NEED TO KNOW
In Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Steve Martin got so scared that he saw the devil. The movie studio, meanwhile, was more terrified of the film’s production schedule and budget.
The film, featuring Martin and John Candy, would go on to become a classic, effectively easing all fears.
One of the most notable scenes in the 1987 film shows Candy in a devil costume. It turns out, however, that Candy and director John Hughes completely improvised the scene to satisfy worried studio executives.
“I remember hearing from John Hughes, and then Steve Martin told me that Planes, Trains and Automobiles was an incredibly long script. And a funny story I could share that I heard was they were notoriously over budget and over time on that movie, and the studio was actually getting stressed out about that,” Candy’s son, Chris Candy, recalled during a recent panel discussion about the John Candy: I Like Me documentary.
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Paramount, the studio, sent a crew to the set to see why production was several weeks behind schedule. When executives arrived, they were alarmed at what they saw: John dressed as the devil.
“My father at that time was wearing a devil’s costume, and he was walking around poking people in the butt, and [executives] were like, ‘Where the hell is this in the script?’” Chris, an executive producer of the documentary, explained.
At that moment, there was no scene involving a devil, but that quickly changed.
“They had [to] improv that joke. John and my father had come up with that in that moment, and that’s how that one-second shot, that one quick shot, ends up in the movie,” Chris said, adding, “but that’s the magic that you want when going into movies.”
Along with Chris, John also shared daughter Jennifer Candy with wife Rosemary Margaret Hobor, whom he wed in 1979. The Uncle Buck actor died of a heart attack in 1994 at age 43.
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty
Aside from John’s son, other friends and costars who make an appearance in the film include Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Dan Aykroyd, Tom Hanks, Martin Short, Bill Murray and Mel Brooks.
John Candy: I Like Me features “never-before-seen home videos, intimate access to his family, and candid recollections from collaborators to paint a bigger picture of one of the brightest stars of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s,” per a synopsis.
The synopsis adds, “It’s the story of a son, husband, father, friend and professional driven to bring joy to audiences and loved ones while battling personal ghosts and Hollywood pressures.”
John Candy: I Like Me, from producer Ryan Reynolds and director Colin Hanks, premiered Sept. 4 at the Toronto International Film Festival and comes out on Prime Video Oct. 10.
