John Hughes
the Auteur
By Angela Bauza
John Hughes
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Born: February 18, 1950, Lansing
Spouse: Nancy Ludwig (m. 1970–2009)
Awards: Australian Film Institute Open Craft Award
John Wilden Hughes, Jr. (February 18, 1950 – August
6, 2009) was an American film director, producer,
and screenwriter. He directed or scripted some of the
most successful films of the 1980s and 1990s,
including National Lampoon's Vacation, Ferris Bueller's
Day Off, Weird Science, The Breakfast Club, Some Kind
of Wonderful,Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Planes,
Trains and Automobiles, Uncle Buck, Home Alone,
and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
John Hughes
• He is known as the king of teen movies as well
as helping launch the careers of actors
including Michael Keaton, Molly
Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Bill
Paxton, Matthew Broderick, Macaulay
Culkin, John Candy, and the up-and-coming
actors collectively nicknamed the Brat Pack.
The Inventor of a Generation
• When we think about the
80s we think about he
“Brat Pack” we think
about the movies that
have lived through time
and the director that gave
them life.
• John Hughes
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^ Dean Goodman; Bob Tourtellotte
and Peter Cooney (Aug 6,
2009). ""Brat Pack" director John
Hughes dies of a heart
attack". Reuters.
Live on Breakfast Club
• Though his movies were
more mainstream than
underground, they had a
type of style that lives not
only in the youth of the
80s but also in
generations of teens
today. The movie
“Breakfast club has been
re-made in almost all
popular teen Television
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Boy Meets World
Dawson’s Creek
Gossip Girl
One Tree Hill
Vampire Diaries
Victorious
Community
Degrassi
Are just to name a few…
Victorious
Community
Director
Director of Films
• Curly Sue
• Uncle Buck
• She’s Having my Baby
• Planes, Trains &
Automobiles
• Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
• Weird Science
• The Breakfast Club
• Sixteen Candles
• Mr. Hughes was also busy as a
producer, a screenwriter and a
pop-culture embodiment of
the age. Historians of cinema
may be slow or begrudging in
appreciating his achievement,
but if auteur status is
conferred by the possession of
a recognizable style and set of
themes, Mr. Hughes’s place in
the pantheon cannot be
denied. (Scott)
• http://www.nytimes.com/200
9/08/08/movies/08appraisal.h
tml?_r=0
Themes
• Teen Cliques
• Rich vs. Poor
• Popular vs. Nerd
• Inventive Language
• The melding of worlds
• Friendship
• Community
• Style and music
• Fighting genetic destiny
• Fighting genetic destiny
Wrote 44 movies
Homage to John
• Director Will Gluck pays
Homage to John Hughes
in his movie Easy A.
References
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http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000455/?ref_=sr_2^ Goodman, Dean (August 6,
2009). ""Brat Pack" Director John Hughes Dies Of Heart Attack". Reuters. Retrieved 2010-1015.
^ "John Hughes Biography (1950-)". Filmreference.com.
^ a b c d Kamp, David (2010-03). "Sweet Bard of Youth".Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
^ "Molly Ringwald Interviews John Hughes". Seventeen Magazine. Spring 1986. Retrieved
2010-02-25.
^ Michael Joseph Gross (2004-05-09). "When the Losers Ruled in Teenage Movies". The New
York Times. p. 4. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
^ a b c d Saperstein, Pat (2009-08-06). "Director John Hughes dies at 59". Variety.
^ McLellan, Dennis (2009-08-07). "John Hughes dies at 59; writer-director of '80s teen films".
Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-07-26.
^ Brady, Celia (August 1990). "Big Baby". Spy: 66–77. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
^ Diaz, Julio (March 1999). "1999 interview with Hughes". Ink 19.
^ Goldstein, Patrick (March 24, 2008). "John Hughes's imprint remains. He's still revered in
Hollywood, but whatever happened to the king of the teens?". Los Angeles Times.