I am watching Pretty In Pink for the first time and I have more questions than answers

That depends, is "computer" a euphemism for something else? Pretty in Pink sounds pretty racy.

And is Harry Dean Stanton, playing her father, supposed to be a drunk? Or just unemployed?

One of my favorites! Let the questions begin....

Is Blaine a top or a bottom?

Yeah, the computer trick is movie magic I think. I thought the father is kind of a loser (they mention a social worker or PO), maybe a Vietnam vet. Most likely a sad sack whose wife took care of things until she had and split

Her breasts Miss Deeds!

Oh yeah, and Gina Gershon!

Call me Mary, but I loved this movie back then. I was a young teenager and seeing it was very emotional. I watched it on television in my room and cried. Today I can only guess why it affected me so strongly.

So that wisecracking friend in gym class died mysteriously shortly after filming this

How did the kids get into that bar?

I've always identified with the girls who said they'd take the punishment over apologizing to that drip Molly Ringwald. God, I hated her.

BLAINE,ARE WE GOING TO PROMMMMM, WAAAAAHHHH!

Bitch, no! You're ugly and poor!

Is this the one with Ducky or Long Duck Dong? Are they the same character?

"Another giant step away from virginity !" as she plops down nextvto him on Blaines parents bed...

"Oh God! Am I having a nightmare?!"

And I love how Andy glares back while licking her lips slighty in prep for battle.

Ducky was so annoying. I know that originally Ringwald was supposed to choose him but I'm glad she chose Blaine. Who wouldn't? Blaine was cute, rich, and seemed pretty sweet. Fuck Ducky.

[quote]Is this the one with Ducky or Long Duck Dong? Are they the same character?

Long Duck Dong was in Sixteen Candles - a far superior movie, in my opinion. I might be biased because Michael Schoeffling was about 20x hotter than Andrew McCarthy, though.

Don't blame ya. It's dostoyevskian in its complexity.

The club where The Rave Ups are playing is 18 and older. That's why Andi can get in but Ducky cannot.

Robert Downey Jr and Viggo Mortensen were finalists for the Ducky role. Molly was asked to weigh in. She said that it would be unbelievable for Andi to resist the charms of RDJ and Viggo (i.e., they are too fuckabke). So Cryer got the gig.

You're wrong r18. Viggo was the runner up for Jake in Sixteen Candles.

I could not for a one second pretend that DUCKY was straght! And the character was so fucking abnoying.

Spader looked 30

Annie Potts was the best part

I thought the HDS character was supposed to be depressed bc his wife left them.

Great soundtrack (along with Sone Kind of Wonderful, two of the best soundtracks in the 80s). The opening guitar riff by the Pychedelic Furs is iconic

Andrew McCarthy wasn't very cute and had zero seen appeal

Dweezil Zappa was cute in a tiny role

R11. WHAT ABOUT PROM BLAINE?!?

I thought her dad was a drunk who couldn't hold a job

Ducky was irritating as fuck.

More proof that Andrew Dice Clay is bearable only in small doses

Stef had it bad for Blaine.

Andi's prom dress was an unforgivable abomination and if she had been competing on Project Runway she would have bee auf'ed by Heidi

[quote]I could not for a one second pretend that DUCKY was straght!

Same here...and that goes for Cryer, too. To this day.

Even seeing it as a kid I though molly would have been better off just wearing the vintage gown. r21 is right, worst homemade dress ever.

[quote]Call me Mary, but I loved this movie back then.

MARY!

"Just tell me, you're ashamed your fucking rich friends won't approve!" I love when Andie slams Blaine against the locker. She should've punched him in the face

I was always surprised that Andrew McCarthy was such a little star in the USA then - playing romantic leads. He was so sort of slight and fey, in appearance. In France or England, maybe - but America?

At the time of filming, Harry Dean Stanton who played Ringwald's father, was best friends with Sean Penn and Madonna, Penn and Madonna called him and Dennis Hopper "second fathers" in interviews.

The producers had to work around Stanton's schedule, he needed a WEEK off, to attend Madonna and Sean's wedding

What the hell was he doing with the Penns for a WEEK?

Madonna probably doesn't even speak to him or acknowledges his existence anymore.

My favorite scene is when Molly spies on the evil trashy rich girl and her mom in the dress shop buying a dress for prom.

"I can't wear THIS! I look the bride on a wedding cake!"

"Oh, don't I wish..."

One of my favorite things about this movie is that even though Molly Ringwald's and Harry Dean Stanton's characters are so poor they literally live right near the railway tracks, they have expensive flower arrangements all over their house.

This movie was better when it was remade as, "Some Kind of Wonderful."

"Your name is Jim?!?!"

Annie Potts was the worst part of the movie.

I always figured Andy for a shoplifter. She had drawers full of accessories.

"I just want to let them know, they didn't break me"

I still think James Spader pointing up to the bell before it rings and then coolly sauntering off in his Miami Vice-like white outfit is as cool as fuck.

was Andy's drunk dad the polygamist father "Roman" on Big Love?

Yes, R35

This film is 31 years old today!

I thought McCarthy was cute; HATE Cryer and still do

That dress was a disgrace

McCarthy was and is a total dweeb. It's inconceivable that any girl in any high school would be mooning after his boring ass.

McCarthy's wig in the last scene is an abomination.

Why is the trailer mostly Jon Cryer? Molly is barely in it.

[quote]Why is the trailer mostly Jon Cryer?

He was young America's heartthrob.

oops sorry got the names mixed up

oh, well...not important.

Oh, God...the clothes! I used to dress like McCarthy - those awful over-sized jackets with the sleeves turned up. I guess I was their age.

One of my favorite Pauline Kael reviews was on this film: she noted how, in the midst of all this "wrong side of the track" poorness, Molly has a giant flower arrangement in her bedroom "to brighten up the poverty." Kael noted "it looks like it cost in the $150 range." Hilarious and true. Look for it.

[quote]Why is the trailer mostly Jon Cryer? Molly is barely in it.

That was only one of the trailers. Trailers are designed to play with certain movies. For example, you wouldn't have a comedy trailer playing when people came to see Sophie's Choice. My guess is that trailer was targeted towards people who were seeing Back To The Future.

[quote]railers are designed to play with certain movies. For example, you wouldn't have a comedy trailer playing when people came to see Sophie's Choice.

Really??? I had no idea!

That stupid prom dress! It was the worst! All her clothes were horrifying. So was her car. So was everything about her. Dork.

R47 = one of the richies.

[quote]That stupid prom dress! It was the worst! All her clothes were horrifying. So was her car. So was everything about her. Dork.

She was 80s thrift store edgy.

Spader still scares the shit out of me he played a rich asshole so well. Usually the writers fuck up by making the popular kids so stupid/ugly they are unattractive like the jocks in Heathers. Totally unrealistic whereas Spader and his gf, you could see the power they would have. Even their looking older was good because those type of kids do look older - at least in the feverish teen imagination.

F47 - "I hope they shrivel up and fall off"

The original ending had Andi ending up with Ducky but they had to redo the ending. It wasn't believable. Hence the trailer and Andrew's wig at the end. They had to come back and film again and he was in another movie where he had short hair.

^^ Not only did he wear a wig, but he had lost a lot of weight for the new role, so he also looked incredibly thin.

Wig + weight loss + Not a good look for Andrew McCarthy

That was meant to be an = sign!

R52 - hence Some Kind of Wonderful.

Her pink Karmann Ghia had a ding so it was supposed to be a poor peoplw's car, LOL. She had a lot of hipster stuff for a poor person.

[quote]they have expensive flower arrangements all over their house.

it's the type of car poor people buy their children

Great soundtrack.

R47 her car was great.

I'd fuck Andrew McCarthy

R58 Yes! The soundtrack is awesome.

R59, I also liked her car too

The funny thing about SONE KIND OF WONDERFUL is essentially the same move with sexes and the ending switched, like Ducky, I didn't believe for a second that MSM's Watts charachter was straight. The kissing scene was so awkward.

The PIP soundtrack is great but I think the SKOW soundtrack is a bit better

Can we expand this thread to innocent SKOW discussion ?

Molly Ringwald and Jon Cryer both acknowledge in the DVD re-release that they did not get along during filming.

She even makes bitchy comments in more recent interviews , like "Jon isn't someone I find attractive, so I didn't think the character would end up with him."

It's ironic that Cryer would go on to be the majorly successful TV star, and that was the last movie anyone remembers her doing.

R63 = John Cryer

The stand is the last movie I remember molly in and she sucked big time.

Neither soundtracks for Pretty In Pink or Some Kind Of Wonderful were solid.

"Nice pearls, honey! This isn't a dinner party!"

Pretty In Pink: The Soundtrack

1. t"If You Leave", Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

2. t"Left of Center", Suzanne Vega with Joe Jackson

3. t"Get to Know Ya", Jesse Johnson

4. t"Do Wot You Do", INXS

5. t"Pretty in Pink", The Psychedelic Furs

6. t"Shellshock", New Order

7. t"Round, Round", Belouis Some

8. t"Wouldn't It Be Good", Danny Hutton Hitters

9. t"Bring On the Dancing Horses", Echo & the Bunnymen

10. t"Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want", The Smiths

The clothes were very Canal Jeans.

The SKOW soundtrack is the memorable. Flesh for Lulu?

R62 Some Kind of Wonderful was made because Hughes was pissed off at how Pretty in Pink came out and the concessions he had to make. He basically just remade the movie with the ending he wanted and slapped a new title on it.

*not that memorable

Pretty in Pink is one of the few soundtracks that works from beginning to end

r70, which is why the critics all called it "Same Kind of Wonderful."

The weird thing about "Pretty in Pink" is that if they had used Hughes's original ending it would have made no sense. Ducky is so incredibly obnoxious throughout the movie that it would have been insane had Andie chosen him.

in the gym scene with Andi and her friend, is Molly wearing lace tights with her gym outfit? Something always looked wrong with her legs...like either she had the worst case of psoriasis ever or she was wearing something on her legs.

And let's not forget the best part of Some Kind of Wonderful...

R69 the flush fur lulu song is yummy morsel of 80s goodness

This movie triggers soooo many fun memories for me of that time.. 1) moved to San Diego for university and saw this movie at the mall.. everyone hanging at the mall dressed like one of the characters.. 2) soundtrack is still awesome.. and I remembered I dated Belouis Some for awhile, when I was in NYC.. 3) met Jon Cryer in NYC.. much better looking in person and he was a gentleman. We were both waiting for a taxi late at night on the upper west side and he gave me the taxi and waited alone for the next at 2am. 4) met Judd Nelson in NYC and dated him for a month.. he went back to LA and me to London.. Good Times back then..

This a bother gem from the SKOW soundtrack

[quote]I didn't believe for a second that MSM's Watts charachter was straight.

I was going to say this. Obvious babydyke. Even 80s kids could tell.

Especially us 80s babydykes and gaylongs

More about Judd. R78. I thought DL concluded he was gay

At r79 I meant "another gem" obvs

R75, Molly has freckles all over her legs. She has a very fair complexion, red hair and a lot of freckles. (I went to high school with one of her cousins who had very similar coloring and freckles.)

The alternate ending of Pretty in Pink would've maybe worked with different casting...as many people have noted over the years, Ducky seems more like a gay best friend. But yeah, Cryer had the last laugh. I think Molly is trying to make jazz records now.

The artists on the SKOW soundtrack weren't as well known (apart from Jesus & Mary Chain) but I still loved it as a teenager. Probably played it just as much PIP.

Hasn't Molly been on some show for years now?

Molly plays Archie's mom on Riverdale. She's done tv pretty steadily for the last decade.

The Ducky character might've worked if they'd cast RDJ. Not that the gay would've been any less toned down, but at least he could pull off charming back then.

For many years Molly played the terrible mother on the terrible TV show Secret Life of the (pregnant) American Teen. The preachiest TV show since 7th Heaven.

Is the alternate ending still in existence? Many thought it would be included on a DVD/Blu-ray anniversary edition but it never happened.

It's almost like the Eric Stoltz footage for Back to the Future. It may never see the light of day aside from stills.

Jon Cryer didn't get any "last laugh" for being particularly charismatic or talented. He lucked back assward into a hit TV show after being off the radar for many years.

No one tuned in to Two and a Half Men to see Jon Cryer!

I only mean "last laugh" in the sense that he had an adult career of sorts. Considering the high hopes people had for her in the mid-80s, Ringwald's career has been pretty abysmal. The movies that were supposed to transition her out of Hughesland pretty much stunk.

Why did we never really find out why Blaine didn't take Andi but came alone? It was never really explained why he could rebel a bit - go solo- but not take the girl he wanted.

I liked it ok but it wasn't. my favorite.

"Blaine?! That's not a name! That's a major appliance!!"

Duckie ends up with Kristy Swanson at the end. She went on to play the original Buffy the vampire slayer in the movie.

Molly was the original choice for Pretty Woman then working on a script called 3000.

Molly tried to transition to adult roles in films like the Pick-up Artist in 1987 and Fresh Horses in 1988 with Andrew McCarthy. She played Viggo Mortensen's wife.

She was horrible. Which is why she never made the transition to adult roles.

I also remember hearing that she turned down Blue Velvet (on her mother's advice).

Funny that Duckie is criticizing Blaine's name...

John Hughes didn't direct "Some Kind of Wonderful" and it shows. I used to love it but watched it recently and it's cringe-worthy throughout. Reallllly bad.

Eric Stolz was just never much fun to watch. Lea is forced to accept lines like "Your ass was too fine for vinyl", the family is just awful especially the little sister, the punks in detention are Disney era stupid, and Mary Stuart Masterson still shines but it's not saying much in comparison to all around her.

That Scottish version of "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You" at the end is still nice, though.

R90 I doubt his bank account cares WHY he got the last laugh...but he did, end of story,

R100 does Maddie Corman play the sister? I know her. Or knew her. Was always amazed at how much work she consistently got, considering how unattractive (and not all that talented) she is. Always had a good agent.

I was referring to the precocious smallest sister, a nightmare and badly written, but Maddie was okay. The red hair helped. I do remember she was married to someone who was busted for big time child pornography or something, know what I am talking about? I am spacing but I know it was her spouse.

R103 I KNOW you are not talking about ME.

r103 - Jace Alexander - Jane Alexander's son.

Yep, just hit me who it was, thanks. I remember being surprised when her name was in a couple of articles -- mostly because I hadn't heard her name in 20 years or so.

And seriously is that Candace Cameron playing that little brat who complains that she didn't get a balanced meal of all the food groups? They should have revoked her SAG card for that one, even if she was only 8 or whatever.

R103 yeah r105 beat me to it. But color me surprised, too. I surely never saw that one coming. She took the family name for a while, too.

Well, in spite of all that, having that connection all those years (decades) surely helped her career going. She's in her late 40s now and still consistently working.

R83 Molly Ringwald is a brunette. You can see her real hair color in the first season of Facts of Life. Her agent suggested she dye her hair red so she would stand out more.

Re: the car. I remember seeing this with friends back in the day, and as we drove home in one of our parents' cars we wondered how fucking poor could she be that she was a teenager with her own car?

This is the least enjoyable of the Ringwald trilogy (Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club). I thought Spader and Potts were great, and I hated (Spader) and loved (Potts) the characters as I was supposed to. But I found Duckie (Cryer) annoying, and wondered why Andie was even hanging out with him. Worse, I found Blaine (McCarthy) spineless and bland, and couldn't figure out what she was swooning over. I think the fault lies in both the script and the casting.

And yet... I remember seeing this three times in the theaters. It speaks to how many movies I used to watch as a teenager, and I did like parts of the movie. As mentioned above, awesome soundtrack.

R96 actually Madonna was first offered the role, director Garry Marshall talks about meeting her and offering her the role in his autobiography

And yes it was called 3000 and not Pretty Woman

Madonna decided to do Dick Tracy instead

Molly was one of the choices and she was offered the part after Madonna turned it down

I can't believe how hot James Spader was in that movie.

I thought the rainbow flags shot at the "oakmont" mall (actually mall at 3rd St. Promenade in Santa Monica) was pretty progressive fur the time but I realized this must've been made before widespread association of the rainbow and gay rights.

Nobody "designs trailers" for other movies, r45.

It's just that certain trailers are SELECTED appropriate to put in front of sumilar movies playing in the theater.

The tone and audience for a wacky comedy is going to match the wacky comedy playing now, so its trailer is SELECTED.

Not true r113. This is the version of THE SHINING trailer shown with HERBIE GOES BANANAS

A lot of poor kids have cars so I'm not sure why that part is so unbelievable. Now, depending on what car they have is a whole other story.

Special promotions are not typical of movie trailers at all, r114. They never were.

And this is not 1980.

The only weird scene is when Molly comes back from her date with Blaine telling her father that she's going to the prom. Her dad seemed lounging naked wearing only a robe.

R117 why is that weird?

The computer trick is probably the best scene in the movie, very romantic and dreamy! ❤

Omg r116

I love the way Cryer's voice breaks when he tells Andi "tough shit".

In the 80s, you could get those old Volkswagen Carmen Ghias (which is what Andie's car is) for fairly cheap. That's not that unbeleivable she would have one.

I wanted to buy an old VW bug in the 80s and I remember they were pretty expensive and had kept their value.

The thing with cars is that the price of buying one is one thing, the price of maintaining one (gas, insurance, maintenance, repairs) is another. In the 80s, "poor" kids did not own cars.

[quote]In the 80s, "poor" kids did not own cars.

Completely false. My older siblings had a lot of friends who were poor and they all had cars. Insurance also wasn't a requirement back then.

[quote]maintenance, repairs

maybe she batted her eyes and asked Eric Stoltz to mechanic it for free

Most cars were built better back then and didn't require as much maintenance./repairs and most could either do that stuff themselves or had friends who could.

I thought cars were more reliable now.

I was poor and worked three jobs during summers to buy my own car; a car was freedom in the '80s. Gas was cheap, you could fill up the tank of a Ghia for 5 bucks, and insurance was optional. I had liability only for 20/month, as I was also on the honor roll.

[quote]I thought cars were more reliable now.

Then you don't know much about cars.

The computers they put in cars now fuck with everything.

With peace and love, can we shit the fuck up about cars now? You OCD queens can really derail a thread.

Go fuck yourself, R131.

Molly is great in the "she's never coming back!" scene. I get teary every time I see it.

What's "poor" to some of you? If you were driving a car as a teenager, I wouldn't consider you poor. Even if your car cost only a few hundred bucks, and you put five bucks of gas in a week (about 4 gallons in 1985), and you spent maybe $100 a year on everything else (insurance, oil, windshield wiper fluid, whatever), there's $650 for the first year. If you're a teenager in the 80s who doesn't pay rent, utilities, or groceries, I wouldn't consider you "poor" if you had that money to spend on a car.

Just doing the math: I worked 15-20 hrs a week at a minimum wage job ($3.35/hr), so that earned me about $2500 a year after taxes. Half of what I made had to go towards a college account, so about $1,250 was mine. I never felt like one of the "richies" in Pretty in Pink, but I never felt poor. We were a family of 5 (3 kids) with one car, in a 3BR, 1BA ranch. Dad was a teacher, Mom worked part-time. Back then, we were still considered middle class.

[quote]Molly is great in the "she's never coming back!" scene. I get teary every time I see it.

R133 = Molly.

For you, R133.

As a bonus, you all get to see the $200 floral arrangement occupying half of her room.

Ducky's constant harassment of Andi for romance/sex because, gosh darn it, he deserved it after sticking it out for so long, just looks creepy-- even rape-y-- to 21st century eyes. He was like the original "friend zone" asshole who can't take no for an answer, but it was presented as sweet and adorable. John Hughes wasn't exactly Mr. Sensitivity when it came to sexual harassment/rape (see Pretty in Pink). Having said that, Andi was insufferable.

I spent the whole film fantasizing about the one guy I wasn't supposed to want: James Spader. Yes, his character harassed Andi, too, but 1.) the film acknowledged it, unlike Ducky's harassment, and 2.) his jaw-dropping beauty was such a feast for the eyes that I could barely think of anything else when he was onscreen.

Back to cars. Did Ducky have a car? If he had, what would he have driven?

[quote]John Hughes wasn't exactly Mr. Sensitivity when it came to sexual harassment/rape (see Pretty in Pink).

When Anthony Michael Hall had sex with Jake Ryan's girlfriend (who didn't even remember screwing him), that kind of tipped me off.

Although in Hughes' defense, it was a different time and we didn't view it the way we do today.

Was her mother dead or did she just split?

Thank you, OP (and all who have contributed) ,*so much* for this thread!

I *knew* I would love it as soon as I read the intro.

This is one of my favorite movies of all time and I have loved reading the praise for it, all the small details about the film and its making that I didn't know anything about, and the several hilarious/snarky observations of others.

And, yes, Andie's dad *was* always inexplicably creepy though I could never put my finger on exactly why this was. In another film, I would have been scared for her safety at home. (His constant robe wearing didn't help much either.)

I don't think he was supposed to be an alcoholic though; just a broken down loser type who lives in the past and can't/won't get his life together (chronically depressed *and* creepy, maybe?)

I loved the whole cast in this film and felt that they all worked great in their roles (though HDS as the dad still gives me pause...).

It's no "Lawrence of Arabia" perhaps, but I just love "Pretty In Pink" and can watch it over and over again. Great movie.

And I still love McCarthy as Blaine! Total cutie and very sweet; just what Andie needed...

R137 I think the year before Pretty, Spader was in a low budget flick called Tuff Turf co-starring Kim Richards. I was 14 and my hormones were going nuts. As soon as an ad for it would come on television, I would get an instant boner seeing Spader. I swear, I think I taped the commercial on VHS and freeze framed it on him and jacked off. He was something special in those days.

I remember about a year later renting the video and being disappointed that he wasn't naked it in, since it was rated R and all.

I was a teen at the time this movie came out and believe it or not it was fairly easy to get into bars without getting carded. It wasnt till i was like 20 something i started getting carded.'

[quote]This is one of my favorite movies of all time

= combination of Mary & sweet

"...John Hughes wasn't exactly Mr. Sensitivity when it came to sexual harassment/rape (see Pretty in Pink). "

Oops, I meant Sixteen Candles here. The date rape.

James Spader was incredibly hot in the 80s and 90s, and still in the 00s; see: Supernova (2000) and Boston Legal (2004-2008). Then suddenly he appears on The Office in 2011, and it was like he aged 20 years in the 3 years I hadn't seen him. Tragic.

R141 as with almost everything, PIP has been discussed here many times. You'll even see many of the same comments!

Maybe her dad bought her the car during a period of full employment. The stranger thing was that she was a senior with good grades but didn't have any post-HS plans nailed down.

[quote]James Spader was incredibly hot in the 80s and 90s

Hawt in Sex Lies & Video Tape.

Spader in Supernova.

Why did everyone tell her how great she looked when she looked like she was wearing a pink Hefty bag?

Shockingly, Andrew McCarthy looks better than ever.

To answer the OP's question, Andrew McCarthy's character was supposed to be so incredibly smart (and oh so cute as well!) that he was able to perform high level coding in a matter of minutes (thousands of lines? no problem, he's amaaaaaazing!!!) to be able to somehow get a Commadore ii or some other dinosaur hardware platform to spit out this animation on her screen. The bigger question about this movie is how Ducky magically forgets about the love of his life within minutes to sew up the ending.

R153 Ducky was obviously a huge pussyhound and a pussy is a pussy.

r147,

"Some Kind of Wonderful" had the most charm-free cast. None of the three leads have any redeeming qualities. MSM and Lea are pretty much a face-swap; only a hairdo separates them. I do agree with a previous poster about this song from the soundtrack, though IMO it sounds more Irish.

(R153) Yep, John Cryer's undeniable gay voice screams "pussyhound" in every sense of the word. One a side note, I was surprised to hear in real life he practices hetero sex exclusively. My gaydar was waaaaaay off on this one. Or was it?

I know James Spader. Became friendly with him through my film school partner who was his oldest friend. They spoke to each five times a week where ever Jimmy was working . Jimmy is very unvain. He was happy to look good because it got him better roles but he's just a lazy pot smoking hippie who likes to eat. And very funny. A real good guy.

When I finally actually met him I told him I had a friend who insisted that he was Andrew McCarthy's lover and that's why they worked together in so many films. He roared laughing for minutes on that one.

I was a teen gay boy in 1986 and my female friends Loved Andrew McCarthy. Maybe he was non threatening in a sexual way? He didn't register at all to me, still doesn't.

One thing that is believable is Spader being able to bully McCarthy. He sort of did it again in Less Than Zero, another stylish flick with a great soundtrack.

Emily Longstreth (Kate) played the 'queen mean girl' eighteen years before Rachel McAdams.

Kate Vernon too, daughter of some famous Canadian actor (who played the dean in "Animal House"). That's her on the left, right?

You break his heart I break your face.

This is boggling my mind.

Andy worked so it's plausible she had a cheap car and she shopped resale and vintage stores.

Her dad didn't work because he was afraid he'd be gone if his wife came back one day.

The girl on the left in R160's pic looks like GREY'S ANATOMY's Ellen Pompeo in a horrible feathered 80s 'do.

Big flower arrangements can be free if you don't mind hopping cemetery fences at night. Just saying.

Staying at the Biltmore in LA, I was thrilled when i realized some of the prom scenes were filmed there.

Thanks for the post r158. Stories like that and this thread are why I love DL.

Do you guys think James Spader's character genuinely was attracted to Molly's character, or did he really just want her for the reasons she thought (just another notch on his bedpost)

I guess THIS is what counts as a classic movie thread on DL in 2017.

I'm sorry, R170. Do you want to talk about The Cabinet of Dr Caligari instead?

"Do you guys think James Spader's character genuinely was attracted to Molly's character, or did he really just want her for the reasons she thought (just another notch on his bedpost)"

It was about control, not sex. He was just a bully.

Here is a James Spader edit of Pretty in Pink

[quote] It's ironic that Cryer would go on to be the majorly successful TV star, and that was the last movie anyone remembers her doing.

She was in "Betsy's Wedding" (the movie she turned down Pretty Woman to star in) from about 150 years ago, with that other forgotten teen goddess Ally Sheedy.

The real love story was between Steff and Ducky. When they fought in the hallway, I thought they were going to kiss. Steff's hair was also its own character. So weird to see James Spader now bald as a cue ball.

I graduated from high school the year this came out. We all loved the movie. And to people above who wrote no girl would ever be into Andrew McCarthy, most of the girls in my class were really into him. They thought Andrew was cute but not gorgeous, thus more approachable than Rob Lowe, who was so good looking he was almost pretty. A lot of girls in college also loved Andrew McCarthy. He was definitely a teen heartthrob for part of the 80s.

Andie was such a bitchy snatch. None of us could figure out why anyone would want to date her. Total cunt. And that abortion of a prom dress. Truly hideous, as was just about any outfit she wore in the movie. And Ducky. Jesus fuck was he annoying! We all thought Jon Cryer was super fey in that role. I remember when we left the theater, everyone was saying, "Ducky was gay, right?"

Despite it all, it was a quintessential high school teen movie for my generation. I still like it.

I was a midwestern fan-letter writing teenager in the 80s, and somehow my name was entered (twice) on a Paramount mailing list.

About 4 months before Pretty in Pink came out, I received in the mail full-size posters, buttons, stickers, 8x10 publicity stills of the cast and scenes from the film, and a cool 'zine type magazine filled with articles and interviews about the movie.

I'm sure that type of promotion isn't done today.

Ducky wins us all over

Loved this movie. Andrew McCarthy AND James Spader.

Remember James Spader in White Palace (Castle) with Sue Sarandon? He was so incredible.

It's no Footloose.

"Remember James Spader in White Palace (Castle) with Sue Sarandon? He was so incredible."

God, he was hot in that! A sex machine!

so incredible

+

God, he was hot in that! A sex machine!

=

Don't over-do it, you two.

He was OK.

Imagine being called 'Cryer'.

He's an actor. He could easily have changed it.

I guess it's a name you don't forget.

Remember Andrew McCarthy's first roles were as nerdy guys...Class of course, and then St. Elmo's Fire. It was only as his star rose that obviously some important person somewhere at some point put it out there that he could play the prize as well.

Anyway he was Pingry class of '80. I have the yearbook from that year somewhere in storage, so I've seen his Senior Page (all full pages). He was dorky/cute.

Interestingly enough, a lot of the Brat Packers went to very good prep schools. Well not Demi Moore, obviously.

R176 Wow, that sounds awesome. Do you still have them?

I honestly believe the underlying motivation for James Spader's intense hate of Molly was that he was jealous of her dating Andrew McCarthy. I realize it was briefly mentioned Spader came on to Molly at one point and his motivation was due to being rejected, but he was waaay too shallow to find any redeeming qualities in her. Do you recall the scene at the party where Spader brushes away the young woman who was vying for sex from him? He was much more happy to see Andrew McCarthy's character Blane. This was the 80's when Hollywood would have no problem tagging a gay sub theme to the villain in a movie. I guess you could say this is just another fan theory, so take it for what it's worth.

Was Anthony Michael Hall not considered for Ducky? Or would that have been overkill to have him pining away for Ringwald in yet another Hughes high school drama? I remember my mum saying after seeing PIP, that Ducky guy is just a wanna be Anthony Michael Hall, but he's nowhere near as funny. My mum was a big fan of The Geek from 16 Candles.

IIRC Hall turned it down because he didn't want to be typecast.

Nah, I picked up on that too, R185. Stef seems way more into Blaine than he is any of the female characters. He talks about him like a jilted lover.

I know you bitches will say he was the poor man's Spader, but I always thought Craig Sheffer was hotter in SKOW

David Boreanez reminds me of him, R189.

Yikes, R189. Craig did not age well.

Jesus Mary and Joseph -- what's going on on his head?

Time destroys all beauty

White Palace....wasn't the buzz that Spader and Sarandon looked alike so they put them in a movie together? He was quite lovely.

Beauty is fleeting... James Spader played a newsreader in Bob Roberts. Yes, he has a “voice” but imagine that arch tone and cool eyes sneering at you on the local news

Andy’s first outfit - when Steff accosts her at her car - is atrocious.

Timothee Chalamet is playing the Andrew McCarthy roles now.

R196 Bumpity bump bitch