JOHN HUGHES (FILM DIRECTOR)

'John Hughes, Jr.' (born February 18 1950) is a noted American film director, producer and writer, responsible for some of the most successful comedy films of the 1980s and 1990s, including ''National Lampoon's Vacation'', ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'', ''The Breakfast Club'', ''Sixteen Candles'', ''Pretty in Pink'', ''Planes, Trains & Automobiles'', ''Uncle Buck'' and ''Home Alone''.

Contents

Biography

Personal life

Career

Trademarks

Filmography

Writer

Director

Producer

References

External links

Biography

Personal life

Hughes was born in Lansing, Michigan to a mother who volunteered in charity work and John Hughes, Sr., who worked in sales.^[1] A 1968 graduate of Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Illinois, Hughes used Northbrook and the surrounding North Shore area for shooting locations in many of his films.

Career

Hughes started out as a writer for the ''National Lampoon Magazine'', and his first film, ''Class Reunion'', was the first of many of his National Lampoon movies. He wrote, but did not direct, the three
''Vacation'' movies released under the National Lampoon banner, the 1983 original ''National Lampoon's Vacation'', 1985's ''European Vacation'', and 1989's ''Christmas Vacation'' (which he co-produced).
He is probably best known for writing the genre-defining coming-of-age 1980s teenage dramatic comedies co-starring Molly Ringwald: ''Sixteen Candles'', ''The Breakfast Club'' and ''Pretty in Pink'' (the first two of which he also directed). He also wrote and directed ''Weird Science'' and ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'', which were also teen comedies, but the humor in both films was broader, and likely had a stronger appeal to young males than his other films. Many of these films were acclaimed by many critics for their complex, three-dimensional portraits of the tragicomedy of adolescence, as well as their acute probing of the social hierarchies of high school (See also Brat Pack).
To avoid being pigeonholed as a maker of teen comedies, Hughes branched out in 1987, directing ''Planes, Trains & Automobiles'' starring Steve Martin and John Candy. His later output would not be so critically well received, though films like ''Uncle Buck'' proved popular. Hughes's greatest commercial success came with ''Home Alone'', a film he wrote and produced about a mischievous child (played by Macaulay Culkin) who was accidentally left behind when his large family went on vacation, leaving him to his own devices in an upscale North Shore home being chased by a pair of burglars. ''Home Alone'' would be the top grossing film of 1990, and remains the most successful live-action comedy of all time. Hughes has not directed a film since 1991's ''Curly Sue''.
He has been noted as an inspiration for many in the film industry, including Kevin Smith (as noted in his films ''Dogma'' and ''Mallrats''). He has also written screenplays using his pseudonym, Edmond Dantès (name of the main character in Alexandre Dumas' novel ''The Count of Monte Cristo'').

Trademarks

Many of his teen comedies were set in the fictional Shermer, Illinois. Almost all of the films that Hughes has been involved in either take place in the North Shore suburbs or are at least in the Chicago metropolitan area. The soundtracks to his teen movies often featured 1980s new wave music.
Hughes frequently worked with actor John Candy.
Many of his movies feature a scene where a character mouths something another character is saying, indicating he/she had heard it before. Many of his films end with a stilled shot. Also, many scenes consist of stilled shots. For example, in ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' when Cameron is sitting in his car debating whether or not to skip school, the camera is focused in on the inside of the car for the entire scene, including while Cameron exits the car and is seen flailing around in the background.
Many of his films have an extra scene after the credits, feature European sports cars (either vintage or 80s contemporary), and have songs by The Beatles either playing or sung by the characters. Hughes admits to being a huge Beatles fan.

Filmography

Writer

★ ''National Lampoons Class Reunion'' (1982)

★ ''Mr. Mom'' (1983)

★ ''National Lampoon's Vacation'' (1983)

★ ''Nate and Hayes'' (1983)

★ ''Sixteen Candles'' (1984)

★ ''The Breakfast Club'' (1985)

★ ''National Lampoon's European Vacation'' (1985) (story)

★ ''Weird Science'' (1985)

★ ''Pretty in Pink'' (1986)

★ ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986)

★ ''Some Kind of Wonderful'' (1987)

★ ''Planes, Trains & Automobiles'' (1987)

★ ''She's Having a Baby'' (1988)

★ ''The Great Outdoors'' (1988)

★ ''Uncle Buck'' (1989)

★ ''National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'' (1989)

★ ''Home Alone'' (1990)

★ ''Career Opportunities'' (1991)

★ ''Dutch'' (1991)

★ ''Curly Sue'' (1991)

★ ''Beethoven'' (1992)

★ '' (1992)

★ ''Dennis the Menace (1993)

★ ''Beethoven's 2nd'' (1993)

★ ''Baby's Day Out'' (1994)

★ ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1994)

★ ''101 Dalmatians'' (1996)

★ ''Flubber'' (1997)

★ ''Home Alone 3'' (1997)

★ ''Maid in Manhattan'' (2002)

★ ''Drillbit Taylor'' (2008) (story)

Director

★ ''Sixteen Candles'' (1984)

★ ''The Breakfast Club'' (1985)

★ ''Weird Science'' (1985)

★ ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986)

★ ''Planes, Trains & Automobiles'' (1987)

★ ''She's Having a Baby'' (1988)

★ ''Uncle Buck'' (1989)

★ ''Curly Sue'' (1991)

Producer

★ ''The Breakfast Club'' (1985)

★ ''Pretty in Pink'' (1986) (executive producer)

★ ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986)

★ ''Some Kind of Wonderful'' (1987)

★ ''Planes, Trains & Automobiles'' (1987)

★ ''She's Having a Baby'' (1988)

★ ''The Great Outdoors'' (1988) (executive producer)

★ ''Uncle Buck'' (1989)

★ ''National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'' (1989)

★ ''Home Alone'' (1990)

★ ''Career Opportunities'' (1991)

★ '' Only the Lonely '' (1991)

★ ''Dutch'' (1991)

★ ''Curly Sue'' (1991)

★ '' (1992)

★ ''Dennis the Menace (1993)

★ ''Baby's Day Out'' (1994)

★ ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1994)

★ ''101 Dalmatians'' (1996)

★ ''Flubber'' (1997)

★ ''Home Alone 3'' (1997)

★ ''Reach the Rock'' (1998)

★ '' New port South'' (2001) (executive producer)

References

1. http://www.filmreference.com/film/75/John-Hughes.html

External links

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