Sixteen Candles

Sixteen Candles
A film poster for Sixteen Candles
Directed by	John Hughes
Written by	John Hughes
Produced by	Hilton A. Green
Starring	Molly Ringwald Paul Dooley Justin Henry Anthony Michael Hall
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	May 4 1984 (USA)
Running time	93 min.
Language	English
Budget	$6,500,000 (estimated)

Sixteen Candles is a popular 1984 coming-of-age film starring Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, and Michael Schoeffling. The film was written and directed by John Hughes and is often credited with the beginning of the Brat Pack film movement.

This film is number 44 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".

Taglines:

• It's the time of your life that may last a lifetime.
• When you're just sixteen, anything can happen!

Plot

Samantha Baker (Molly Ringwald), a high school sophomore, has a terrible crush on Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling), whom she believes does not know that she exists. On the eve of her sister's wedding, her entire family forgets her sixteenth birthday. Further complicating the day, an awkward foreign exchange student Long Duk Dong (Gedde Watanabe) has come to visit the Bakers' home as the guest of his hosts Grandma and Grandpa Baker; Jake is dating the prom-queen; and a freshman geek "Farmer Ted" (Anthony Michael Hall in a career performance) is hounding her.

To win a set of floppy disks, "Farmer Ted" bets his friends that he will sleep with Samantha ("By night's end, I predict me and her will interface.") and bring back her underwear as proof. Following Samantha into the shop room, Ted makes a couple of unsuccessful attempts to accomplish his goal. Their ensuing conversation includes Ted's admission that he has "never bagged a babe" and Samantha exposing her crush on Jake. Ted's confrontation with Jake in the gym just prior revealed Jake's apparent interest in Samantha, and Ted recounts what was said. After talking and getting to know each other, Ted confesses the wager and suggests an alternative. Samantha gives the geek her underwear to help him out.

Later (after a peep show of Samantha's underpants for $1 admission), the geek and his equally unwelcome friends Bryce and Cliff attend a senior after-party at Jake's ("party hardy dude-person"). At night's end, Jake finds Ted trapped under a table, and they too chat. Ted explains to Jake the situation with Samantha and gives him her underwear. In return, Jake lends Ted a car as well as his fully inebriated girlfriend Caroline.

Meanwhile, Samantha's family apologizes about forgetting her birthday, and Samantha confides to her father about her crush who "doesn't know she exists."

After a wild night with the drunken Caroline, during which he attempts to record his unbelievable fortune in a botched photo, Ted and Caroline wake up in a church parking lot in the back seat of a Rolls Royce.

Ginny's wedding proceeds despite her menstrual cramps and a mild overdose of muscle relaxants, which result in a comedic ceremony. Upon exiting the church, the wedding party slowly dissipates, and Samantha is left standing alone. Jake is seen leaning against his Porsche across the street and gestures to Samantha, which, at first, bewilders her.

In the subsequent and final scene, to the archetypal 1980s pop-ballad "If You Were Here" by the Thompson Twins, the profiles of Jake and Samantha can be seen lit by the candles of a birthday cake between them. Jake asks her to make a wish which she says has already come true.

Cast

• Molly Ringwald as Samantha Baker
• Michael Schoeffling as Jake Ryan
• Anthony Michael Hall as The Geek, also known as "Farmer Ted"
• Gedde Watanabe as Long Duk Dong
• Haviland Morris as Caroline Mulford
• Paul Dooley as Jim Baker
• Carlin Glynn as Brenda Baker
• Blanche Baker as Ginny Baker
• Edward Andrews as Grandpa Howard Baker
• Billie Bird as Grandma Dorothy Baker
• Carole Cook as Grandma Helen
• Max Showalter as Grandpa Fred
• Liane Curtis as Randy
• John Cusack as Bryce
• Darren Harris as Cliff
• Justin Henry as Mike Baker

Influence

Sixteen Candles launched the film careers of Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, John Cusack, and Joan Cusack, as well as that of director Hughes. Several of these young actors became core members of the so-called "Brat Pack" and went on to star in other films, many which were directed by Hughes.

Filming Locations

Sixteen Candles was filmed primarily in and around the Chicago north shore suburban community of Skokie, Illinois. Most of the exterior scenes and some of the interior scenes were filmed at Niles East High School. Some exteriors were also shot at New Trier East High School. A cafeteria scene, gym scene, and auto shop scene were filmed at Niles North High School. Still other filming took place in the gymnasium at Niles West High School.

Long Duk Dong

File:Sixteencandles.jpg

Long Duk Dong

Long Duk Dong was portrayed by Gedde Watanabe. The character is a visiting Asian foreign-exchange student with a heavy accent and, at best, a moderate grasp of Western culture and standards. Most of his appearances in the film and most mentions of him by other characters are simultaneous with or succeeded by the sound of a gong. There are complaints that the character is a preposterous Asian stereotype.

Tim Hibbs has claimed that Long Duk Dong is similar to the character Xgung Wo in John Hughes' short story for National Lampoon magazine "Christmas '59."[1]

References

• The Donger
• Testing my "A-dar": Trying to pick out who is what by Harry Monk (mentions Long Duk Dong in connection with "backlash" against Asian-Americans)
• http://ochenta.nocillatv.com/fichas/09.htm

Sequel

In 2005, Ringwald said that she was considering starring in a sequel to the film.

Popular Culture

• In Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, the main character Harold says that his favorite movie is Sixteen Candles. According to the director's commentary, the movie was meant in some way as a response to Sixteen Candles.
• In 1994, Sponge released a song "Molly (Sixteen Candles)" on their album Rotting Piñata.
• In 2006, alternative rock band Fall Out Boy recorded a single named 'A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More "Touch Me"'
• Kevin Smith's movie Dogma makes reference to Sixteen Candles directly by name, as well as The Breakfast Club, Weird Science and Pretty in Pink, as well as Shermer, Illinois.
• A team competing in The World Series of Pop Culture was named I ♥ Jake Ryan.

Trivia

• Sixteen Candles is the first of several John Hughes' movies to use a preexisting song title as the movie title. Others include "Pretty in Pink" by The Psychedelic Furs and "Some Kind of Wonderful" by Grand Funk Railroad.
• The song "Sixteen Candles" was a 1958 billboard chart hit for The Crests. In 1984, the song was rerecorded by The Stray Cats for the movie soundtrack.
• The movie is set in the same fictional town Shermer, Illinois as several other John Hughes films, based on Hughes' hometown Northbrook, Illinois.
• Sixteen Candles was actually filmed in Skokie, Illinois.
• The high schools shown in the movie are Niles East High School and Niles North High School. Some of the students in the big party scene can be seen wearing Niles East Trojans jackets and shirts.
• Molly Ringwald almost lost the part of "Samantha" to Ally Sheedy. Both actresses would eventually co-star in The Breakfast Club.
• When Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall first met, they did not get along at all. Director John Hughes took them shopping at a music store, and they discovered that they had similar musical tastes and eventually got along.
• The license plate on Jake's car reads "21850," which is director John Hughes' birthday (2/18/50).
• The license plate on Mr. Baker's car reads "V58," which stands for "Vacation '58," a short story written by John Hughes for National Lampoon.

External links

• The Sixteen Candles DVD Official Universal Site
• Sixteen Candles at IMDb
• Sixteen Candles quotes at MovieWavs.com