| Sixteen Candles | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | John Hughes |
| Produced by | Hilton A. Green Michelle Manning Ned Tanen |
| Written by | John Hughes |
| Starring | Molly Ringwald Justin Henry Michael Schoeffling Haviland Morris Gedde Watanabe Anthony Michael Hall |
| Music by | Ira Newborn |
| Cinematography | Bobby Byrne |
| Editing by | Edward Warschillka |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | May 4, 1984 |
| Running time | 93 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6,500,000 |
| Box office | $23,686,027 |
Sixteen Candles is a 1984 American film starring Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling and Anthony Michael Hall. It was written and directed by John Hughes.
Contents |
Awkward high school sophomore Samantha "Sam" Baker struggles to get through the day of her 16th birthday, which her entire family forgets because her older sister, Ginny, is getting married the next day. She is also plagued by her ongoing infatuation with the very popular and very attractive senior, Jake Ryan. Her day at school fares no better when she finds out that her completed "sex quiz," which she surreptitiously slipped to her friend, never reached her (and, unbeknownst to either of them, was picked up by Jake Ryan himself). Sam panics as the quiz contains personal information, including the fact that she is a virgin and is saving herself for Jake.
She has a whole new set of problems when she arrives home to find that both sets of grandparents are staying at the Baker home for the duration of the wedding visit. On top of it all, one set of grandparents brings along bizarre foreign exchange student Long Duk Dong. Sam's grandparents force her to take him along to her school dance that night and, to Sam's amazement, it takes "The Donger" only five minutes to find an unlikely girlfriend — the tallish, large-breasted jock, Marlene, promptly nicknamed "Lumberjack." After some ensuing madness with everyone involved, Sam's family eventually makes up before the wedding and apologizes for forgetting her birthday.
A running subplot involves a geeky freshman who continually (and unsuccessfully) tries to bed his love interest, Sam, to satisfy a bet with his friends. The character is referred to on several occasions in the movie as either "Ted" or "Farmer Ted", but he is credited solely as "the Geek."
In the auto-shop room during the dance, Sam and Ted begin talking and Sam confesses her love for Jake. Upon hearing this, he tells her that Jake had been asking about her at the dance, and they agree that Sam should just go and talk to him. As she's leaving, he reveals the wager to Sam, who, in her excited state, agrees to loan him her panties to help him win a dozen floppy disks.
Later (after a peepshow of Sam's panties for $1 admission, which she does not find out about until the next day), Ted and his equally unwelcome friends, Cliff and Bryce, crash the senior after-party at Jake's house — during which the entire house is completely trashed. At night's end, Jake finds Ted trapped under a table and they begin to talk. Jake inquires further about Sam; Ted explains the situation. Jake makes a deal with Ted: If Ted lets Jake keep Sam's panties, then he will let Ted drive home his inebriated, stuck-up, prom queen girlfriend, Carolyn Mulford, in Jake's father's Rolls Royce. Jake later uses the excuse of finding them together to break up with Carolyn (who had surprisingly fallen for Ted, and thus doesn't mind the break-up very much). Afterward, Jake drives to the church just in time to meet an incredulous Sam after her sister's wedding. The movie concludes with them sharing a kiss over a birthday cake with 16 candles.
John Hughes had asked his agent for headshots of young actresses, and among those he received was Molly Ringwald's. Inspired by it, he put it up over his desk and wrote the film just over a weekend with her specifically in mind for the lead role.[1][2] For the male lead in the film, it had come down to Schoeffling and Viggo Mortensen.[3] For the part of Ted, Hughes saw a number of actors for the role: "Every single kid who came in to read for the part... did the whole, stereotyped high school nerd thing. You know - thick glasses, ball point pens in the pocket, white socks. But when Michael came in he played it straight, like a real human being. I knew right at that moment that I'd found my geek."[4]
Sixteen Candles was filmed primarily in and around the Chicago North Shore suburban communities of Skokie and Highland Park, Illinois during the summer of 1983, when leads Ringwald and Hall were 15 years old.[5] Most of the exterior scenes and some of the interior scenes were filmed at Niles East High School,[6] close to downtown Skokie, the setting for Hall's driving the Rolls Royce.[7] A cafeteria scene and a gym scene, were filmed at Niles North High School. The auto shop scene was filmed at Niles East High School in the auto shop. The Baker house is located on the 3000 block of Payne Street in Evanston. The church and parking lot where the final scenes take place are in Glencoe.[8]
| Sixteen Candles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by various artists | ||
| Released | 1984 | |
| Genre | Rock, New Wave | |
| Length | 17:28 | |
| Label | MCA Records | |
| Producer | Jimmy Iovine (16 Candles & Hang Up the Phone), Ira Newborn (Geek Boogie), John Cale (Gloria), & Alex Sadkin (If You Were Here) | |
| Music sample | ||
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"Thompson Twins - If You Were Here"
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| Side 1 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Performed By | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "16 Candles" | Stray Cats | 2:52 | ||||||
| 2. | "Hang Up the Phone" | Annie Golden | 2:59 | ||||||
| 3. | "Geek Boogie" | Ira Newborn & the Geeks | 2:48 | ||||||
| Side 2 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Performed By | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Gloria" | Patti Smith | 5:54 | ||||||
| 2. | "If You Were Here" | Thompson Twins | 2:55 | ||||||
The original soundtrack was released as a specially priced mini album containing only 5 songs. However, the movie actually featured an extensive selection of over 30 songs. Songs from the movie that were not included on the soundtrack EP are as follows:
Performed by AC/DC
Performed by Darlene Love
Performed by Paul Young
Performed by Kajagoogoo
Performed by Altered Images
Performed by The Temple City Kazoo Orchestra
Performed by Ray Anthony and His Orchestra
Performed by Night Ranger
Performed by Ray Anthony and His Orchestra
Performed by Spandau Ballet
Performed by Oingo Boingo
Performed by The Specials
Performed by Tim Finn
Performed by Nick Heyward
Performed by Stevie Ray Vaughan
Performed by Nick Heyward
Performed by The Divinyls
Conducted by Carlo Savina
Performed by The Vapors
Performed by The Revillos
Performed by The Premiers
Performed by Frank Sinatra
Performed by Wham!
Performed by Billy Idol
Performed by The Bavarian Staatsoper Munich Chorus and Orchestra
Performed by David Bowie
Sixteen Candles was well received by critics and is considered by many as one of the best films of 1984.[9][10] Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 90% of critics gave it a positive rating, based on 30 reviews.[11] Ringwald's performance was especially praised; Variety called her "engaging and credible"[12] while Roger Ebert wrote that she "provides a perfect center for the story".[13]
The character of Long Duk Dong was criticized for being racially insensitive and offensive to Asians and others[14] who, in the words of Alison MacAdam of NPR, found that the character "represents one of the most offensive Asian stereotypes Hollywood ever gave America"[15] with some complaining that they were taunted with quotes of his stilted-English lines.[16] Ebert defended him, writing that Gedde Watanabe "elevates his role from a potentially offensive stereotype to high comedy".[13]
Sixteen Candles was a moderate success at the box office, grossing $23,686,027.[17]
The movie ranked number 49 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies.[18]
In 2005, Ringwald was reported to be producing a sequel to the film.[19] As of March 2010[update], Ringwald stated that she thought it was not a good idea to do remakes of great classic films.[20]
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