells her that he already asked someone else to go. Andie goes ballistic, and tells him to admit that he doesn't think she is good enough for him. Teachers and students come out of the classrooms to see what is going on. Andie finally runs away.
Steff is triumphant in the hallway, so Duckie attacks him and kicks his smarmy ass! Thank God.
At the Prom, Andie and Duckie arrive together. Blane approaches them and shakes hands with Duckie. He apologizes to Andie and tells her that he always believed in her, but he didn't believe in himself. He kisses her on the cheek and leaves. Duckie sees that old Blane aint such a bad guy and encourages Andie to go after him. Duckie notices a girl smiling in his direction and slides toward her. Meanwhile, outside, Andie catches up with Blane. They kiss.
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"Pretty in Pink" is a sentimental teen drama with an occasional sprinkling of humour to keep it motoring along. The movie was written by John Hughes who refills the "Sixteen Candles" mold with the premise that Ringwald has a crush on a Senior, and hangs with the class geek. Ringwald is strong in the role as usual, and projects genuine teenage turmoil through her sultry pout. James Spader, as the movie's rogue seems too mature for the proceedings, but condescends beautifully: "Money really means nothing to me. Do you think I'd treat my parents' house this way if it did?"
Andrew McCarthy is always watchable. With his mouth poised throughout in a mild oval of faint surprise, he tends to give the impression that he's not quite sure what's going on.
John Cryer fills Anthony Michael-Hall's shoes with adequate amounts of awkwardness and dry wit. Don't expect vintage Hughes, but necessary viewing for any Brat Pack completist.
Verdict: Pink, pouting Ringwald in a John Hughes movie. Nostalgia!
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This is Molly Ringwald's favorite among her own films. 
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The one line delivered by Dweezil Zappa's character, in the scene at Cats while The Rave Ups are performing, is in response to the question "What would you do if your Dad was rich?" or words to that effect. His reply? "Kiss his *ss". At that time, Dweezil's father, Frank, was still alive. -Thanks to Katy
"The Rave-Ups" also appear in an early Beverly Hills 90210 Episode from the very first season entitled "Spring Dance" (originally aired 2nd May 1991). The band is performing songs at the Spring Formal. What is it about The Rave-Ups performing at School Dances? -Thanks to Yaz Jung
Molly Ringwald's character Samantha Baker from "Sixteen Candles" has her favorite band written on her binder. You can see it when she walks down the hall with Randy, talking about the sex quiz she took, naming Jake Ryan her ideal guy. It's "The Rave-Ups", also the band from "Pretty in Pink."
Jon Cryer, who plays Ducky, is now in the hit comedy "2 and a half men", where he plays Charlie Sheen's brother Alan.
A scene where Ringwald and McCarthy are talking about having a date was interestingly re-edited into an episode of "Muppet Babies". The episode, "This Little Piggy Went To Hollywood", involved the baby version of Miss Piggy imagining her life as a movie star. The scene I mentioned was featured in that episode, only the animated Baby Piggy had replaced the live-action Molly Ringwald. Minor dialogue adjustments were made as well. -Thanks to John Edward Kilduff
The movie is dedicated to Alexa Kenin and Bruce Weintraub. Kenin, who played Jena, was murdered in New York on 10th September 1985.
Alexa Kenin, who played Molly Ringwald's girlfriend, also played Dana, the dark haired bookworm in "Little Darlings". -Thanks to Kitty Shannon
Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy teamed up again in the movie Fresh Horses, where they again played people from different backgrounds who fall in love. Andrew McCarthy and James Spader teamed up again in two other movies: Less Than Zero and Mannequin.
Molly Ringwald used to date Dweezil Zappa (Simon).
Kristy Swanson was the blondie givin' Duckie the eye at prom. She also played Buffy Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992). -Thanks to Lu-Lu
The kid in the record store, that gets shot "2 inches" from his eye with a staple gun by Annie Potts, was played by Christian Jacobs, who is now the lead singer of the Aquabats, an Orange County-based rock band. You will also recognize Jacobs from "Gleaming the Cube." -Thanks to Todd And Kirsti Blaney
Gina Gershon made her feature film debut as the dark-haired friend of that obnoxious blond girl Benny, whom we all love to hate! -Thanks to Jeanie
Gina Gershon, Benny's best friend, was also in the movie "Showgirls" starring Elizabeth Berkeley. -Thanks to Jen
Gina Gershon also appeared as Coral in the film "Cocktail" with Tom Cruise; she plays the photographer who cheats on him with Doug. -Thanks to Laura J
Gina Gershon's date for the "Pretty in Pink" prom was none other than actor Zack Galligan, who starred in another popular early 80's movie, "Gremlins". -Thanks to Jennifer Conant
Andrew "Dice" Clay played the bouncer outside of 'Cats'. He was in "Making the Grade," which starred another brat packer, Judd Nelson, in 1984. In that film, his character was also the Dice Man. -Thanks to Todd
Kate Vernon, Benny, is the real life daughter of actor John Vernon, who played Dean Wormer in Animal House. -Thanks to Ellen
Annie Potts who played Andie's wacky friend Iona, went on to star as Janine in "Ghostbusters". -Thanks to Mandy
Annie Potts, the person who plays Iona, was also Mary Jo Shively on "Designing Women". -Thanks to J.
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Rediscover your favorites! If you like
Pretty In Pink or 80's Romantic Comedy classics, then be sure to
check out this list: ..... Can't Buy Me Love ..... Say Anything ..... Some Kind Of Wonderful ..... Sixteen Candles ..... Valley Girl ..... Switching Channels ..... Grandview, U.S.A. ..... Dance 'til Dawn ..... Don't Tell Her It's Me ..... Mannequin ..... Teen Wolf ..... Secret of My Success ..... Secret Admirer ..... She's Having a Baby ..... Dream A little Dream .....[More]
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The movie was inspired by the Psychedelic Furs song "Pretty in Pink," a slower, more raw version in my opinion to the more upbeat one that the Furs recorded for the movie. Molly Ringwald first told Hughes about the song and it stuck with him. That and Molly's "predisposition toward pink" were the first sparks of inspiration for the script, which changed his original idea of the story from a young man's point of view. -Thanks to Jeanie
Michael J. Fox was allegedly originally offered the part of Duckie. After he turned it down, it went to Jon Cryer. -Thanks to Lisa
It was actually Anthony Micheal Hall who was offered the role of Duckie. He turned down the role because he did not want to get stereotyped into that kind of role. He had already played a nerd in THREE other movies for John Hughes (The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles and Wierd Science). -Thanks to Micah Laine And Erin
Robin Wright Penn auditioned for all the roles in all of John Hughes movies that were given to Molly Ringwald. -Thanks to Stephanie
The original ending to this film depicted Duckie getting the girl, however, the test audiences said they would have preferred to see Blane win Andie's heart. Additionally, Molly Ringwald was sick during the filming of the ending and John Hughes wasn't satisfied with the editing. He was also concerned that audiences would take the original ending as a message that poor people and rich people don't belong together.
At the prom, Blane was supposed to kick Steff in his "area" instead of telling Steff off at the end, but test audiences cringed at the sight, so they took that part out and just had Blane tell Steff off. -Thanks to Gloria
The High School where "Pretty in Pink" was shot is the same L.A. high school building that was used for "Grease" - the original with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John! -Thanks to Dani
When the cast was originally informed of Alexa Kenin's death, they were told she died of asthma complications. -Thanks to Kristin Troxel
When the ending to "Pretty in Pink" was re-shot, all of the principle actors had to be called back. Andrew McCarthy had already lost a substantial amount of weight and shaved his head for a new role in a New York play called "The Boys of Winter." Although he wore an auburn wig, he's noticeably more gaunt in the reshot scenes.
Although Andie, Blane, Duckie and Steff are all supposed to be high school seniors (17-18 years old), Jon Cryer was 21 years old, Andrew McCarthy was 23 years old, and James Spader was 26 years old when the movie was released in 1986. Only Molly Ringwald was actually 18.
Tracey Ullman auditioned for the role of Iona but her British accent kept on getting in the way of her attempts to do an American accent. -Thanks to Stephanie
Paramount really wanted Jennifer Beals over Molly Ringwald in the film but John Hughes and director Howard Deutch fought hard to convince the studio that Molly was perfect for the part. Also, Charlie Sheen tried out for the role of Blane and Robert Downey Jr. was considered for the role of Duckie.
Andie has a ring on her right hand at the beginning of the movie when she's getting ready for school. It's gone a few minutes later when she pours some coffee and then back again right after. You have to look closely, this one is not real obvious. Watch Andie's hair change from shot to shot when she and Blane are sitting outside in "her" area during lunch. -Thanks to Meagan
Notice, when Andy is outside with Blane she's holding her sunglasses in her hand, then the shot quickly goes to her face and her glasses are on her head. -Thanks to Kori Harris
When the camera is overlooking everyone dancing at prom, you notice a couple in which the guy's hands are over his girl's butt, and a staff member wearing red tells them to break it up, and once she is gone, they go back to their original state. Later (about two minutes) in the movie, you see the exact same scene, only close up. It is the same people and stances and everything. You have to look closely at the scene overlooking the prom first, and then you'll notice that it is the same when they are close up. -Thanks to Rebecca
Andie's dad's hair also changes back and forth from slicked back to falling in his face in the scene where he gives her the prom dress! -Thanks to Sandra
The scene where Iona and Andie are having a heart to heart Iona's nails are visibly red, but in the shot where Andie and Iona are dancing, Iona's nails are a shade of pale pink. -Thanks to Bianca Paulikowski
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|  |  |  | | Pretty In Pink
Locations |
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 Featured Movie Location: Andy's House
Wanna see the real life filming location used for Andy's House in the movie? These scenes were actually shot at A private residence, located in South Pasadena, S. California. [New! Show Google Map]
Like many 80's movies, the High School scenes were shot at John Marshall High, 3939 Tracy Street, Los Angeles, CA
Filmed in the same L.A. high school where Grease (1978) was made. [Thanks to Ashley]
"trax", where Molly Ringwald's character worked is at the 3rd street promenade in santa monica, CA. (it's now a bar) [Thanks to Mike Flores]
Other locations used include Meridian Ave. in South Pasadena, CA.
Many of Hughe's films take place in Illinois towns and supposedly "Pretty In Pink" takes place in Elgin, Il. (in one scene there is a street cleaning machine which says Elgin. It is possible that the film does take place in or near Elgin but I thought I should also point out that "Elgin" is the name brand of widely-used street sweepers. The fact that the sweeper says "Elgin" on the back does not necessarily indicate that it's sweeping a street in Elgin, IL. [Thanks to Chola & Dev]
When Molly Ringwald's character (Andie) decides to go to the prom and sees Duckie waiting at the top of the stairs, that location is at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The entrance molly's character uses is Grand Ave. [Thanks to Mike Flores]
Featured Link: Excellent locations tour @ exkren.com
Can you help? Do you know any of the S. California (or any other) filming locations used for Pretty In Pink, particularly exact street adresses.? [Please send them in]
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Comments: Special 2-disc collectors edition includes many features and explains original, deleted ending! |
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Features the song 'Pretty in Pink' by the Psychedelic Furs.
Michael Gore won the BMI Film Music Award in '87. -Thanks to Stephanie
The promgoers were dancing to "Don't You Forget About Me," from Hughes' earlier "Breakfast Club." -Thanks to Gael
OMD (Orchestral Manuevers in the Dark) originally wrote "Goddess of Love" to play at the end. However, by the time the film was completed the song seemed redundant. "If You Leave" was recorded and used instead. -Thanks to Christine Gieseke
New Order were asked to record a track for the movie and came up with SHELLSHOCK. However, when they presented it to the filmmakers, they said they did not want to use it so instead he used the previously recorded THIEVES LIKE US and ELIGULA. Then somewhere along the line the movie makers decided to throw in SHELLSHOCK! and if my memory serves me correctly only SHELLSHOCK appeared on the album. So, eventually, New Order ended up with three writing credits on one movie! Nice work if you can get it. -Thanks to Sandra Bell
In the scene when Blane asked Andie to go to the Prom with him (that night when they arrived at Andie's place) the background piano tune was the same piano tune played in the Background in "Manniquin" when Jonathan was soaked wet pushing his motorcycle. Could anyone tell me, who is the Artist & what is the title of that piece? -Thanks to Roman Tiu
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