Planes, Trains and Automobiles is a wonderful comedy film that turns out to have a heart after all and really tugs on the heart strings at times throughout the film.

It follows the story of a business man and a shower curtain ring salesman who are accidentally thrust together in their trip back home for Thanksgiving. Let’s take a look back at this classic comedy with some facts about it that you probably didn’t know…

1. The studio struggled to find travel companies!

Because of the events that occur in the film, no travel companies wanted their names associated with the film as they might appear inept in their ability to service their clients properly!

2. They had to come up with a solution

To get around this, the studio had to rent a twenty mile stretch of railroad track and construct sets for the airline and car rental scenes, and even had to come up with their own names and logos.

3. Some footage is reused

The footage of the plane flying through the storm is reused from the other classic 80s comedy movie, Airplane!

4. The car rental scene is gone in 60 seconds!

The infamous car rental scene lasts exactly one minute from when Steve Martin walks in and starts his tirade to when the woman ends the conversation.

5. It contains a few expletives

The car rental scene is the only scene in the movie in which the ‘f’ word is used, and it is used 18 times in the 60 seconds it lasts!

6. The film was based on fact

John Hughes once had a flight that was diverted from Chicago to Wichita, and it ended up taking him 5 days to get home, providing the inspiration for this film!

7. One set cost a lot of money

Neal’s home was actually a set consisting of 7 rooms and ultimately cost $100,000 to create!

8. The producers weren’t happy

The cost of Neal’s home set angered the producers and caused some turmoil on set, as this was a huge cost for a set that is only used briefly in the film.

9. It used a lot of film

John Hughes used more than twice the normal amount of film to make Planes, Trains and Automobiles, with more than 600,000 feet of film being used!

10. It should have been much longer

The original film in its entirety would have run at more than 3 hours due to the amount of footage that was shot by John Hughes!

11. It still exists

The 3 hour version of the film still technically exists but has been locked away for years and has never been edited in to the correct running order so would not make much sense.

12. It’s not just the fans who loved this film

Both of the film’s stars, John Candy and Steve Martin, said that this was their favourite film of their own that they had made.

13. It was a difficult shoot

To find areas with snow for some of the shoots, the crew had to travel a lot of distance and when they got there the snow had often melted, making them call it a hellish shoot!

14. The director didn’t help matters

When the crew were struggling with the travelling and trying to find snowy locations to shoot, John Hughes didn’t help as he was going through a difficult time personally and was often grumpy on set!

15. One actor gets a surprise billing

In spite of only appearing on screen for 90 seconds as the State Trooper, Michael McKean gets fourth billing in the film!

Are you a fan of Planes, Trains and Automobiles?

Does your heart melt at that ending no matter how many times you watch it? Have you ever had any similar experiences? Let us know all of your thoughts in the comments as always!