35 years later, Planes, Trains & Automobiles is still being remembered and celebrated as a classic staple during Thanksgiving and the holidays in general. As such, Vanity Fair recently spoke to nearly 20 members of the movie’s cast and crew, as well as the children of the late John Hughes and John Candy to discuss the film, and all the ins and outs of creating such a piece of holiday memorabilia.
Jennifer Candy, John Candy’s daughter, remembers the selfless acts her father always made, and how his coworkers on set were family, too. One of the extras from the film remembers one moment fondly.
John Candy treated everyone with kindness
PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES, from left: John Candy, Steve Martin, 1987, © Paramount/courtesy Everett Collection
Troy Evans, credited as the Antisocial Trucker in the film, remembers one thing John did that he’ll never forget. “It was the night of the Oscars. And the phone rings, I’m sitting in my underwear in my room, eating room service and watching the TV. And the phone rings. “Is this Troy?” I said, “Yeah.” “Troy, this is John Candy. I’m having a few folks up to watch the Oscars, and wondered if you’d like to join us.” I was so excited. You know, John Hughes will be there. The producers will be there. And maybe I’ll meet Steve Martin.” But he couldn’t be any more wrong.
“I didn’t have any dress clothes, but I cleaned up as best as I could, and went up to John Candy’s room. He was in the same hotel, you know. And John Hughes wasn’t there. The producers weren’t there. And Steve Martin wasn’t there. Who was there was everybody who was like me on the movie. He went through all the down-the-ladder actors and invited them all up to his suite. Isn’t that wonderful?”
Evans continues, “And then he got like, a thousand dollars’ worth of room service. He got like 20 pizzas, and just the food just kept coming all evening. And so as I was leaving, I tried to slip him $200 to help with the food. And I’ll remember this on my deathbed. John Candy said, “Troy, that’s been taken care of.””
Moreover, to celebrate 35 years of this film, it’s being re-released in 4K Blu-ray and video-on-demand, featuring over an hour of previously unseen footage. Here’s some of that unseen footage below.