John Hughes

Not many directors have had as profilic a career as Chicago’s own John Hughes.  Director of some of the most loved films of our time, his influence and work will always be remembered.

Hughes’ portfolio includes some of my favorite movies of all time.  Director of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club and Planes, Trains and Automobiles.  Producer of Home Alone, Christmas Vacation and The Great Outdoors.  His movies launched the careers of of a generation: John Candy, Matthew Broderick and everyone from the Breakfast Club (haha).  And this is just a short list of his career’s accomplishments.

He chose never to leave Chicago for Hollywood as most in his field do.  Instead, he used Chicago and the surrounding suburbs as the locations for most of the films he directed/produced.  The Breakfast Club was shot entirely at Maine North High School in Des Plaines.  He also used Maine North for most of the school scenes in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.  Ferris Bueller and company spent the day in Chicago visiting some of the most well-known locations throughout the city.

Judd Apatow and Kevin Smith have both credited Hughes as an influence on their filmmaking.  Smith once said, “Basically everything I do is just a raunchy John Hughes movie.”

On Thursday, John Hughes passed away of a heart attack while visiting family in New York City.  He has touched the lives of many, creating some of the most memorable films of the past few decades.  His ability to tell a story through film is hard to match and his influence will live on through the movies that he has made.

John Hughes has directed some of my favorite movies to date including several that could be considered Chick Flicks.  For that, I wanted to thank him on a site that he in some small way helped create (in my mind anyway!).   John Hughes, you will be missed.

Note: I can’t help but hear “Don’t You Forget About Me” while writing this post.

John Hughes on IMDB