Scott Poythress on Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Happy Post-Thanksgiving! What better way to celebrate that with a cold turkey sandwich, and listening to me and actor Scott Poythress talk about the best Thanksgiving movie of all time, Planes, Trains and Automobiles!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Movie Crush, a production of I Heart Radio.

(00:29):
Hey everybody, Welcome to Movie Crush. Friday Interview Edition, Friday
Special Day After Thanksgiving edition, Because today, you guys, I
had a conversation with actor Scott Poythress about the wonderful, wonderful,
all time classic Thanksgiving movie from Planes, Trains and Automobiles,
one of my favorite movies. Scott is a great guy.

(00:51):
He's a local actor here in Atlanta, and you've probably
seen him on TV before. Most notably recently, he was
in a pretty great horror movie called I Trapped the Devil.
It's a low budge horror movie that got some really
good marks. And uh, and Scott was a lead in
that one. And he's a good dude. He's a friend
of fellow guests Dan Bush and uh, we have some
other common friends here in Atlanta. But Scott is a

(01:14):
great guy. We had a great conversation about acting and planes,
Trains and Automobiles. And here we go with Scott Poythress.
This is a movie I've seen many, many times, but
you've always got to rewatch them for these for these
talks totally, you know, even if you think like and

(01:34):
I know a lot of this movie by heart. It
had been a few years though. Oh yeah, yeah, everythank's
giving put it all. Well, I'm cooking. I'm a big
turkey friar, and now we have this oilist friar. Here,
pull that over close to your mouth. Were we going on?
They always just find an entry point. I love brianing.

(01:55):
I'll Brian for about Okay, do you do a wet
Brian or a dry I do a wet because I
do a wet. But I'm doing the turkey this year,
and this is my first turkey. It's I'm a little nervous,
your first try. You grew up in the South, is
your first turkey? My first turkey? That right, Remember the
peanut oil days, the deep frying into fo Yeah, that's amazing.

(02:16):
Fire hazards. Yeah, I've never done it myself. I mean,
obviously we have turkey every year, but we're hosting for
the first time. Nice and you know, turkey usually goes
to the host, right, the host, absolutely, So tell me
your dry brine or your wet brine. I'd like to
do a mix. Sometimes I'll throw in I'll also do
an injection to Okay, the wet brine, Alright, um apple, cider, vinegar,

(02:38):
all the spices, all the fixings um for to thirty
six hours over ice, keep it on the porch. And
then this oil was fryer made by char Broil, so
it works like an infrared in this thing, so you
don't have to deal with oil at all or clean
up is no fuss, no must and it up just

(03:01):
like h like a fried turkey. Totally interesting, very well
m m, well, I think I don't have to go
the standard oven round, but I've got a nice oven,
very accurate. But this is going to be the first
big thing because we redid our house recently, so the
oven has not even been I mean it's been test driven,

(03:22):
but not turkey driven. So I'm a little nervous. Season
that bad boy seasoning is key. Yeah yeah, yeah, sage,
we're just like just heating it period season the actual
device of whatever you're gonna cook something. Sure, yeah, it's
been on a lot, but the gate is that it

(03:43):
kind of stunk a little bit at first. But do
you recommend even turning it on like some this week
and just getting it hot could probably four degrees for
a while. Okay, yeah, let's let us smoke. Yeah, where
are you from. I grew up in Charleston until I
was one of my favorite I love it. Yuh Ala Palms,
Mount Pleasant Soli Palms is where I vacation every year,

(04:04):
no kidding, It's incredible how much has changed. So they
do a lot of production out there, which brings actors
there sometimes, So growing up there and yeah up till
us five memories. But I've been back to work on
a few shows since then. But it's insane, hell congested,
the people and just the landscape completely different. Much like Atlanta.

(04:26):
The Olympics change based started to change the skyline here
Now every time you got to town for a month
or two would come back into the news. Insane. It's
not even a month. Like I'll go down the street
I haven't been on in two weeks and there's like
a new building or apartment complex or something. No, it's yeah,
it's renamed. Yeah it is crazy. Shoutouts to United Grand Park.

(04:51):
What when did you make it to Atlanta? My dad
worked in the UH in a government facility UH in
US with him, my brother seven years older, and my
mom Mariatta, So essentially Mariatta, I say Atlanta. But did
you act? Did you act in your early years in

(05:11):
high school and stuff. It's funny. I wanted to be
an animator for Walt Disney until I was about fifteen,
and when I so you can draw, I can? Okay,
I can? I'm not. Uh yeah, I don't continue the
practice often at all, but I did for a long time. Um.

(05:32):
And then I also played football in middle school and
into high school, and I had learned it was not
my bag. And when I quit, I got bullied a
good bit for quitting football, for quitting football, for quitting
the scene. So I would literally I would I found
myself hiding in the theater until always cleared out and
I can't kind of escape safely. So that's real deal

(05:53):
bullying then totally, and uh, they would put productions on
This was Pope High School, he cop. I went there
a freshman year and then finished up at last year
because we moved. Um, I would literally I'd find myself
like outside the the light booth and people would wonder
what I'm doing there. And I kind of got looped

(06:15):
into running the following spot on South Pacific and one
other show Christmas, some kind of a Christmas show, and
so I was like, yeah, cool, I'll it keeps me
out the hallways from I'm down, Well, say I'll run
your following spot. And I did that for like that
whole production of a show. It was like, they're having
so much more fun. I want to do that. This

(06:35):
is lane is dark and cold up here, and they
look like they're having a blast. And that's kind of
how there's girls girls like my odds are exponentially greater already.
H And I did that for a while and UM
realized it also at church. It's already got looped into
getting on stage at church at the time. So high

(06:56):
school and church at the same time merged into getting
this bug and then realizing how much fun I was
having doing it and really enjoying it, and then pursuing
it at the University of Georgia and I went, seriously, Yeah,
I was eighty nine to We're probably had the taco

(07:17):
stand together. I was at the ducking stand a lost.
I worked at Vision Video for a little while and uh,
but my main gig was I waited tables at MEXICALI grill.
I'm sure you remember very well. And it's funny. My
mom just texted me of the day and said, I
found an old MEXICALI grill T shirt. You want me
to throw that out? I went like please. It was

(07:41):
just like there's one that remains out of like the
eight that I had over my career. There as asty
good tease tease it was. It was a scary dive tease. Um,
I don't think I know tease. I'm miss speaking. Skies
sky Teas isn't merry. That was a bar that we
would freaking up after I waited tables. Uh, Sky's Place. Sure,

(08:04):
I went to Skies Um ceilings like seven and a
half feet right, and sky was like eight feet tall,
big right? Yeah? And it was It was one of
in one of the cheap hotels, wasn't it. Yeah, like
that where they stumble up because I lived in Russell
a freshman year, so stumble up the cobblestone. That's what
we called it, Baxter. The Sky's is where you could

(08:24):
drink fourteen year olds. Yeah, that's pretty pretty liberal with
the I d S had the worst fake idea ever.
It was I never had one. I never needed it. Yeah,
I had Wes, you just don't. I don't know. I
mean I looked super young back then and I had
not only was it not me in the picture. Um,
it was not a driver's license. It was a military idea,

(08:46):
and it was a fake military idea. It was one
of those things. It's uh. It wasn't a baller move.
It was a you know how you well you didn't
have one, but you know, they're passed down from person
to person, and then I was like the third person
to get this thing. It worked, okay. I guess I
wasn't really hitting the bars though. At Georgia until I

(09:07):
was probably twenty one, I wasn't either. You have some
house drinking and stuff. Yeah, Russell Hall, they would fire
bottle rockets on the hallway and Russell I was on
the tenth floor. You have heard stories about you're out
onto the tennis courts if you remember the tennis for
the basketball court. Yeah, yeah, that's crazy. I lived in
read which was a little calmer, and then just for
one year and then I you know, got smart and

(09:28):
went the apartment house route. Being there players Club, Yeah,
that was like the first year. I think when they opened,
we lived in a players Club. Do you ever get
back over there? Rarely? Really? Yeah? Maybe, I mean it's
been probably two or three years. I don't go to
the games I wish I did. Yeah, I went to
I go to I go there once or twice a

(09:50):
year maybe for various things, either a show at the
forty watt or I am going to the game this weekend.
But I haven't been to a football game and pbably
five years. I just I just never get out there anymore.
But Athens is great. But talking about changing a lot, right, Yeah,
nuts big time. Uh yeah, like the the Community Center.

(10:13):
I don't know when the last time there, but Tate
Center Center crazy. It's so different now. So you acted there?
I did? Yeah, like it? Did you take class? Because
I took one acting class at Georgia even though I'm
not an actor and had never wanted to be. But
it was just seemed like a fun class. Remember your
teacher's name. I don't remember his name. His first name
was Greg and he was bald on top and had

(10:39):
the hair around the sides and had a mustache. And
he was in Woody Allen's radio days. He had a
very very very small, little two liner part. But that
was like the thing. I was like, oh man, he
was in a Woody Allen movie and he was teaching
at Georgia. So I took one acting class and really
enjoyed it, but was no good at it. I can't
remember his last name, Greg Bernard. I remember there was

(11:02):
Stanley Longman with Chuck Charles Idswick who was a film professor. Okay,
I remember I didn't take the class, but he was
supposed to be pretty great. Yeah, um gosh, I took
a class over the journalism department, and I believe I
think he since passed on, but he started the Peabodies.

(11:23):
It's like, right, I feel terrible. I can't remember his
name right now. Well, did you act in plays? There?
Was it? Just? Yeah? Yeah, I never went to any
of those. What were the productions? Like? They were great
because we had a nice, big facility stage. I don't
know if you saw the main stage did it was cool?

(11:44):
It was cool? So um handful of shows that I
remember doing hair Towards the end of my What's So Funny,
everybody literally gets naked in the show. Literally. I was
asked to play the cop who comes in and busts up,
like al right, sure, sure, sure, right is it? Because
why why do you want me to play? Like? And

(12:06):
then I've been self conscious ever since because you didn't
get to get naked and the production. I could naked
not in the production. Did you feel like you uh like,
when did you feel like you really learned about acting?
Was it did you get a lot of great instruction
there or was it more kind of post I did,
and there was technique. Uh, whether it's uh Meisner or
or movement we have mask work, I mean, whatever it is. Honestly,

(12:29):
I'm still learning quite a bit. And I have learned
more exponentially since we started an acting studio in the
past seven years than I think I ever have cumulatively
in my in my journey as an actor. Well, let's
talk about that a little bit. You're telling my Drama Inc.
Druma Inc. Which you had started with some of my neighbors.

(12:50):
Some of your neighbors live right down the street. Jason
oh Curse east Lake represent Jason McDonald, Katherine Dyer. They're
married couple, My wife and myself, Claire Bronson. The four
of us were with the same agent, so seven eight
years ago. We had the same agent at the time
and realized that we lived very close together. So we
would get together, you know, once a week every two

(13:13):
weeks and sit on what we called the screamed in
porch and just bullshit, have a glass of wine. Event
about auditions we were getting weren't getting what your agents
sending us on right, They're not, you know, just um,
information is currency in our business, honestly, UM. And we

(13:35):
learned what we had to offer because actually it was
actually pretty valuable that the knowledge that we had accumulated
over the hundred plus years of all of us together,
and how long we've done it, multiple coasts, and how
much I wished I had this getting out of college,

(13:56):
kicked out the nest with a theater degree. How am
I supposed to do with that? Where do I? What
do I? And then in the future production capital of
the world. Now, um, realizing we could have something valuable
to to offer, whether it's self taping, headshots, demoials, classes,

(14:17):
just the people within that we know, the information that
we've gathered just through contacts, casting directors, what they like,
what they don't like, and um, we realized, you know what,
let's let's start a studio. Jason had had the idea,
He had marinated on it for a long time, literally
with the logo with the name his business sense is incredible.

(14:38):
His um coming at it from a financial standpoint because
he ran stone suit for a very long time. He
has things that he's wired differently than I am. I'm
more of a tech geek, so I can I can
set up our WiFi extenders, know whatever, you know, stuff
like that, cameras, UM and we all different things that

(15:00):
we bring to the table, which is really cool. So
we realized, holy crap, we actually have something really cool
and we have. We're so blessed to have grown into
accidentally a conservatory because we didn't set out to do that,
and we're very picky about who we bring on. Teachers
who specialize in specific techniques, practical aesthetics, Meisner movement, improv

(15:23):
voice dialects, whatever it is. UM have just helped us
grow into something really really cool. And the biggest sense
is the sense of community. So our actors are coming in,
getting into each other, they're writing for each other, they're
off in the weekends making their own movies, and it's
so freaking satisfying. Yeah, that's really need. The idea that
you get creative people in a room together and like

(15:45):
something's going to happen, you know, yep, like it will
bear fruit totally. That's really great and it seems like
it's going really well, it really is. Yeah, it's really
really cool. Or in we're in our seventh year where
just south of Zoo Atlanta, so we have the belt
Line little literal really once it's completed, running through the
back just outside the back parking lot. Oh that's fantastic,

(16:06):
that's cool, a little bit of serendipity there, right. Yeah,
for people listening, the belt line is uh, it sounds silly,
but it is a a walking path that has changed
the city right by connecting all the neighborhoods of the
city that we're never connected before by foot pedestrian walkway.
And I think it's the same developers who made the

(16:27):
is it called the high Line, Yeah, the Highland, Yeah, yeah,
just repurposing the train track which is sitting there decrepit.
It's crazy. Yeah, I wish you know, I wish I
grew up here like you did, and it would have
been great to have something like that back then. If
they've come a long way though, it's really cool. Well
what about um, I would like to talk a little
bit about auditioning, because we have people that listen, that act,

(16:49):
people that are experienced all the way down to people
that have are just like putting their toe in the pool. UM.
And I'm sure you guys teach auditioning. What what what
are tips like? You know? What's interesting because we live
in this market which is um, there's so much work here. Um.
But it's all literally, well not all, I would say,

(17:10):
eighty five self tape. So the net that casting directors
local casting directors throw that seems to be the way
now it is the way, and it just it makes
sense financially, uh, for people's time. The number of actors
that they can see with self tape, I'm talking about
casting directors themselves. Uh is hundreds or thousands versus you

(17:34):
have X amount of hours in a day, how many
people can you see? Depending on the size of the role,
you're gonna be there for ten fifteen minutes. Um. This way,
they can start watching a tape, they'll know in their
first eight to ten seconds if this is their guy
or their girl. Skip it, move on, Nope, Nope, nope, nope.
Imidating it is. It is. At the same time, it's
empowering because if you get good at it, it's an

(17:56):
art form in and of itself. Self taping you're video
and audio. I've got to be good. You need a
good reader with an actor, you know, all these all
these things that we've learned since we started doing it
in two thousand eight. We lived in l A at
the time, and we were literally self taping on like
the camera on your laptop, just set it up in

(18:17):
the dining room and I'd take for army wives or
whatever was happening at the time, which wasn't not much.
A couple of things dropped that Diva started to kind
of happen around that time, and we've been doing it
since then, so we've kind of we've perfected it and
gotten very good at self taping, and actually I enjoy
it quite a bit. Really we teaching it or or

(18:38):
just audition boat both. I miss being in the room
and getting feedback and redirect from directors, casting directors, whoever,
because that's an art form in and of itself, to
just being in the room and shooting yourself in the
foot not tripping over the light. You know. Just there's
so much desperation that goes with I need this job,

(18:58):
I need it, I need I need right and and
it comes through. I can smell it down the hallway
before you walk in. Yeah, I have heard that, you
know the best thing to do is to not care
or not think you're going to get it totally. Auditioning
is the job. This is our job. Yeah, the bookings
are icing. When they happen, it's wonderful. I can't cannot

(19:19):
rely on it. Yeah, it's um. It's an interesting bag
to get into where you there's such a limited success
rate just booking anything. But you still have to like,
you've gotta love it. I guess deep down you do,
you really do. Yeah, I don't have a plan B
right kind of hope I book it right. But I

(19:42):
also have the luxury of being around it every day.
Was starting the studio and being with people that I love,
very good friends, a woman I'm in love with. I
cannot call that work and very fortunate to be able
to do this. And you guys have classes every six
days a week, days a week. Ever if seven days
a week really? Yeah, we we don't always have classes

(20:03):
on Sundays, but kids classes on Saturdays. We pop up classes, workshops.
We have a taping room. It's a very much like this.
It's a soundproofed room. Thankfully one of our neighbors when
they moved out, it was a recording studio. So when
they moved out. We're like, we took over that least,
and we expanded, knocked a door in between the suites
and took it over. So we have a sound proof

(20:26):
room that we can work because our building is it's
a tin roof. If it even drizzles, there is deafening.
It ruins any audio. Yeah, you can't do it. So
this is a room like this isn't it's critical for
self taping. So we have that going. I mean not
literally twenty four hours a day, but um, we have
a full taping team that are in that they can

(20:47):
we kind of take shifts and get in there and
take people. And that's awesome man. Yeah, that's so cool. Yeah,
it really is. Yeah. So it's called Drama Inc. And um,
I imagine people in the Atlanta area can find it
easy enough, but do you get people that come in
from uh you know, I imagine people don't travel too far.
But do you get people from out of town? We do? Yeah,

(21:10):
for classes too, we have people coming in from Knoxville, Cleveland, Orlando.
Oh wow, it's great. Weekly man, it's nuts. It's dedication,
it's really it's it's humbling. Yeah, that's really cool. It's
really very cool. Well, congratulations, that's thank you. I appreciate that.
But yeah, people who are in town working on stuff,
they hear about our facility. So let's say series regulars

(21:31):
on whatever show is shooting Walking Dead right there on
the hiatus or they're not shooting that day, and then
auditions from their next gig. Because we're constantly auditioning for
our next job. We always have that literally our job,
wondering where our next job. So they'll come in and
tape with us all the time. Oh cool, that's great.
Before we get going on planes trains, I want to
talk a little bit about I Trapped the Devil um

(21:54):
which came out earlier this year, and I got to
watch um. I got to watch about a third of
it today before I came in right before the clock
was taking spirit. I had to get on playing strains.
But man, I liked what I saw so far, and
I'm looking forward to watching the rest of it at
night in the dark. It needs to be, yeah, lights low,

(22:16):
because there's a lot of really really dark imagery. Yeah. Literally,
like most of the time when we're in the basement,
we have like a red bulb, so it's it's literally
hard to see so you need your lights low in
whatever environment we're watching and sound up because Chris Sullivan
voices a character in the film and listeners may know

(22:40):
him from This is Us and I fell in love
with him on um the nick Oh yeah, ste and
he plays this Irish ambulance driver. He's incredible, incredible on
the show. I I don't watch This is Us, but
that's what how the world knows him and I still
can't believe we got him to do the role in
the movie. Very excited and people. Man. Yeah, and I know, uh,

(23:04):
I read a little bit about it as well, and
I know it was sort of um not based on
necessarily a Twilight Zone episode. Yeah, yeah, yeah, a little
bit make the reference and it it does live in
there for sure. And Josh Lobo, our director Young Guys,
is the first film. H he's aware of the reference.

(23:25):
I don't know if it was a cerebral a conscious decision,
but it probably lived in there somewhere. Cool. Yeah, I
mean it's a we just got finished with our October
sort of horror movie homages, and that's one that will
throw on the list for next year to get out
to the folks. Yeah, it's really cool. Yeah, it seemed
like it's getting good reused everywhere I look, We've got some.

(23:46):
It's polarizing, as most horror or genre films are. People
are like, sure this movie for making it, or they
really really enjoy it. It's just what it is. But
I mean, even just to get covered by the New
York Times and Variety and absolutely have a release at all,
I mean to be in theaters period, just monumental. Yeah,

(24:07):
so we're in like twenty cities. We had a day
and date release, So that's great. I have seen Midnight
released this. Yeah, that's really cool. How old is the director?
I want to say he's twenty six now, maybe twenty seven,
God bless him. Right, it sounds to dude, I remember
being a movie but I didn't. That's the difference. You

(24:29):
gotta do it. Yeah, just grab buckets of blood and
toss among your friends and work for free and work
for pizza. Yeah. All right, Well let's get into Playing Trains,
one of my favorite movies from seven um, written, produce

(24:49):
and directed by the great John Hughes. Note and um,
so let's hit play and we'll watch the movie together, starring,
of course, Steve Martin Is, Neil Page, John Candy del
Griffith and then boy, just a murderers row of character
actors in this movie, like one after the other. Favorite.

(25:10):
Uh boy, it's really hard because I mean, you know,
Michael mckinson ninety seconds of this movie. But he's great
in that scene as the as the highway patrolman. I think,
if I had to be honest, my true just because
he's said, I don't I can't think of the guy's name.
I've seen him in a bunch of stuff. But the
scene where um, Steve Martin is trying to it was

(25:33):
after the car fire, and we'll jump around all over
the place, so don't worry about going on order. But
when he's trying to negotiate the hotel room, the guy
who plays the hotel clerk, is he the same from
the second motel now the first guy in the second
hotel when he has like the burned credit cards from
Jurassic Park. Yeah, yeah, it was great in that part

(25:56):
because he's just so weird and are credit cards. His
line readings just themselves are just hysterical. Um, I'm gonna
have to say good night. He was just so odd.
Oh yeah, when he displaced the cassio on the arm
so classic. I have two dollars. Um, but I mean

(26:16):
it's hard to just hard to pick because so many
of them come from the John Hughes a verse. Yes,
from other films. Yeah, like you get Ferris's dad is
the first guy right and the uh you'll never make
the sale, never make a six, that's one of my
favorite lines. But it's the doors closing. It's such a
dick move. You know. Well, do you have a favorite

(26:39):
from the Carretter actors? They're they're there two. I love
Michael McKey, but but Dylan Baker, my brother and I
have been bit for a third two years. Sero. It's
like favorite sequence in the movie is that part last
one came out people train run out of stubbles cattle. Yeah.

(27:06):
I mean we'll probably just be doing like throwing quotes
at each other back and forth. And then Dye mcclerk,
who as Rooney's as Grace. Yeah, yeah, from Ferris Bueller. Yeah,
she's so great that scene is and apparently she improved
that she did the Thanksgiving bit. Yeah. Um, from what

(27:27):
I this was like making of stuff on the plane
trains supplemental wonderful supplemental stuff on iTunes. If you buy it. Well,
I bought it today and I haven't dug into that
stuff yet. It's good. Yeah, it's really good and and
sad and heartbreaking and wonderful all of it. Are there
A bunch of interviews and stuff. Yeah, man, I gotta
say that, I can't imagine everybody all the all the

(27:49):
usual suspection. Yeah, it's great. Yeah. The John hugheser versus
so cool because he's you know, he was well known
for populating these characters and early on, well, one thing
I noticed was, and this had to be outside of
the John he was a verse. Was that great opening
scene and the ad agency the head boss he is
either his father or his father in law, Kevin Bacon's

(28:11):
and she's having a baby. Yes, So that's where it
gets a little disrupted because Kevin Bacon obviously has that
great cameo a taxi racer, and there's speculation that that
is Jake from She's having a baby. Huh um. I
don't know if that's true or not. Yeah, it makes
sense a lot. I will never know, but I don't
think that can be true because his father or father
in law would not have been running that ad agency, right,

(28:33):
And I know this is getting like, seriously, John, he's
a nerd out time. But that's fun of me. But
that's really interesting. Yeah to think about it. Yeah, I
didn't even realize that, but that move. I think they
shot around the same time because Kevin, they told John,
I'm live in Chicago, right, do you want me for anything,
I'll do it? Yeah, right, extra roll or whatever. He
had this little bit and he lived in Chicago. It's like,

(28:54):
come come race Steve Martin down park Ov. That's so
great and he um and they I think they did
shooting around the same time because there is the part
where Neil's wife was watching She's having a baby on
the television in this movie, but that movie hadn't come
out yet. That's so funny, so when you see it
in you don't even know, like Elizabeth mccovern's in the

(29:16):
background of the scene like yelling. Hious and I've been
trying to track down a copy of The Canadian Mounted.
It doesn't right, is that there is amazing the Canadian Mounted. Um.

(29:38):
We should also mention too that the well not inexpsplicably,
because there's a very good reason why this movie is
rated are because of the classic F bomb scene. But
it's got to be the cleanest, sweetest R rated movie
of all time totally because that is the only part
in this movie that is not pretty family friendly. A
few of the cussboards here and there in some sort

(30:00):
of you know, suggested stuff sexually, but nothing, it's just
those eighteen fox in a row. And I love that
Johns was like he didn't he didn't sacrifice that bit
to uh to get his ratps a ratings board, Yeah,
which could It would have been very easy to do,
you know. I think my first I mean this was

(30:22):
sixteen Candles and that was PG right, remember correctly, I think, yeah,
I think that was because there's a shower scene and
there are there are breasts, ye, female breasts. I remember,
never forget it. It was a very big when I
was nine. Yeah, sure, yeah, I was a little older

(30:42):
than that, but sure I remember it was clearly a
body double. Of course, you're right, but still just for
that to happen at all, I mean I think, yeah,
back then there was a little more leeway because it
was pre PG thirteen was around Porky's. That was a
that was a hard around there. It's hard art, right,
but the he uh kind of tempered what he was doing.

(31:02):
It was kind of in a similar vein similar world, um,
especially with like European Vacation, right, uh, just some dirty,
dirty stuff in the European Vacation. Yeah, I think once
PG thirteen rolled around, they could, um there was a
little more envelope nuance, you know because subtext, Yeah, you
couldn't like you know, one nude shot didn't warrant an

(31:24):
R rating, but it certainly would warrant a PG thirteen
once that eight called around eighteen bucks get you such
a classic scene. Um, and there are supposedly a two
hour and a three hour cut of this movie. Um,
it was a hundred and forty five page script, which,
as you know, it's just crazy. And how quickly do

(31:46):
you think he wrote it? Well, I know, because he
wrote it in a few days. Would turn and burn,
I mean yeah, that was his deal. Like he would
write and apparently would rewrite a ton, but would write
a draft in like three or four days. I read
he wrote Weird Science on a weekend. Nuts that It's
just it's amazing, astounding. I mean seriously, his body would
like breakfast Club, European European Vacation, Weird Science, pretty in

(32:08):
paink Ferris Bueller's kind of wonderful right writing planes, trains,
She's having a baby, The Great Outdoors, Uncle Buck, Christmas Vacation,
had a long career, opportunities, Dutch and curly Sue. I'm
stopping before we get to Beethoven. And he's like, because
he took on a pseudonym, Uh, Edmond Dante. He wrote

(32:29):
a few of the Beetho maybe all the Beethoven movies
under Edmund Dante. And that's the protagonist from the Count
of Monte Cristo. So it's it's his Alan Smithy ye.
So um the Beethoven movies, maybe Dennis the Menace movies.
I'm trying to think of what else that um maid
in Manhattan, Uh towards the end of his career, sadly
drill Bit Taylor, that was under Edmund Dante. I wonder

(32:54):
what he would be doing now. He's one of those
would be really interesting to see. I think he's still
be on his farm. He bought a huge plot of
land outside Chicago. He left l A. I think he
got really disenfranchised and sad and just kind of beat down.
I think he was very um, very emotional, he very
connected to all the things that he wrote and directed
an actually but yeah, he literally bought a farm and

(33:16):
he got into botany. It was planting trees, and so
you think he would have not done this anymore. I
don't know. I feel like he's God knows what kind
of scripts he had just in drawers, because he wrote,
that's what he just wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote, wrote,
And he was so in love with music and started
his own record label, yeah, Hefty Hefty Productions. It wasn't

(33:37):
what it was, and that it didn't take off, But
I think he was wanting to literally kind of gather
your arms around music because music is so in the
DNA of every one of his films. Yeah, absolutely special. Yeah,
you know, even this one that's not um a teen
romance with all the great new wave and eighties music

(34:00):
that he used, like the music and this is key
in so many ways, even though a lot of it's
silly and fun. Um, it's just yeah, starting out that
kind of sessed the tone. But you're right. It goes
to complete one eighty with ah trying to think of the
the name of the bands, but there's there's two and
they revisit over the course of the film too, like

(34:23):
two the instrumental tracks. Oh yeah, that's like the score. Yeah, unofficially, yeah,
because it wasn't Iron Newborn and it was because he
did the score. Yeah, these are actual bands who have
these licensed tracks its music. Um, I can't think of him.
It wouldn't Tangerine Dream was it, because they did like
every other score. So it's just a guess. I love

(34:46):
that one bit of score that comes in about two
thirds of the way in the on the Chatty Cathy,
I like me, no, no, no, that's great. Is the
the jaunty fun one towards the end the dude Dude, dude,
dude do yeah, yeah, d oh god. Just in the
band it's the red River red River Rock. I think

(35:08):
it's the name of the try really don't think that.
I can't remember that, man. Like when I knew I
was gonna be watching that today, that song just started
like going through my head. Yeah. They revisit that throughout.
It's so wonderful. Um. And it was sort of a
you know, a change of pace for John Hughes. He
had done all these high school movies and this was
right after Ferris Bueller. He sort of did his two. Um,

(35:30):
I guess more adult movies this one and She's having
a baby kind of went back to back, but um
it was interesting as a kid to like go through
that change with him because I was a sixteen year
old seeing she's having a baby and like crying and
think and so moved and looking back and it's like
hysterical because it's so not a movie for teenage boys,

(35:52):
you know. And I was so Breakfast Club. He came
out of the gate right with sixteen Candles, so that
was what eight. So I'm nine, I'm watching high schoolers.
So I'm like, this is gonna be what high schools
like when I get detention. This is what I'm gonna
be doing. So I was like, this forms like who
I kind of am? So John Who's literally is like

(36:14):
in ingrained in me as I'm growing up and a
lot of us and our music and sensibilities and and
and tone for what I like in film performances. And um,
so it's interesting you say that the time period because
I was, like I said, nine, watching Breakfast Club and
then sixteen Candles, uh or sixteen Kennels, and then his

(36:37):
sophomore film is a Breakfast Club. Man. It's crazy. I
remember distinctly. The first time I saw that in the
movie theater, the Dollar Theater, North Lake. Uh, it was
movies and we used to go with our church group
all the time. And I went and saw The Breakfast
Club and it just it rocked my world and and
ages fine, I think for a movie that's so firmly

(36:58):
about it's time and place totally, you know, if you
could suspend your disbelief with social media and access to information,
because I'll walk around today sometimes and forget that I
have access to everything immediately, like just just kind of
how we grew up and what we think. You know,

(37:20):
it's interesting to know that there are people born after eleven. Yeah,
I know this world, that's that's the world that they know.
I got a four year daughter, man, she's grown. Yeah wow,
So it's a it's a weird thing to see a
kid that age already be tech savvy and um talk
about buffering and stuff like that. Were taking apart my

(37:41):
Amiga comment over sixty four and yeah, I mean we
we had more root of entry versions of the same stuff. Yeah,
we had our screens they were just shitty, you know,
I mean we had I mean I had all those
all the handhealth games. You could have the football game
in the Merlin and have a little handheld Space Invaders
and a handheld pac Man, and we just had twenty

(38:03):
five of them instead of everything being on one device,
you know, my da. Well, that's why I when I
hear people complaining about and in screen time is out
of hand now for sure for all of us. But
I always like to remind them, like, you know, we
had the same stuff. It was just I was glued
to my crappy television. Sure, I watched as much TV

(38:25):
as I could get my hands a much in different
strokes on what's happening and everything. That's my babysitter totally.
So early on in the movie, um, we get Dell's
trunk on the ground that he trips his introduction, right,
because that's how he loses the foot race with Kevin
Bacon's right, tripping over this trunk. Yeah, it turns looks
del Griffith and little do we know that that trunk

(38:48):
becomes almost a character in this movie, the third character
in them, no doubt. Yeah, it's the three of them
on this journey together because they can't go anywhere without it.
And yeah, and there are a lot of moments with
the trunk, they keep referencing it um whether he recognizes
it again as like you're the guy, or the great
scene after the train breaks down where he's struggling across

(39:08):
the field and Steve Martin goes over and helps him
carry it, like that look back so good. It is
well in such great character arcs to um, maybe the
obvious character arcs like I don't think he was like
breaking dramatic ground in the story, but it was just
so well executed, you know, for the you're talking about

(39:30):
performances or John Hughes well the two three, the two
characters for Neil Andel like great good drama too, and
that's some of the best comedic performances and comedic actors.
A lot of times comes from the trauma and the
tragedy and the sadness. Some of the funniest stuff that
we're laughing at is is uh tyber l like for

(39:53):
lack of current analogy. Phil Dunfie on The Modern Family,
his world is falling up parts tragic, but we're laughing
our asses off because how funny it is. Yeah, Robin
Williams was a master of course at right. Jim Carrey
is great at it. Yeah, Adam Sandler, it's phenomenal at
it um for people had to take or leave Adam Sandler.

(40:16):
I think he's a fantastic actor. He's great, right, and
when you do both it's a and John Candy, god boy,
he was one of the best. Yeah, what could we
have gotten from him? And the like Canadian Bacon. I
think that might have been his last film, but yeah,
I mean I miss him so much, right, he was
so great and he's so good in this. And Dell
is such a lovable character because he knows and he

(40:40):
even says in that in that great scene after Neil
attacks him in the hotel room and it's so mean.
You know they're going at each other, but then he
crosses that line and he's just he's about to cry
and he's he's like, I know, I know who I am,
and I would like me. My wife likes me. In retrospect,
he just revisiting that, um seeing it's like knowing what

(41:01):
we know now right seeing it again, Well, there's so
many little he always he always has that framed, the
picture of Marie too, was always next to the bed.
By the end of time, he's in the hotel, he's
got that little frame picture of her well, and those
are some of the little hints laid along the way,
um about Marie, And of course you know that's sort
of the big reveal at the end that Marie has
passed away, which is just tragic. It's funny you mentioned

(41:21):
the trunk too, because after the LaSalle van Buren in
the Chicago station they part ways. The music is playing
the Dream Academy Power to Believe in the Book of
Love Dream Again. Those are the two tracks that we revisit,
so he's piecing together. Wait a minute, Dell is probably
on his own. Tell what are you doing? What are

(41:41):
you doing here? Right? Uh? And he gives the admission,
the confession the little train station boom cut to them
carrying the trunk. My I was crying, was good And
the music hits right there and they're carrying the trunk
up towards Steve's house just in time for thanks again.
Oh my god. Yeah, that that smash cut to them

(42:03):
carrying that goddamn trunk down the middle of his street,
his own street. It's just like it's one of the
great moments, and you know, it really is. I don't
think that's like hyperbole at all. Um, And it sort
of occurred to me watching at this time through this
sort of more studied lens, that everything that like it's
Neil's fault that he's in this because at the very

(42:24):
beginning he could have let it go. He recognizes him
as the cab steeler, and he could have the funniest
moments in the airport because they have this thought, this
fun trick where they do they bring in a taxi
door in the airport, so we see Niel's POV and
he turns behind the door inside the airport and he's
got the little cab and he reenacts I think I

(42:44):
noticed that that was it's it's brilliant. That's really, it's brilliant.
They're just bringing this prop door to stick in front
of this candy in the airport and he has a
little hat on him and he recreates the face. Well,
he could have let it go though, and nothing, none
of this would have happened. But he had to say,
like you stole my cab, and that's what kicks off
this whole thing. You know, if he could have just

(43:05):
let it go, he wouldn't have been in that pickle.
He wouldn't have he would have ended up sitting by
him on the airplane again, but probably wouldn't have reconnected,
although probably would have looped him into conversation, and it's
clear that Dell would have like made him speak totally.
That might be one of my their two favorite moments
of mine in the film. And just after repeating, I

(43:26):
don't even know how many times I've seen hundreds same here,
maybe probably more. One is when he's on the plane
they're finally leaving New York from Chicago, and Del's sitting
in the seat and he looks up and sees Neil
coming towards him. He said whatever, he says like, um,
here the recognition and just the look on Steve's face.

(43:49):
There's incredible, priceless, priceless moment. The other is when the
in Stubb No no, it's after the car is the
debacle of the fire there and they finally get the
little the two singles in the room, Oh yeah, the
little and they're having their little slumber party, Doritos everywhere,

(44:09):
and where do you gonna go? Tequila right, Um and
has to go to the bathroom and they're cutting up,
there's laughing, and he goes into the bathroom. He's still
let's all hear him laughing, and he opens the door
back up, and there's that moment of him just we're
on the same page. I'm laughing, We're having such a

(44:30):
good time, and here's me opening the door just to
show you my face and see how hard I'm laughing, right,
And it's just so real and so special. Yeah, I
love it. Yeah, man, there's so many moments like that,
so many little I mean, this movie is all about
the little touches. There are so many great broad slapstick
moments that are just so silly and dumb and fun,

(44:51):
but little touches like that, And like the wolf in
the cab, like there was no reason to make that
just not a cab ride. But John, He's like, I
don't know, man, let's bring in another great character actor.
I don't know the guy's name. Larry Hankin. Yeah, Larry Hankin. Yeah,
let's bring him Dubis Taxiola Chariot of Sin. It's written

(45:12):
on the cab the lights. I mean, there's no reason
to do that. And to bring in someone you recognize
and make it a little bit more fun, just a
little bit greater than the into the braidwood end. He's
proud of his town these days. Uh. And when they
go into the Braidwood I don't know if you've noticed this,
but oh my god, cracked up about this, I don't know,

(45:35):
the past few months or something, just upon revisiting the nasty,
nasty Braidwood end the first you know, where he gets
athletes foot and literally he got athletes foot, and yeah,
the water and the just trash. That little bed that
they're sharing. There's a painting above the bed, and there's
I believe there's a headboard on the bed itself, but

(45:56):
here's the paintings. No way on either side of the
painting prints, whatever nefarious thing happened in that bed, it's
so funny because the place as nasty as hell. Yeah,
and just that little touch wonderful. Another on that same plane,

(46:17):
that very first plane scene when he he squashed between
them and he in the dark and he leans over
and John Kenny just opens his eyes and says six
bucks and riding my right nuts says we aren't landing
in Chicago. So many great lines. Yeah, which is the
next things that happens, But shoes in the sock and
oh my god, yeah, I mean imagine Steve Martin does

(46:40):
such a good job as I mean, priceless guys, so
so good. You're on that journey with him for sure.
Uh and then he's really sort of Del is kind
of like this the sage he really if you pay attention,
is offering really wonderful advice throughout the movie, whether it's
like like your work, love your wife, or just being

(47:02):
comfortable with who you are. Like there's a great message
that he's he's getting through all this comedy. You know,
it's really pretty great. Yes, we'd have more like playing
pick up sticks with the ben Stein has one great
little line and the greatest thing about that is he
announces the flight cancelation and then maybe the only time

(47:24):
I've ever seen ben Stein smile. He does that little smile.
It's like it brought him great pleasure to announce this flight.
It's really great. Um, So Del has a hook up
like everywhere he goes because of his job as a
shower curtain ring salesman American light Fixtures, which is hysterical.

(47:45):
I wonder how many things John Hughes went through to
come up with that job, Like what would Dell do
for a living? Seriously? You know it's so good because
there's no such that's not a thing. Ulter chronicite moon,
a lot of graph Darryl Strawberry. Yeah, that's a crazy

(48:06):
st Darryl Strawberry line. But um, the the sort of
the classic scene when they finally get to that hotel
and they go in, and I love a good camera gag.
I'm always a sucker for when the camera plays a joke. Yeah,
you're doing it. The camera it stops or goes past
the bed and then back to that single bed and

(48:28):
then over the candy's face. Yep, it's so great, it's perfect.
Yeah yeah, And and I know there's a two and
three hour version, but this, this ninety minute version just cooks.
It does and it's the right length, I think, you
know anything more. Always I'm never like, what's this scene over?

(48:49):
It's like such an inertia and energy does it. It's
like maybe it's because it's a travel movie, but it's
just always moving. It feels like yep, completely um, but
they get out, it's over. I'm seen, and you know
it's gone down in movie history that those aren't pillows.
It's you know, it's got to be on the list. Well,
sweet little kiss on the ear that's I'm glad you
did that, because that's everyone goes to those aren't pillows

(49:11):
as the moment in that scene, the funniest part of
the scene are those two little nibbles that he takes
on his ear so good. I think they must have done.
I don't even know how many it takes, but apparently
there's a cracking up every take over above them and
and Steve Marta said, the cameras they started shaking laughing
before they even got to their moment, and they would

(49:32):
just bust up. You imagine those two little sweet kisses
because we accepts them. He's they're not kind of snuggling up,
nustle into it. And what does he say there? Um?
What was the line that he first says? Why why
did you just kiss me on the ear or whatever? Yeah?
Why are you holding my hand? And the back and

(49:53):
forth they do there, Yeah, why why you're my hands
are between two pillows? Of course? And that's the line
everyone his face drop well, and before that, even when
they when they go to the room, he says, uh,
do you want to take a shower? He oh no, no,
he so well, you thought, of course not. And he's

(50:15):
just layering on the bits and the jokes, like the
next day when he goes in and it's the socks
are in the sink and you're like, and you think
that's it, and then he watches his face with the
drives up. One of the funniest moments for Yeah, for sure,
just to him getting out of the shower and realizing
that disarray. Yeah, that little thing nightmar wash cloth on

(50:39):
that empty rack and like it's all perfect. It is.
It's almost unfair how many jokes he's throwing at you.
You know, it's overload, and it's yeah, like thank you
gotta what's your song around? Making more Apparently Steve Martin
took this movie based on the eighteen Fox scene and
the the seat adjustment scene in the car when Yeah

(51:03):
and again messed around with the sound effects. You know,
that's part of the humor. There's so many layers of comedy,
like just that motorized sounded that sea. It was so funny.
Um oh, and I forgot the other line I love
too much when he when they're in bed together finally
and he goes, you know, I had no idea those

(51:24):
beer cans we're gonna blow like that. You left him
on a vibrating bed. What did you think was gonna happen?
And that's funny because it's funny or not seeing that
they may have shot that, who knows, they may have,
But yeah, we do see Candy on the bed having
a cigarette and enjoying the vibration while while Steve's taking
a shower. But it's funnier just to reference it. Yeah,
I think you see the I don't think we see

(51:44):
beer the bed, but I don't think so. I sleep
in a love of beer. I just want to go
to bed. I mean, if there is a two and
a three hour version, he probably did shoot all that stuff.
But that's like I think, and you're you're an editor
as well, like so you understand fully, like sometimes stuff
is funnier with less not seeing it. Yeah, that's why
Hitchcock was so effective to a lot of things that

(52:06):
he implied we don't see that's right, that just terrorized you,
just letting your imagination wonder. Right. We don't need a
bucket of blood tossed on us to know that something
scary whatever. But yeah, absolutely, Um And back to Hughes
and his proficiency and masterful technique, the way he uses
timing and music is unmatched. Yeah, it's incredible. Yeah, those

(52:31):
needle drops like it's always maximum effect. Uh so special.
Yeah yeah, Um, he's uh, he's reading by lighter light
and he's cracking his knuckles in his neck and he's
scratching his balls and he's he's clearing his sinuses. The

(52:54):
wonderful odd couple familiar with the Walter math out lemon Old, Yeah,
the original I think it's tossed about throwback to that,
but that the sign is clearing, especially God and just
watching Steve be patient because we're on him right, and
then candies things. Yeah, yeah, I lost my mind too.

(53:16):
It's just literally I would have lost my mind and
got them, would lose your patients. That's what that kicks
off the whole the chatty cathy and crossing the line
the moment that we talked about, Well, they put them
in just close, such close physical proximity. Um, when you
start kind of studying the just the blocking. They're always
jammed up against each other. And sometimes it's by nature
of the fact that it's bus seats are playing seats,

(53:37):
but even like in the diner and everywhere they go there,
they're practically touching each other. And that gives the real
sense of this claustrophobia that Neil is feelings time back
of that truck. Yeah, they're always sitting on each other.
If you think it is one, Yeah, just a nip.
I still say that too, And uh, when it's super

(53:57):
cold and people are like, jeez, what do you think
it is? Always go why one? Such a great line.
There's so many great dumb jokes. I'm a big fan
of dumb jokes. Um, they you know, they get robbed overnight,
which is very silly because I don't think that happens.
But it was like John, He's like at the same time.

(54:18):
I think it was the same year. His name is
Gary Riley. He played Dave. Remember Dave and Chainsaw from
uh Summer School. Oh sure, I'm Dave. I'm but I'm
chaining that. Yeah yeah, interesting another little uh cameo. Yeah yeah,
alright school. I don't know if you're a fan, but
I love That's when I saw unapologetically. Really it's great.

(54:41):
It's great. Even going back and revisiting is a wonderful
fun as hell. Yeah, I gotta go check that out again.
That's one of those I saw back in the day.
But I don't think I like kept up with it.
They're the die hards for Texas Chainsaw Massacre. They keep
one screenings of Texas Chainsaws. Right, Yeah, that was Dave
the longer blonde hair. Another one of my favorite lines
is right after that scene when he goes, uh and

(55:03):
if they told you wolverines would make good house pitts,
would you believe them? There's such a wonderful throwback quality
to a lot of Hughses comedy writing, Like a lot
of it feels like, you know, Bob Hope or you
know these sort of classic old super clean comedy bit Yeah,
almost like one liners singers. I love how he tailored

(55:24):
the right He'd write a script, but then he would
go back and Taylor for whoever was playing them. So yeah,
I did that specifically with with both of them. That's
why everything feels so seamless, like something they would obviously say,
and whatever scenario that they were in, yeah, felt so real. Uh.
And he's such a collaborator. He didn't care where a
great idea came from. It's just so that's all special

(55:47):
and yeah and rare and how it should be. Yeah. Absolutely,
this is the most collaborative art form filmmaking on Earth Absolutely,
Oh sure, I mean what else I mean, I guess
if you want to talk about like orchestras and stuff
like that. But even so, Hony people are going to
be making a well it depends on the budget and
obviously this is the project utually. But but you know

(56:08):
how it is on a set, You've got thirty two
hundred people all with their own job to make it
all happen. And he welcomed ideas from Wardrop Department, from them,
from transpot. It doesn't matter. If it's a good idea,
I'd love to use it. Yeah, he didn't claim credit
or anything. That's great. He wanted he was he was
concerned about the final project. Yeah, and that's a doctor

(56:28):
you Uh, if you check your ego at the door,
great things can happen, you know. Yeah, it sounds like
that was the case with John Hughes for sure. Um,
they they all right, so they're they're they've done the plane,
they have done the bus. The bus ride is great,
it's fantastic. I don't know, if you start taking a

(56:48):
bus trend a wonderful awkward scene. Yeah. Yeah, have you
ever traveled by bus? I have? Yeah, Yeah, it's long.
Bus rides I have to man, it's the word I
didn't went from Arizona to Atlanta, and it was just like,
it's one of those things where that's a lot, that's
it's a hall because you know how long it takes
forever because you got to stop so much. But um,

(57:10):
you know, no one's bathing on that bus for four
days at that one tight little bathroom in the midd Yeah,
it's bad. And um, I'm glad they put the bus
in the bus trip in here, because there's something very
specific about a long haul bus ride. It's just the worst. Yeah,
and even has a great line you ever traveled by
bus before, your mood probably isn't going to improve much.

(57:33):
And of course he has. And and that's part of
the fun of this movie is this fishot of Water
thing was kind of upper middle class guy. I mean,
I don't know if he's rich. It's kind of hard
to tell. I wonder if it's the same house from Home.
It looks exactly like the house from Hold alone. It does.
Chicagoan suburb also read that they built this house, but

(57:54):
surely they didn't build the exterior because it said that
they built this house from scratch. And I was like, well,
it was in a neighborhood. I doubt if they meant
they must have just meant the interior or something, but
I don't know that would have made much sense. Apparently
he spent like a hundred grand in the studio was
all piste off at him because they were like, why
did you do that? I don't know, but right the
first time we see Emmy's in this, Uh, it's funny.

(58:16):
The office could looking over the boards, right, the marketing boards. Yeah,
they're too fireplaces in this office, old office, right, So
I mean it definitely makes money. Yeah, and it's absolutely
funny throwing him on a bus and throw him him,
throwing him into the braidwood end, putting him in that

(58:36):
burned out car. Yeah, I'll leave up. The radio still works.
I always wonder about movie props and where they end up, um,
partially because we uh smoking the Bandit was shot, you
know here in Atlanta when I was a kid. It
was my elementary school is in one of the scenes,
and my my dad's car was in one of the

(58:56):
scenes because he was the principal of my elementary school
and my dad ended up with the uh Jackie Gleason's
card door the sheriff's card door that gets knocked off ship.
We had that in my garage for years until it
was one of those things that was just you know,
I'm sure you just threw it away, but you wonder
what happens to this stuff? And I found myself today

(59:18):
thinking what the where did the fund did that car
end up? That great burned out car that they they
may just look so perfect for this, Like where did
that go? I'm sure it's in a in a junkyard somewhere.
I was gonna say hopefully in a museum somewhere, but
but there's no point. You know, it's like it should
be in a muse it is. It's because again, like

(59:40):
the trunk that's a character this film, and there are
Hollywood car museums that have like the Batmobile and the
Dukes of Hazzard car, But like, why is it that
car in the museum? You know you honestly think this
is safe for the road? Yes I do, Yes, I
do so Earnest in that scene and not of your
instruments work, not a one. He was like, Oh, I

(01:00:04):
could believe that you would know better than me, dude,
because you know, like I said, it's phenomenas melted, ripping
their fingers out of the dash. Yeah. Well, in the
highway scene, I think that whole sequence, starting with the
car rental, which the car was modeled after the Vacation
Family truckster, gotta be clearly wooden paneled, metallic beat. Um.

(01:00:28):
I think that she wrote vacation. I didn't realize that.
I mean, he worked for National Lampoon for years. I
mean his record is impeccable. As we're saying, they started
writing jokes for Roddy Dangerfield and uh and Joan Joan
Rivers that's ridiculous, and then come out of the gate
with right and Vacation right off the bat. But that

(01:00:51):
whole car sequence I think is my favorite, starting when
they get to the car. I love the planes and
the trains and the bus and all that, but starting
when they get that car is when things really really
heat up for me. Um, because they had that great
sequence on the highway at night with the John Candy
trying to get out of his coat, which is just
some of the best, like physical comedy, smoking toss the button,

(01:01:14):
You forget about the butt until they're sitting on that trunk,
sit on the trunk. Right after the cheat they cheated death,
the great devil turnency and and the scraping of that.
All right, it's like eight seconds later, out of the
way of the past. Thank god we got through that.

(01:01:34):
But yeah, they sit on the trunk and uh and yeah,
you're the great sound effect and you see it on
their backs, right, the flection of the fire. Yeah. But
the taking off of the coat scene is some of
the best. Like, it's so easy to take that for granted, Uh,
but it's such a great acting like comedy acting bit

(01:01:54):
is him trying to get out of that coat and
then the panic that sets in in both of his arms,
like you see it on his face. And he's driving actually,
and he starts talking to himself, right, comtence back and
I'll be all right, I just need to just it's
so great. You know, he's starting to sweat, and it's
just really easy to overlook, Like what a great bit

(01:02:16):
of comic acting that that part is. Seriously, Yeah, kick
your part off. Yes I will yes, which again is
a very sort of corny old school like a tag
joke at the end. I love how he embraced that,
you know, it's ah, it is very much an old
sort of throwback movie in a lot of ways, a

(01:02:38):
road movie, odd couple movie. It's sort of one of
the classic comic duos. Is you know these the obnoxious
sort of a barbarian and the and the well to
do you know, it goes all the way back to
like British stage, you know, based on stuff like that. Yeah,
putting these the odd couple together, right, the straight man,

(01:03:01):
I mean, you can't would mean nearly as funny without
the straight Steve Martin, Yeah, you know, which is kind
of an undersung role period is to to do the
straight man role. It's not as fun considering what he
was doing, I mean up into his career up until
the yea cocaine fused through the head, you know, crazy

(01:03:24):
wow and crazy guy. You know that's kind of a
chick um. But he's so good at the at the
dramatic stuff too. Yeah. I think he really sort of
in this period with this and like Rock Sane, he
really started to kind of evolve as an actor. Do
you ever see Leap of Faith? Yeah, great movie, and
he plays the shyster, the tent pole preacher going around.

(01:03:47):
It's great in that role. Yeah, Steve Martin is just
one of the greats, I think, I don't. I don't
think he's undersung or anything, because he's certainly gotten a
lot of accolades. But he's seventy four years old now
and like his his career is like, well, it's hard
to tell with him because he went gray in his twenties,
Like when I was a little kid and he was

(01:04:07):
doing Wild and Crazy guy gave the mop of gray hair.
He's always been kind of hard to tell. But a
Spanish prisoner, I mean, he's just he's such a quality actor.
Shop Girl. He wrote this too, especially, Yeah Girl is amazing. Yep, yeah, Yeah.
My brother met him once and I saw him on
a back lot once, riding a bike just across the

(01:04:29):
back lot and he just smiled NodD at everyone that passed.
And he apparently still does this. But he has a
card he gives you rather than a photo or an autograph.
He carries her on these cards that says I certified
that I had a personal moment with Steve Martin and
I found him to be charming, funny and blah blah
blah blah blah. And it has this little signature ere yeah,
and a great idea if you're always getting stopped, you know,

(01:04:51):
because it's a joke. You know, he gives someone a
card and then they have a story and something tangible
and away with love that it just seems like such
a good dude. So Neil breaks up with him a
few times in this movie. The time when he finally

(01:05:13):
breaks up with them in the diner is I think
one of the most heartbreaking is because he just he
pulls no punches because they had already bonded. Though. I
think that's what makes it so tough. Is John Candy
thinks you're a team at this point, and he reminds
him that they're not. Uh He shortly after this, because
he makes a nice water cash tries to pay him back. Yeah,

(01:05:35):
it's heartbreaking, it is. But yeah, with the exchange of money,
it's just like I'm just gonna leave it on the table,
and he's just so like he's he can tell he's
just about to bust out crying at any moment. And
the way he wants to save face and leave before
he exactly such a tough moment it is. But of
course fate will keep them together in the truck. Um.

(01:05:59):
Then we get to finally that that carminal scene. Um,
and you know it's it's got I know that that. Uh.
Some of these publications keep track of like best movie
lines and best movie moments and things like that. This
has got to be a top twenty all time great
comedy scene. It better be. It better be a you know,

(01:06:20):
I'll raise hell. It's like people that have seen this
movie once remember this scene above all else. So good,
the great what's her name, Eadie mcclark, Eadie mcclark, mcclark,
she's so great well, and she has that wonderful line
because that's a you know, he's still he's obviously the

(01:06:40):
has that the great run of f bombs. But she's
got to hold her own on her end, and she
has a great line where she goes, I really don't
care the way you're speaking to me, smile because she's
still got to keep up that customer service thing, you know,
until the end, and she she gets to steal the
show away your yeah, oh dear what oh man? Uh.

(01:07:08):
Then that gets us to one of my other favorite scenes,
which is the taxi scene. Um, after he tries to
rebook a flight in Chicago and that great taxis dispatcher
stated like a slab of meat with mittens. He goes, Yeah,
he goes, he goes Chicago. You know you're in St. Louis.
If I wanted a joke, I'd follow you into the

(01:07:28):
john and watch you take a link man picked up
by his testicles before Yeah, and and then the face
that Steve Martin makes when he gets punched in the face,
that little like again it goes. It's like Charlie Chaplin stuff,
right totally, you know, Yeah, it's like such a throwback. Okay,

(01:07:48):
I'm gonna watch this movie another hundred times, watching Tonight
over the years. It's so good. Tays the season two. Yeah,
Turkey and putting planes trains on a loop. That's right,
And well I did buy it, So I'm gonna make
this a definite tradition. I don't watch it every year,
but it's uh, I'm gonna start. I think, um, I

(01:08:11):
do that with holiday holiday films around Christmas side you
like emmitter, I'll put that on a loop Halloween, right?
Have you? Have you seen it at the Puppetry Art
Center that it's amazing. It's hard to I did a
play in two thousand one. It was January two Thoe

(01:08:33):
called Light Up the Sky at the Alliance Theater and uh,
I did a One of the other actors from New
Yorker name is Maryland Sokol. That's okay o L. I
don't know she's still around. I hope she is. Um.
She voiced my Otter. So I lost my mind when
I learned this news because she'd have stories about Jim
Hinson and how he just courted her and was like

(01:08:55):
in love with her. I mean, who knows how much
she's fellishing. Um, but just my dad turned me onto
Paul Williams as a as a child, so and then
and then emmet Order very big part of my childhood
and growing up absolutely man as probably us around that age.
It would come on HBO. Remember um now they have

(01:09:16):
the supplemental fun stuff like Kermit is now in there. Really,
I don't think. I don't know if you've seen the
blue ray or the DVD of the updated version, No,
I haven't. Um, it's different than what we saw growing up.
The music is indelible. Yeah, river Bottom Nightmare, Right Bottom Nightmare.
They actually scared me when I was a fine. I

(01:09:38):
tried to show that to my daughter last year and she, uh,
she didn't get into it. My heart was a little broken,
But I think it was just a little too soon,
So I'm gonna gonna try again this year. I don't know,
maybe kids like the animated stuff more or do they
like the practical she would she would dig it? Yeah,
I think I think at that age, you're you're still
game for whatever, you know, we should show her the Mandalorian.

(01:10:00):
Yeah you watched that? I have you think? Oh? I
love it so far? Right. It feels like a wonderful
throwback to a new Hope. Yeah. Tone, it's like what
I remembered as a child. Yep, And it feels like
this new friend now. I really like the direction it's
headed a lot. And I like the thirty minute format.
I've seen other people saying they wish it was an hour,
but I think that thirty minute is just like just
the right night, little nice, little sweet spot. Yeah. Yeah.

(01:10:23):
And and we're so used to binging things. I kind
of appreciate the fact that they're dolling it out a
little by little yeah, because now he's not having everything
immediate and accessible now, I know. I like the anticipation
of imagination. Yeah, and that little jeez and everyone's calling
baby Yoda even though it's not Yoda. But what a
what a genius thing for Jon Favreau to think to do,

(01:10:45):
you know, it's brilliant. Yeah, he's really usually putting together
quite a career for himself. The dude from Swingers soon knew.
Uh So the car gets impounded, Dell comes through with
the truck there at the end, the the cheese truck
where they have to ride in the back, but he
gets some home. Yeah, which, oh my gosh, that's what

(01:11:10):
says on which sounds so midwestern of course. But that
great scene at the train station that you you talked
about earlier is I mean, that's where it all comes together.
And um, just that look on Neil's face when it
just watches over him, and that the character arc coming
full circle for him, Like he could have just gone home,

(01:11:32):
but he wouldn't have been able to live with himself
in all these pieces together, everything he's been through. He
could easily just say, oh screw Dell, Yeah I'm done well.
And he shows that sign of relief when he gets
on the train at first, even like thank god, that's over, yep, done,
I know, go home, give me back to my wife,

(01:11:52):
my kids. Yeah. The one thing that he wants to
do smash cut to them. Where's that prop? Right? Like
that should be an amazing fixtures. You know, if that
ended up and it's got it's got him, I'm gonna
track it down. I'm gonna good, well, I'm gonna buy it,
or I'll go in again. Or if it's uh, it's
it's like Raiders of the Lost Ark, it's just sitting

(01:12:14):
in some prop warehouse in Los Angeles somewhere. Funny. You
know how those things end up. It's probably rented and returned.
That that was the trunk from whatever, you know, some
other dumb movie. You just slap some stickers on it
and said del Griffin Stincil. But the very end is
such a great payoff because they there's a lot of

(01:12:37):
ways you could have handled that final scene where they
go to the house. They could have shown the hand
of very heavily, no doubt. Yeah, they could have shown
him having dinner. They could have carried that a little more.
They may have shot that stuff, but just I think
Hughes having the restraint to know that there was so
much more power and that introduction and how they did it. Uh,

(01:13:00):
this is my friend like that said at all. Yeah,
this is the first time he uses that phrase. Very
first time Del refers to Neil as his friend to Gus,
I think when he's trying to get the hotel to
my old friend, Neil says no, and he says, this
is my friend, and it's so like it's such a
gut punch in all the right ways. And when his wife,

(01:13:23):
I don't know who that actress. She does such a
good job in this movie though, that's sort of this
like behind the scenes heartbeat. Um when she says, hello
Mr Griffith, Hello Miss Page, Mrs Page. It's just it's perfect.
So yeah, there's no better way to it. Yeah, And
and she you get the sense that she knows, like
there may have been six other phone calls that we

(01:13:45):
don't know about where she learns all this stuff. Seriously,
what do you think Neil saying, I'm sure I'll believe
this bullshit I'm dealing with. Yeah, and I'm right he's
trying to kill me three t like literally yeah, but
her warmth is so welcoming. Yeah, it was so special.
And then we does he know we freeze on his smile.

(01:14:07):
I know it's just like now you see that, And
all I can think of is like John Candy and
memory that literally that's what Yeah, do you think is
about to pop on the screen. Yeah, but this has
been final cut since since seven right years before Candy died.
Candy died, do you know, I don't know the mid nineties.

(01:14:28):
Maybe I feel like I was in high school. It
might have been like ninety four. Yeah, I think I
was a senior of the great one of the greats.
He's a big dude, six tooing that much weight around
six too, that's not that's a lot of dude. He
was a large man, Yeah, but just a giant and
by all accounts, just a sweetheart of a guy. Like

(01:14:49):
every story I've ever heard is just you know that
John Candy was just as great as he would helpe
him to be. Like he has everyone's uncle Buck, you
know what a great body of work. Yeah, and cameos
that he did the splash and stripes, Yeah, everything against
stripes and then he played a big asshole and you

(01:15:11):
know it's kind of the only time he ever did that,
I think. And I stumbled across SETV growing up, Yeah,
I watched and ever watched it. I was like, what
is who are these Canadian weirdo sor I don't even
know where I found it. Was it like w N
or some probably? Yeah, I bet it was. Yeah, I've
stumbled across a lot of movies because there was a
guy named Danny or Denny who would host w g N.

(01:15:34):
It was based out of Chicago and the Saturday and
Sunday afternoons, would you get home from church, we'd ever
miss Winners, KFC whatever, and I plopped in front of
TV and watch Swamp Thing Poison ivy whenever they're showing
at the time, early mid eighties. But he was a
Daniel Danny, and I've actually looked up trying to find
this guy what he was doing, and he was the host.

(01:15:55):
He was the host of of these movies that would
and I'll bet you anything SETV was on yeh, watch
you let it b g N. Yeah. After was there
anything better than getting out of those church clothes? Right?
It's like people that didn't grow up going to church,
that feeling at like twelve fifteen just to get home
and like take off those shoes and socks and like
get on your shorts totally such such the great thing.

(01:16:18):
Well you got anything else? Man? I mean, I think
it's one of the best endings ever, certainly the best
Thanksgiving movie. Yeah, I'd vote that number one. I mean,
there aren't a ton of Thanksgiving movies, but nothing touches
um Dutch. Yeah. John Hughes wrote, there's a few those
Thanksgiving right now. Yeah. I mean, this movie manages to
be sentimental. It just strikes just the right tone. I

(01:16:43):
think it does. You know, there's got to be a
bit of that, but it's not so over the top
and you need that valve release every once in a
while too, with with anything watching, if it's because dramatic, yeah,
it's a comedy, but they're definitely some heavy dramatic moments.
Yeah right, oh yeah, um it does. It's a perfect blend. Yeah,

(01:17:03):
wonderful film. Yep, R I P. Mr Hughes and Mr
Candy and uh thanks for coming on. It's been great.
It's awesome. I'll crush it anytime with you, please, every love.
I love movies. Yeah, we'll have to get you back
in you all right, all right, everyone. I hope you

(01:17:28):
enjoyed that. I hope your belly is full of I
guess on a Friday it would be cold turkey sandwich
with cranberry, maybe a little mayo, but I hope you
cued up planes, trains, and automobiles today. It's kind of
a tradition in our house to watch this one every year,
one of my favorite movies, and we had a great
chat about it. So I hope you enjoyed it, because
I sure did. So sit back, eat some more turkey,

(01:17:50):
maybe fall asleep on the couch listening to the sweet
dulcet tones of Neil Page and Delve Griffith. Have a
great weekend. Everybody. Movie. Crush has produced, edited and engineered

(01:18:10):
by Ramsay Hunt here in our home studio at Pont
City Market, Atlanta, Georgia. For I Heart Radio. For more
podcasts for my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,