Pretty in Pink

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Pretty in Pink
Image:Pretty In Pink.jpg
North American Movie Poster
Directed by Howard Deutch
Produced by Lauren Shuler
Written by John Hughes
Starring Molly Ringwald
Andrew McCarthy
Jon Cryer
Harry Dean Stanton
Annie Potts
James Spader
Cinematography Tak Fujimoto
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s) February 28, 1986
Running time 96 min.
Country Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States
Language English
IMDb profile

Pretty in Pink is a popular 1986 film about teenage love and social cliques in 1980s American high schools. It is notable for belonging to the group of John Hughes movies starring Molly Ringwald and belongs to the Brat Pack movies. The title of the film comes from the song of the same name by British music group The Psychedelic Furs.

The film was directed by Howard Deutch, produced by Lauren Shuler, and written by John Hughes.

Tagline: He's crazy about her, she's crazy about him, and he's just crazy.

Contents

[edit] Cast

[edit] Plot summary

Molly Ringwald stars as Andie Walsh, a poor but fashion-conscious New Wave girl who has a crush on one of the rich boys in her school, Blane McDonough, played by Andrew McCarthy. When Andie and Blane try to get together, the pair encounters resistance from their respective social circles.

Andie lives on "the wrong side of the tracks" with her unemployed, sluggish father. She is trying to convince him to get a job and seems to be struggling with it. Her mother left the family a few years before. To save on money, Andie buys secondhand clothes and uses her sewing and fashion skills to create unique New Wave clothes. Her best friend (and stalker) is Duckie Dale. Duckie has an obsessive crush on Andie, but plays it off as a joke in front of her. In school, she and Duckie are harassed by the "richie" kids, namely Benny and Steff. Steff's friend Blane, however, is secretly eyeing Andie, unbeknownst to her right away.

Andie works at TRAX, a New Wave music store in Chinatown, managed by her older mentor friend Iona, who dresses younger than her years and moans about her newly single life. Iona advises Andie to go to her senior prom despite not having a date. Blane and Andie talk for a brief moment as Blane buys an album. Andie then begins developing feelings for Blane. She discusses them with a few friends at the local club, CATS.

Soon, Blane makes his move via chatting in the computer lab and Andie is smitten. Blane ventures out to the courtyard (where the punks, metalheads, and New Wavers hang out during lunch and after school) to make a date with Andie. Steff begins questioning why his best friend "was conversing with a mutant" but Blane brushes him off.

On the Friday night of the date, Andie waits for Blane at TRAX, but Blane is late. Duckie comes instead, only to find Andie upset because she thinks she's been stood up. After Blane arrives, Duckie begins to fight with Andie when he sees who she is going on a date with. Duckie tries to convince her that he will use her and leave her, that his group is all the same while Andie assures him he is not like the others. Duckie storms out, frustrated and hurt. Andie goes on her date with Blane.

First, Blane suggests a party Steff is throwing. But the party isn't exactly what Blane expected, and Andie is treated poorly by everyone, including a drunk Steff and Benny. Andie, in turn, suggests going to CATS, where Iona is sitting with Duckie. The couple doesn't seem to fit into their social groups when together and Duckie is suddenly cold and unforgiving, for obvious reasons. He quickly chases Andie and Blane out of CATS and, in an attempt to make Andie jealous, kisses Iona. Blane offers to take her home but Andie wants to be taken back to TRAX. They briefly argue when Andie finally admits she doesn't want to be taken home because she doesn't want Blane to see where she lives. Despite the bad date, Blane drops Andie off at her home and the two end the night with a kiss. Blane asks Andie to prom and she excitedly accepts. The next day, Andie visits Iona in her loft in Chinatown to inform her about the date and Blane asked her to prom. Iona begins reminiscing about her own prom and shows Andie her old pink dress.

Meanwhile, Andie's father had been faking going to a full-time job in front of Andie, and Andie quickly caught on, leading to yet another confrontation.

Soon, Blane begins separating himself from Andie due to pressure from Steff. He won't return her calls and Andie becomes increasingly distressed. She finally cracks, confronting Blane, who said he had asked someone else before asking her to prom and had forgotten. Andie runs away, heartbroken. Duckie then overhears Steff trashing Andie. Duckie and Steff get into a fight, and when teachers come out of the classrooms and try to separate the two, Duckie runs away.

Andie seeks more advice from Iona, only to find Iona preparing for a date with a yuppie, dressing like her age for a change. Iona is so excited about the new man in her life that she is already thinking about a wedding in her future. She seems happy and barely notices Andie's pain amongst her pleasure. Yet somehow, Iona's newfound happiness inspires Andie, and she goes home with Iona's pink dress and creates a new pink prom dress and decides to attend prom to "show them they didn't break [her]."

Andie finds Duckie, dressed up for the prom, as soon as she gets there. The friends reunite and make up, walking into the ballroom hand-in-hand. Steff snickers and begins trashing Andie and Duckie again, only to be finally told off by the normally passive Blane. Blane says that Andie would never go for him because she sees him for who he really is; with all his money he could never buy her. Blane walks over to Andie and says that he always believed in her but he never believed in himself. He says he'll always love her no matter what and leaves the prom. Duckie concedes that she was right, "He's not like the others" and advises Andie to go after him. After Andie leaves, a blonde girl notices Duckie and goes to dance with him.

Outside of the prom, Andie catches Blane in the parking lot just before he gets to his BMW and they kiss in the misty night.

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Pretty in Pink features a breakout role for James Spader, as a smarmy yuppie type that becomes one of his best known onscreen personas.
  • In Hughes' original script, Andie and Duckie ended up together, but due to pressure, Hughes had to change the ending so that Andie and Blane ended up together. The producers worried that the ending might come across as elitist. Ringwald, who was very sick during the shooting for the original ending and therefore didn't like how those scenes turned out, also objected to the original ending because she viewed Duckie as more of a brother than a love interest. Ringwald states that she felt no chemistry with Cryer, but did feel it with McCarthy upon whom she had a real-life 'crush'[1]
  • Andrew McCarthy is wearing a wig in the final prom scene because the actors were all called back to reshoot the ending. Andrew had already shaved his head and lost weight for his next role as an army officer in a play to be performed in New York. [2]
  • The Hughes-penned film Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) follows the same premise as Pretty in Pink but with the gender roles reversed and the alternative ending.
  • The girl with whom Duckie dances at the end of the movie, referred to as "Duckette" in the credits, is Kristy Swanson.
  • Pretty in Pink was filmed at Hancock Park High School in Los Angeles. It was also shot at Marshall High School, where Grease was filmed in 1977. However the film was set in Suburban Chicago
  • Alexa Kenin, who played Jena (Andie's friend) died in New York soon after filming. Pretty in Pink is dedicated to her.
  • The film is also dedicated to the film's set decorator Bruce Weintraub, who died three months after Kenin.
  • The book Andie hands to Blane the second time he comes into Trax is In His Own Write by John Lennon.
  • Ringwald was the only leading actor of high school age at the time of filming (18); Cryer was 21, McCarthy was 23 and Spader topped them all at 26.
  • Andie (played by Ringwald) uses the word "richie" when describing Blane to her father. "Richie" was also a term Bender used in The Breakfast Club when speaking to popular Claire (ironically also played by Ringwald) and Andrew.
  • Ringwald and McCarthy joined forces again in Fresh Horses, another film about a couple from opposite sides of the tracks (again, she's the poor one, he's the rich one).
  • Trax real life location was Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica, California.

[edit] Music

See Pretty in Pink (soundtrack) for further details.

  • The title of the movie Pretty in Pink was a pre-existing Psychedelic Furs song that was rerecorded for the successful Pretty In Pink soundtrack. The original version is played during the opening credits and the re-recording is played during the end credits.
  • Pretty In Pink is one of several Hughes film to be named after pre-existing songs. Others include Sixteen Candles by The Crests, and Some Kind of Wonderful by Grand Funk Railroad.
  • The movie soundtrack drew heavily from New Order with three New Order songs featuring in the film: "Shellshock", "Elegia" and "Thieves Like Us". Due to being instrumental versions, "Elegia" and "Thieves Like Us" were omitted from the soundtrack CD.
  • The videos for The Psychedelic Furs' "Pretty In Pink", OMD's "If You Leave" and New Order's "Shellshock" each featured scenes from the movie.
  • "If You Leave", written for the movie and featured in the pivotal prom scene, was OMD's biggest US hit single, reaching #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
  • OMD had originally penned the song "Goddess of Love" to be used during the prom scene, but it was later dropped for "If You Leave."

[edit] References in popular culture

  • Jon Cryer reprised his "Duckie" role for an episode of Mr. Show.
  • Is referenced in the TV show Supernatural in the episode Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things (Supernatural) when Dean refers to a diary as having "unrequited Duckie love written all over it."
  • In 2005, the TV show Veronica Mars paid homage to Pretty in Pink in the episode "Ruskie Business", in which the characters Meg and Duncan go to an 80s dance dressed up as Andie and Duckie, respectively.
  • In the webcomic Wapsi Square, the Golem Girls are repeatedly shown watching the movie and complaining because Andie didn't end up with Duckie.
  • The Bowling for Soup song "1985" makes a reference to Pretty in Pink, also referring to other movies starring Molly Ringwald.
  • In a 2005 episode of Boston Legal, characters Alan Shore (played by James Spader) and Denny Crane (played by Willam Shatner) are dressed in pink flamingo costumes for Halloween. Shore says to Crane, "You look pretty in pink".
  • In the Gilmore Girls episode "Super Cool Party People", Lorelai plays the film for a bunch of 12-year-olds, commenting "Yes, that is the guy from Two and a Half Men", in reference to Jon Cryer.
  • In Not Another Teen Movie, in the scene at the airport, Jake quotes a line from Pretty in Pink. Molly Ringwald also has a cameo role as a flight attendant.
  • In Season 2 of Degrassi: The Next Generation, Emma's and Manny's outfits for the dance match outfits worn by Andie and Jena.
  • Fall Out Boy's first album, Evening Out With Your Girlfriend, has a song titled "Pretty In Punk", an obvious reference to the film.
  • In a Season 3 episode of Dawson's Creek, Pacey tells Jen that he had "Duckie written all over [him]," referring to his belief that his romantic feelings for Joey would not be reciprocated.
  • The Dresden Dolls were featured on High School Reunion: A Tribute to Those Great 80's Films with a song entitled "Pretty In Pink"

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Image:United States film.png American films of the 1980s
1980 •1981 •1982 •1983 •1984 •1985 •1986 •1987 •1988 •1989
v • d • e
John Hughes
As DirectorSixteen 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)
As WriterNational Lampoon's Class Reunion (1982)  · Mr. Mom (1983)  · National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)  · Nate and Hayes (1983)  · Sixteen Candles (1984)  · The Breakfast Club (1985)  · 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)  · Christmas Vacation (1989)  · Home Alone (1990)  · Career Opportunituies (1991)  · Dutch (1991)  · Curly Sue (1991)  · Beethoven (1992)  · Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (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)  · Just Visiting (2001)  · Maid in Manhattan (2002)
de:Pretty in Pink

it:Bella in rosa nl:Pretty in Pink ru:Девушка в розовом (фильм) sv:Pretty in Pink

Retrieved from "http://india.smashits.com/wikipedia/Pretty_in_Pink"
Views
Personal tools

Toolbox