Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Supporting players turns pleasurable diversion into a comedy classic
The late writer/ director/ producer John Hughes was born February 18, 1950 in Lansing, Michigan. He’d be celebrating his 75th birthday this month. Video Days kicks off its inaugural month with a retrospective of ten of the filmmaker’s pictures.
FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF (1986) proceeds with a scarcity of character development, as well as characters who, on paper, can be read as obnoxious: an 18-year-old who delicately manipulates everyone in his path, a jealous twin sister who seeks to expose him, the callous dean hell bent on busting him, and adults who haven’t got a clue. Written, produced (with Tom Jacobson), and directed by John Hughes, the film is a delight, a wonderful example of what director Howard Hawks stated a good movie needed three good scenes and no bad ones.
In March 1985, Hughes signed what was then a two-year, first look deal with Paramount Pictures, where his mentor Ned Tanen had been hired as studio president. As an executive producer, Tanen had shepherded all three of Hughes’ efforts as director–Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), and Weird Science (1985)--none of which received the support of Universal Pictures chairman Frank Price or his marketing chief Marvin Antonowsky, prompting Hughes’ search for a new home. Writing and producing faster than he could direct, Hughes had the prestige to hire Howard Deutch, who’d cut the trailers for Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club, to direct his choice of two scripts Hughes had dashed off–The New Kid or Pretty In Pink. Filming on Pretty In Pink (1986) was set to commence in June. In the meantime, Hughes put in a call to Tanen, telling him he wanted to do a movie about a kid who takes a day off from school. With nothing more than that, Tanen gave Hughes the go-ahead.
Hughes’ agent Jack Rapke advised him that the Writer’s Guild of America was calling for a work stoppage (what ended up being two weeks in March 1985, over residuals writers were being paid for home video). With incentive to finish his next script even faster than usual, Hughes, according to legend, cranked out the first draft of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in less than a week (Jacobson claims it was three or four days). Ferris represented the guy Hughes wanted to be–dripping with confidence–while his buddy Cameron Frye was based on a friend from high school who, pushed around by his parents, could relax if he pretended he was sick. Set in the vicinity of Hughes’ childhood in Northbrook, Illinois, filming took place in the fall of 1985, throughout Chicago, and at the abandoned Maine North High School in Des Plaines where Hughes had shot hallway scenes in The Breakfast Club, and in Long Beach, California, where exteriors for the Bueller residence and neighborhood were shot.
Working with editor Paul Hirsch, Hughes lopped off chunks of his rough cut, eliminating the Buellers’ 12-year-old Kimberly (who appears in the trailer) and 7-year-old Todd (whose art can be glimpsed on the refrigerator in the kitchen scenes). Also excised were Ferris (Matthew Broderick), his girlfriend Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara), and Cameron (Alan Ruck) at Chez Quis ordering and eating pancreas. Also gone was the gang visiting a radio station, where Ferris announces his intention to become the first Chicago native in space. Throughout their day off, they initially were to narrowly miss running into the Garage Attendant (Richard Edson) and his Co-Pilot (Larry Flash Jenkins) as they joy ride in the Ferrari. Ferris also had a monologue about a friend named Garth Volbeck, who comes from a troubled family. The character played by Charlie Sheen, credited as Boy In Police Station, was to later reveal himself as Garth.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off ran 103 minutes when it opened in June 1986. Newspaper critics were unkind. Some cited it as fun, but many called on Hughes to grow up and graduate from high school (the filmmaker was a few months from production on She’s Having a Baby, starring Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern in Hughes' first film with characters old enough to buy a beer). Chicago natives Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert split their vote, and Ebert qualified his recommendation by calling the film “sort of entertaining.” At the box office, it didn’t pack in audiences like Top Gun (1986) or The Karate Kid Part II (1986) but built a following that returned to theaters to see the movie for months. Those who loved the film helped it finish as the tenth highest grosser of the year. Hughes, who preferred to work on his films as opposed to talk about them, would agree to record one audio commentary in his life: for the 1999 DVD release of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Suffering a fatal heart attack in 2009 at the age of 59, his films were mostly left to speak for themselves.
One of the reasons Ferris Bueller’s Day Off works is that instead of fashioning Ferris as a slick teenager, Hughes and Broderick portray him as a child, one climbing onto the refrigerator to steal cookies he can share with his friends. If blinking, it’s possible to miss mentions of sex, drugs, or alcohol, none of which are portrayed. Rated PG-13, the film has an innocent streak running through it which makes it possible to relate to the dilemmas of affluent white suburbanites skirting their school work. Neither Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, or even Matthew Broderick would be as empowered in a movie as they are here. Cameron Frye is the only character who Hughes knows well, the others sketches at best, but his arc alone makes it feel like the movie has something to meaningful to say about self-respect and emotional health.
Ironically, the film’s three best scenes don't feature its three top-billed actors. Ben Stein, cast as a monotone civics teacher whose lesson on the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act draws stares from his students that range from emptiness to pure hatred, gets the biggest laugh. Another goes to Jeffrey Jones (as Edward R. Rooney, Dean of Students) hitching a ride on a school bus in an end credits sequence. The best scene features Jennifer Grey (as Ferris’ grudge-holding sister) and Charlie Sheen in a police station. Written and cast as if Hughes had a crystal ball, the roles of a pampered daughter and party monster fit Grey and Sheen like tailored suits. It’s easy to miss Sheen, of all people, issuing the strongest moral in the movie. A valid criticism is that Hughes missed making a better film by focusing on Jeanie and Garth (Hughes did write an unproduced script titled Oil and Vinegar that sounds like a Jeanie and Garth road movie). Inspired by Michael Caine in Alfie (1966), Hughes wrote Ferris talking directly to the viewer. Critics who observed that Ferris has little of interest to say might have missed that, just as the movie isn’t really about high school, Ferris isn’t telling us much we don’t already know. What he’s doing is being democratic, inviting everyone to hang out with him regardless of our social standing. Those who take hold of the movie on those terms are rewarded with a terrific diversion.
Video rental category: Comedy
Special interest: 24-Hour Time Frame
Joe, thank you for this. I absolutely loved Ferris Bueller still crack up at Ben Stein and of course his repeating Buehler Buehler Buehler has become part of the American lexicon as you roll your eyes well done! 👍✌️CPZ