New ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles’ Deleted Scenes Add Dark Subplot to Thanksgiving Classic
There are far fewer Thanksgiving movies than Christmas movies. Home for the Holidays remains the underrated champion and it is streaming. Planes, Trains and Automobiles may be the most famous Thanksgiving movie, and there’s still a remake in the works. A new home video release unearthed 75 minutes of deleted scenes from the John Hughes archives, and one of them gives the whole film a much darker energy.
Showbiz Cheat Sheet watched the Planes, Trains and Automobiles deleted scenes on the new 4K UHD release out this week, but they are also available on digital retailers like Vudu. Here’s the deleted scene that changes everything, and what else you can expect to see.
‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles’ is one of the funniest John Candy movies
John Candy starred in a lot of funny movies. There’s Splash, Uncle Buck, Spaceballs, Delirious and many more, and those were only his starring roles. He had great cameos in Little Shop of Horrors, National Lampoon’s Vacation, Home Alone and more. But, his pairing with Steve Martin made Planes, Trains and Automobiles a Thanksgiving classic.
Candy plays Del Griffith, a shower curtain ring salesman stuck at the airport with Neil Page (Martin). They partner up to try to find a way home to Chicago for Thanksgiving, annoying each other along the way. The newly uncovered deleted scenes give you 75 minutes of more comedy 35 years later. Now, that includes extended scenes but it’s still a lot of new material.
What is the message of ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles’ and how does this deleted scene change it?
The message of Planes, Trains and Automobiles seems to be the importance of family, to not judge a book by its cover and to put aside your differences in the spirit of friendship and holiday. However, one deleted scene gives the film a dark twist. Neil’s wife (Laila Robins) suspects Del is Neil’s mistress, and her husband is galavanting around instead of coming home for Thanksgiving. That gives much more context to her relief when Neil shows up with Del at the end.
The scene raises the stakes for Neil to get home to clear up the misunderstanding, one he doesn’t even know is happening because he’s so focused on travel catastrophes. It may be a bit too much though, especially given the bittersweet conclusion revealed for Del.
More John Candy and Steve Martin comedy
The rest of the 75 minutes isn’t quite so heavy. You get to see Del eating a hot dog loudly and sloppily, flicking a chili bean into the trash. Del has a much longer shower curtain riff, including a Psycho reference. Candy just goes for 10 minutes straight. A longer cab ride adds to the automobile frustration.
In a bathroom scene, Del interrupts Neil in the shower and Candy riffs again in the mirror. THere’s an extended battle with a pizza delivery man and a lot more in the motel bedroom the night before the infamous pillows scene. The 4K UHD and digital editions also include Dylan Baker’s audition for his cameo.
