Ferris Bueller's Day Off
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Ferris Bueller's Day Off is a 1986 film written and directed by John Hughes.
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Cast
- Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller
- Alan Ruck as Cameron Frye
- Mia Sara as Sloane Peterson
- Jeffrey Jones as Ed Rooney
- Jennifer Grey as Jeanie Bueller
- Cindy Pickett as Katie Bueller
- Lyman Ward as Tom Bueller
- Edie McClurg as Grace
- Ben Stein as The Economics Teacher
- Del Close as the English Teacher
Plot
Ferris Bueller is a wise-cracking high school student from the fictional suburb of Shermer, Illinois (located close to Chicago, Illinois), who decides to take a day off from school for a little fun by pretending to be sick. As Ferris says "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop to look around once in a while, you could miss it." To this end, Ferris convinces his best friend Cameron to take his father's 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California out for a spin, despite the fact that Cameron's Dad has so little trust in him he has recorded the car's mileage on his wrist (Ferris makes the promise to erase any miles they put on the car). Using the Ferrari as a high-class prop to give his masquerade as his girlfriend Sloane's father (Mr. Peterson) credibility, Ferris tricks the high school principal, Ed Rooney, into thinking her grandmother is dead, in effect excusing her from school.
Ben Stein delivers a memorable performance as a dry, droning economics teacher. He discusses the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act and how it was perceived by some at the time to be related to what was famously dubbed "Voodoo Economics" by George H.W. Bush, while semi-conscious students look on. For many, the familiar feeling of extreme tedium experienced by students during a particularly dull lecture is captured in this scene.
Rooney sees Ferris's attempt to get a little fun as an act of rebellion against his authority. He sets out to catch Ferris and make an example of him for other students. He spends several hours doing so; in the process his car gets towed away and he suffers a cut on the mouth from the Bueller's dog. Meanwhile Ferris's resentful sister Jeanie, jealous of Ferris, decides to leave school and uncover his scheme on her own.
During Ferris's "day off," he enjoys a baseball game at Wrigley Field, dines at an elite restaurant, sneaks onto a float during the Von Steuben Day Parade to lip-sync "Danke Schoen" and "Twist and Shout", enjoys the view at the top of the Sears Tower and visits the Art Institute of Chicago.
Later on, Ferris hoists the rear wheels of the Ferrari off the ground and puts it in reverse courtesy of a stone on the gas pedal in order to take off the miles to cover up the fact that it was driven. However, this fails as the odometer does not roll back (in real life this would have worked). Due to Cameron's rage at the impending failure of their deception as well as his home situation, he kicks the Ferrari off the blocks sending it reeling backwards and out an upper story glass wall-to-wall window. It is in effect "killed" and Cameron is forced to stand up to his father for the first time in his life.
After sharing a kiss with his girlfriend, Ferris realizes he is late and dashes back home, running through neighbors' backyards, hopping over fences, and arriving just in time so his parents can check on him.
Trivia
- At the time of filming, Matthew Broderick was 23, Jennifer Grey was 25, Alan Ruck was 30 and Mia Sara was only 17.
- In an early draft of the script Ferris had two additional younger siblings.
- Charlie Sheen, who played the drug addict at the police station to which Jeannie is taken, stayed awake for more than 48 hours before the scene was shot to produce the desired drugged-out effect.
- Cindy Pickett and Lyman Ward, who played Ferris' parents, married in real life after filming this movie.
- Sloane is based on a high school version of Nancy Hughes, John's wife. Cameron and Garth Volbeck (Charlie Sheen's druggie character) are based on acquaintances of Hughes from high school.
- Cameron's fake "Mr. Peterson" voice was based on an old drama coach Ruck and Broderick used to study under. Hughes never met the man and didn't understand the little in-joke at all, but it cracked up the two actors so much they used it for the voice.
- An entire subplot involving a Ferris prank on a Chicago radio station regarding NASA was cut from the film and the trailers (which had to be retrieved from the theaters they were already sent to) due to the Challenger explosion in January of 1986. (This entire subplot is explained on the FBDO commentary DVD.)
- The Synthesizer/sampler used to create Ferris's cough and vomit sounds was an E-mu Emulator II made in the early 1980s by E-mu.
- Ferris wears a different outfit in each scene before he and Cameron go to pick up Sloane.
- Ben Stein, who plays the economics teacher, holds a degree in economics. When he is giving his lecture in class, it wasn't scripted; Stein is giving a real lecture. The only part of his scenes that was scripted was when he calls attendance. (imdb.com)
Soundtrack
Director John Hughes refused to release a soundtrack album for FBDO because he thought the eclectic collection of songs in the movie would not work together.
If they were ever compiled in an album, it would include:
- Love Missile F1-11 (Extended Version) by Sigue Sigue Sputnik
- Jeannie (Theme From I Dream of Jeannie)
- Beat City by The Flowerpot Men
- Star Wars (Main Title) by John Williams
- Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (Instrumental) by The Dream Academy
- Danke Schoen by Wayne Newton
- Twist and Shout by The Beatles
- Radio People by Zapp
- I'm Afraid by Blue Room
- Taking The Day Off by General Public
- The Edge Of Forever by The Dream Academy
- March Of the Swivelheads by The (English) Beat
- Oh Yeah by Yello
- BAD by Big Audio Dynamite
Filming locations
- Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Glencoe, Illinois, USA (Stone bench outside beach)
- Highland Park, Illinois, USA (Cameron's House and Ferrari Garage)
- Long Beach, California, USA (Bueller home, exterior)
- Northbrook, Illinois, USA (exterior, some interior of high school)
- Winnetka , Illinois, USA
See Also
External links
- Template:Imdb title
- Template:Imdb title
- Save Ferris! (http://www.80s.com/saveferris/)
- Geoff Miller's Ferris Bueller Website (http://www.idiotsavant.com/bueller/)
- Shooting Location Photos (http://home.xnet.com/~madman/fbdo/fbdo-locations.html)
- Additional Shooting Location Photos (http://www.geocities.com/xanderubi/html/body_shooting_locations.html)
- I Hate Ferris Bueller (http://ihateferrisbueller.blogspot.com/)es:Todo en un día