9:15 I'm good friends with Tracy J. Connor (the woman playing the cashier in this scene) and I conducted an interview with her for a podcast last February. She's recalled this day of shooting to me a couple times so I'll summarize the story of this scene to the best of my ability: Tracy showed up on set the day of shooting and noticed Macaulay Culkin seemed down and perhaps exhausted from shooting. She decided to perk him up and started to improvise with him before shooting. Then Chris Columbus walked by and overheard them and spontaneously decided to shoot Mac and Tracy's improvised lines. The entire rest of the grocery store scene after Kevin pays with Buzz's "life-savings" was made up by Tracy and Mac that day, which is why none of this appears in the script. Only exception to that was the punchline which Chris Columbus came up with: “Where do you live? I can’t tell you that. Why not? Because you’re a stranger.” After they had shot this scene, for whatever reason someone decided to have an actor by the name of Richard J. Firfer play the grocery store manager and say the lines that Tracy had just come up with. I just texted this video to Tracy to see if she has any further context, but from all the times we've talked about this, she honestly seems almost as clueless as the rest of us as to why they decided to shoot this retake. The inclusion of this take in the trailer made Tracy understandably unsure if she would make the final cut, but thankfully someone in their right mind, I guess Raja Gosnell, decided to restore Tracy's original scene with Mac in the final cut of the film. Hope this clears things up a bit. Thank you for the consistently stunning content and for playing a massive role in getting the Planes, Trains & Automobiles workprints released. Keep up the wonderful work, sir!
Thank you for your interest in my podcast! It was actually just a one-off episode for an audio class. It was only 8 minutes and mixed rather poorly by my classmate, but my interview with Tracy was an hour long and I did an additional one-hour interview with another friend of my family who worked with John Hughes. I've wanted to make an extended edit of the episode and post it on my website, but I just haven't got around to it. But now that I see people want to hear this, perhaps I'll finally release it in time for the holiday season!
Yeah, Frank was such a jackass that ten year-old me wanted him to get more punishment than the Wet Bandits. I always imagined a gag where the family gets so wrapped up in leaving Kevin behind that they accidentally leave Frank back in Paris, but no one, not even his wife and kids, really care because he's Frank. Also, that fan theory that Uncle Frank hired the Wet Bandits really spoke to me.
In regards to that scene being cut for making Marv and Harry too humanized/sympathetic, you left out the part where after Harry's statement that "Christmas has become too cynical/ect. Why can't people be nice to each other?" Marv then without any irony in his tone asks, "So which place should we break into first?" Thereby kinda hilariously contradicting Harry's whole statement, and making them unsympathetic again, showing they're being hypocritical.
Agreed. The extra humanising could've worked because, at the end of the day, they're in this situation, robbing houses, because of their own life choices.
I don't think it was necessarily about humanizing them, I think it simply took away from the focus of the movie's narrative, we're not supposed to learn a lot about them, understand their true thoughts, motivations, etc...They're supposed to be strangers coming to rob the McCallister house, and seeing as we're experiencing the movie from Kevin's perspective for the most part, it helps to keep that focus with them just being robbers (the way Kevin views them) rather than giving us a tertiary point of view like "Oh, they're not completely bad after all."
Why would we humanise them? They are there for comedy. That would ruin the film. If you wanted to add it id put it in the end of HL2 or a H3 as the final movie and they become friends with kevin as the two get the christmas spirit and turn over a new leaf then make the riches they have always wanted
I don't think it creates empathy for them. However, I can understand the concern there might have been from the filmmakers for preventing such a thing. The wet sticky bandits gets horrifically tortured. They are put through dangerous traps that in real life would kill them. You don't want the audience caring for them while that is happening because then you're emotionally torturing them. Haha. The psychology of movies can be a funny thing.
He talked to her on the phone the night before he left for Mexico to shoot a movie (where he would ultimately have his fatal heart attack) and told her he ‘had a bad feeling about the trip’ - so sad 😢
John Heard thought the movie was gonna flop...hard. When he saw how wrong he was, he personally apologized to Chris Columbus before his first scene in the sequel.
Plus John Candy played a professional polka musician as one of the "Schmenge Brothers" (w. Eugene Levy) in multiple SCTV episodes. Lots corned beef and cabbage down at the Fire House or Union Hall!
I always figured we never got a proper goodbye between Kate and Gus because John Candy was only available to shoot for one day and they didn't have time to move everything to the exterior of the McCallister house to shoot it during the day. Too bad. Even as a kid I wondered why we didn't see John Candy saying goodbye.
Yup, and the question becomes why was he only available for one day for the next big John Hughes project? You'd think budgeting proper time for this would be a priority for all parties involved. I mean you don't put John Candy in a John Hughes film and say "oh yeah this'll be wrapped in three hours or less. Just hire him as a day player!"
Seeing the scripted scenes of Kevin's mom say goodbye to John Candy's character and the stinger where we get a payoff to the "Snakes" line gives me a sense of completion I didn't know I was missing. Thank you.
The more clips I see of John Candy, the more I realize that he's likely the best improv actor I've ever seen - because he doesn't try too hard to sell the humor and he MAKES HIS DIALOGUE SOUND NATURAL, like a real person would say it. He sounds so conversational and when he's paired with someone who's just as good (his former SCTV co-star Catherine O'Hara) it results in magic.
The store manager from the trailer is in the final movie. In the scenes where the camera is focused only on the cashier, you can see him working in the background on the other side of the glass wall. As for why he'd be in the trailer, maybe someone figured it would be more realistic for the store manager to question Kevin than the cashier. Or maybe they wanted a different tone for the clip; the version with him is faster and more authority-figure-y than the cashier's casual-but-knowing questions.
Yeah, it makes more sense that he would care and ask Kevin questions as opposed to the cashier. Even 1989/1990 standards, no way she's getting paid enough to care.
Could have been a favor - where they give the guy a few lines so the actor can get better pay or a Sag card or whatever. I'd be interested in learning about why he was demoted to background in the final edit.
pesci never got enough props for his comedic chops that scene between harry and marv is like something out of a tarantino film one issue i had with hughes is that most of the characters in his films were 2d not one of those scenes between harry and marv humanize them...just make them seem real and not cartoon characters
I'm surprise you didn't include the scene with Kevin's sister, Linnie, and the Father where she says "Families shouldn't be apart on Christmas." It pretty much sets up the ending scene on why they all came back home on Christmas Day. It's such a good scene too, I can't really see why it was cut.
I love your Lost Versions. Thank you for putting in all this work. I would love to see one on The Santa Clause as apparently there’s a whole middle section that’s never been seen. There’s some outtakes online of Charlie getting beat up at school and Scott talking to him while carving a pumpkin. Also Scott getting fired from his job. Anyway, great work as usual!
@@jeffreywebster4388 Wait... They deleted that scene? I remember quoting that part and getting in trouble with my mother. As a kid, I did not get what the actual joke was.
There was also a scene that was removed but in the novelisation where Scott is shown a room with portraits dedicated to each Santa, apparently Bernard was meant to tell him that most Santa’s only last two years before dying which sparks Scott’s constant fear of falling off a roof near the end of the movie
Now, I want to see that lost post-credit scene with Harry and Marv behind bars and learning about "Snakes" to their surprise! Keep up the good work with these!
My favorite deleted scene was the father-daughter talk between Peter and Linnie. About the true meaning of Christmas and families being together. Angela Goethals pulled it off well. I really liked seeing the character development of Kevin's siblings throughout the film such as Buzz (Devin Ratray) and Megan (Hillary Wolf). I wish they would've kept this one in with Linnie, it looked like a great performance. You forgot about that, Hats Off!!!
Yeah, she really did that well. Poor thing must have been crushed when the film came out and that scene wasn't in it. I see why they left it out, though. It kind of takes the audience on a bit of a detour that doesn't really go anywhere in relation to the rest of the story. The relationships between the other family members aren't really explored at all, keeping the focus pretty tight. Expanding outward to this little moment between father and daughter is nice, and gives some insight to how close they seem to be, but ultimately it probably would have muddied the waters a little bit.
I'd honestly be more interested to learn about the making of Home Alone 2. There are no special features of any kind in the box set I have and it'd be interesting to hear from the production team considering the film is entirely made up up equivalency scenes. It would've been more interesting if ALL the McAllister kids got separated from the two sets of parents and had to become a sort of family unit that relied on each other.
As with anything with John Hughes, it’s always interesting to see all this behind the scenes stuff for lost versions of his film. Also, I wanna make a recommendation for almost cult classics, or forgotten failures. 1994 Toys Starring Robin Williams. This is become one of his forgotten films and also a hard film to track down. It’s streams know where there is no Blu-ray of it and DVD copies are extremely hard to fine. I 100% believe that this would make a great addition to your series
Good call. So much background behind that movie and in many ways captures the vibe of Willy Wonka. Robin was also protective of his Genie image because we didn't want it to take away from Toys.
Don't undermine how Hughes writen films are particularly full of deleted scenes compared to other contemporary Hollywood ones (or to the current filmmaking era, in which the money people order films to be fully reshot for a couple of millions more and so practically replace the whole film already done; I bet lots of Disney and WB films have EVEN MORE deleted scenes than most older films due to all the reshoots alone). That is mostly from how written like literature his scripts were, everything had backstory, set-ups and payoffs, a paralel in another character or anything like that that a novel would probably use but were too much and needless for a well edited film.
It’s probably wise that they left out any scenes that humanize Harry and Marv, but I also find them to be the most interesting characters of the films and was always wondering about their backstory. They could’ve been a part of a really funny spin off!
This is very interesting material to see. I've never seen much behind-the-scenes footage of Home Alone, despite it being one of my favorite movies. It's actually kind of surreal after all these years. Still, Home Alone is perfect just the way it is. The cut material really shows how tightly-written the final film is. I'll always love Home Alone 1 and 2 for their cozy, nostalgic display of childhood wonder during the holidays and clever foreshadowing of elements that come into play throughout the climax. They are true masterpieces that captured lightning in a bottle, and my holidays just wouldn't be the same without them.
9:17 the man is supposed to be the store manager and was played by Richard J. Firther. I don’t remember what video it was on but he commented on CZcams several years ago on why he got cut from the film. You can still see him in the background behind the glass in the final film however.
Well both Home Alone AND Planes, Trains & Automobiles. Thing is, both have gone to 4K without the slightest interest from studios in releasing alternate/extended versions. With Hughes' unfortunate passing many years ago, who therefore would be authorised/competent to over see any further remastering or editing of archived films? Have there been any examples of "director's cut" releases, after the passing of the actual director? [is post humous the correct term?]
What's interesting about that Candy and O'Hara cut scene is historically Czechs are very good at making crystal. Maybe that's why it was cut, because the joke is it's tacky but it actually doesn't sound tacky at all. Maybe it came up in improv because it's something John or his wife actually bought. It sounds like a really nice Christmas decoration.
There were scenes cut from Home Alone 2 as well, yet none of those deleted scenes have emerged as of today. I really wish they will realise them one day on a special edition DVD of Home Alone 2.
This was great. I’ve seen this movie countless times and never saw the extra scenes of the bandits singing in the van and discussing more of their backgrounds. Definitely gonna subscribe. Great work my friend
You never really travel back in time by consuming old media until you uncover the mysteries of what could have been during production. That’s when it truly hits you that there was once a time when said work of fiction - in this case, _Home Alone_ - didn’t yet exist.
I read the novelization of this movie recently. The scene with Harry and Marv talking in the van about how people take off for Christmas was in that book.
Home Alone was John Hughes Rosetta Stone of elevator pitches for a movie premise. It's so genuis in it's simplicity and deceptive in how it's hidden depths and profoundness contains multitudes. Translation: Hughes was so in the zone for a ten year stretch that he was writing a finished screenplay start to finish over a weekend. And it's the ones that turn out to be the iconoclastic films we know and are cemented in celluloid history. As the years turn into decades and generations changing of the guard have come to pass, it becomes more and more apparent just how much of a once in a lifetime find and national resource and treasure Macaulay Culkin was and is, and the utter miraculous discovery, timing, luck that played into him existing at the right moment in the zeitgeist and Hughes being present at this one given flash in time to preserve Mac forever in a movie vehicle fused with the 80s teen comedy legend's also one in a billion cinematic high concept, all-timer gimmick for the ages. This film is like bottled euphoria. It's infinitely joy-inducing and advised annual dosage is the recommended prescribed yearly allowance, by 4 out of 5 doctors. The 5th doctor is an quack and can keep the change, you filthy animal...
Home Alone, I loved it then when I watched it for the first time and to this day I still love watching now. I have worked in the film industry for almost 24yrs now and watching the BTS of this production I can see that they had a blast and had a great time on set. I my self have worked on many productions and I understand when cast and crew can say we are family. 🙂
I recently heard there was an early draft where it was discovered that Uncle Frank was the mastermind behind the wet bandits. The idea being he was heavily in debt and jealous of his rich brother. This is probably where a lot of his cheapness and dickishness came from in the writing, so it would make sense when revealed. While part of me loves this I'm glad it wasn't kept.
@@psilva2462 Actually, its True. The First Script of Home Alone was Drafted November 24,1989, it included a Description of that. Literally as they were filming in February of '90, Hughes revised his Script several times.
John Candy character could have been Del Griffith instead of the polka player. He could've teach Kevin's mom some lesson that he learned on his movie and show that Del is living a happy life on the road again.
This is how the Mandela effect happens a lot of the time. People see a scene in a movie and they know how it goes. they dont realize that they saw a scene, a clip, or even a frame that was released in a trailer, a deleted scene, or in a version of the movie they happened to catch on tv or in an ad. The cognitive dissonance is so sensational that we assume that there are parallel universes instead of realizing that different versions of media exist at different times for different reasons.
Yes but the fact that companies never admit to making several different kinds of the same media makes people question when they actually come across different versions of the same thing.
Agreed, the most common example of this probably is Forrest Gump where people argued if he said "Life is like a box of chocolates" and "Life was like a box of chocolate"... turns out he said both in different versions of the film
I’m hoping we get an extended cut of this movie for Christmas Time Next Year like we had the 75 minutes of deleted scenes that we got for Planes, Trains and Automobiles. It would be a great Christmas present.
I already can't stand the McCallisters, but you could almost argue that the treatment we're seeing is fueled by holiday stress. With the stuff that was cut, you'd have a pretty solid argument that the McCallisters are just abusive normally.
This is the time of the year to watch the two movies, two of my favorite movies since I was a kid. Thanks for this insight! I'd love to see a director's cut type of thing someday!
Kinda surprised you didn't mention the radio announcement from the trailer, even if it's a little obvious that was recorded just for the trailer. But man, I realize what a treasure Candy was, but I'm amazed he improvised all that. I mean, the funeral home story? That's impressive
I remember at the end of the Home Alone 2 VHS there was a little commercial for American Airlines talking about how that was the company they used to fly the cast and crew from Chicago to New York. Back when we used VHS tapes a lot of times you'd watch the whole thing so they could add a little ad at the end like that. I just thought it was a cool little detail
Of all the deleted scenes, I really wish they kept the singing bit. Yes I kinda get not wanting to humanize the bad guys too much but, they are still silly. We even see them checking the toys at that one house they rob, so them singing isn’t that unrealistic
I like to imagine that the rest of the movie takes place in her head because it's her happy place after she was abducted by the band and is locked in a basement now.
It’s amazing just how much stuff was removed either in rewrites or in the editing of the films that John Hughes wrote, produced and/or directed. Thanks for the video Joe, Home Alone is my favorite Christmas film and this just helps with my fondness of the film. Keep up the great work!
That's the sad thing about incredible films, There's so much cutting room floor content which is lost to time. Home Alone, Lord Of The Rings, Pulp Fiction, Planes Trains And Automobiles.
I love the scenes between Marv and Harry that were cut. I figured they were cut because they slowed the pace down too much. I don't think it humanizes them at all. It's the kind of irony that increases their level of stupidity and insanity. I mean, watching them get seriously injured by a "kindigart'nuh" was more like watching an old Road Runner cartoon. That's the level I took it as. Frankly, they were a kind of stand-in for Kevin's family who got humanized way more and you still ended up thinking they were jerks. "What kind of mother am I?" and we all scream at the screen, "A terrible one!"
You should do a version of The Great Outdoors that John Hughes script is fascinating, many more scenes and dialogue and little subplots. The trailer also has added moments, a couple deleted scenes from the TV version were released on CZcams recently. I've been obsessed with lost footage lately myself.
I think that it was wise of the film makers to leave out the scenes that made Uncle Frank out to be an even bigger creep than he already was, otherwise, he might have been less sympathetic than Harry and Marv. On the other hand, a few of the deleted scenes around the wet bandits might have made them less one-dimensional.
was anyone else very sad that kate and gus didnt stay friends? that actually hurt me as a kid. they were so nice to eachother and they couldve been very good friends for life. not even in the second film did he come back.. what if it was the same person from planes trains and automobiles but the next year or something? it adds depth thinking, as a kid, it was the same guy and this guy is trying to make connections and its just gone just like that
I covered this on my podcast, but it’s amazing that John Hughes was able to write his first draft script only in the course of a few days. He had that knack for most of his screenplays
Part of it might be that he was really flexible with them, encouraging a lot of improv. My belief was that he'd write a first draft, then just keep on making changes as he was filming them, and then compiling the mess into a good movie. It's why his more structured movies didn't tend to work out very well.
Been recently binging the Home Alone series (and by that I mean just the first 2 films). Seeing all this is just adding to my experience. Also it’s good to know Frank was just an asshole to everyone and not just Kevin
Thanks Joe! This video is a wonderful Xmas Treat. Home Alone is one of the first movies I saw in a theater and it holds a special place in my heart. I can’t describe how fulfilling it is to find out about what we didn't see in the movie. On that note, would you be able to do a video on the Lost Version of Ferris Bueller's Day Off? The first trailer likewise contains cut material and characters, and having read one of the scripts there's some great omitted stuff. All the best and Merry Xmas!
I've always wanted to see the footage of Daniel Roebuck playing Marv after Daniel Stern left. Just to see how he and Pesci were together and how casting can make a huge difference.
I feel like if some of these scenes with Harry & Marv were left in, Joe Pesci probably would've received another Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for this film!!!
John Candy was just such a treat. Even his worst films were still fun to watch just because of him. Hell, he stars in or at least appears in half of the movies I watch once a year and he always remains fun.
I had the novelization of Home Alone back when I was a kid, which was 30 years ago, but I remember it did have some dialogue between O'Hara and Candy when she is dropped off at her house, she asks Candy how she can repay him for his help, he asks her to be the first on her block to buy his upcoming polka record. And the 'Yank' lines were in the book too. Plus, the book mentions the town the film is set in. Oak Park, IL, which is a real town, a suburb of Chicago. Odd, considering the filming location was Winnetka, which isn't too far away.
The credits scene with Harry and Marv watching "Angels With Filthy Souls" in prison should've been in the film!
of course
shoudlve been a post credits scene
Oh absolutely! It's like Kevin getting them one more time before it fades to black LOL
Nah it would have spoiled the wholesome ending of the film.
@@JishinimaTidehoshi I don't think so. Wasn't the wholesome ending kind of already spoiled by Buzz yelling at Kevin for destroying his room?
I think it would have undermined the sweetness of the ending too much, but I agree it would have been very funny.
9:15
I'm good friends with Tracy J. Connor (the woman playing the cashier in this scene) and I conducted an interview with her for a podcast last February. She's recalled this day of shooting to me a couple times so I'll summarize the story of this scene to the best of my ability:
Tracy showed up on set the day of shooting and noticed Macaulay Culkin seemed down and perhaps exhausted from shooting. She decided to perk him up and started to improvise with him before shooting. Then Chris Columbus walked by and overheard them and spontaneously decided to shoot Mac and Tracy's improvised lines. The entire rest of the grocery store scene after Kevin pays with Buzz's "life-savings" was made up by Tracy and Mac that day, which is why none of this appears in the script. Only exception to that was the punchline which Chris Columbus came up with: “Where do you live? I can’t tell you that. Why not? Because you’re a stranger.”
After they had shot this scene, for whatever reason someone decided to have an actor by the name of Richard J. Firfer play the grocery store manager and say the lines that Tracy had just come up with. I just texted this video to Tracy to see if she has any further context, but from all the times we've talked about this, she honestly seems almost as clueless as the rest of us as to why they decided to shoot this retake. The inclusion of this take in the trailer made Tracy understandably unsure if she would make the final cut, but thankfully someone in their right mind, I guess Raja Gosnell, decided to restore Tracy's original scene with Mac in the final cut of the film.
Hope this clears things up a bit. Thank you for the consistently stunning content and for playing a massive role in getting the Planes, Trains & Automobiles workprints released. Keep up the wonderful work, sir!
What's the name of your podcast? I'd love to listen to it.
Would love to check out your podcast!
Thank you for your interest in my podcast! It was actually just a one-off episode for an audio class. It was only 8 minutes and mixed rather poorly by my classmate, but my interview with Tracy was an hour long and I did an additional one-hour interview with another friend of my family who worked with John Hughes. I've wanted to make an extended edit of the episode and post it on my website, but I just haven't got around to it. But now that I see people want to hear this, perhaps I'll finally release it in time for the holiday season!
@@samcmoser you're welcome. When you get the time feel free to post no rush man 🤗
@@samcmoser Please reply here if you post it. Sounds very interesting!
Uncle Frank was almost the main villain of this movie
Uncle Frank would whine that the Jews banned him from Twitter.
Even the final version wasn't exactly a hero
Yeah, Frank was such a jackass that ten year-old me wanted him to get more punishment than the Wet Bandits. I always imagined a gag where the family gets so wrapped up in leaving Kevin behind that they accidentally leave Frank back in Paris, but no one, not even his wife and kids, really care because he's Frank.
Also, that fan theory that Uncle Frank hired the Wet Bandits really spoke to me.
Uncle Frank in Home Alone is more of a bastard than Uncle Frank in Hellraiser.
@@ColeHomeVideo Civvie-11 made a similar joke in an April Fool's video
Harry calling Marv sick for flooding the houses was just enough humanising 👌
By Harry’s logic, robbing someone blind has no moral issues, but running up their water bill goes too far.
I find that line hilarious considering later on he wants bite all of Kevin’s fingers off
@@DoodleThis Well, Kevin did put them through a lot, so, he was well past angry.
In regards to that scene being cut for making Marv and Harry too humanized/sympathetic, you left out the part where after Harry's statement that "Christmas has become too cynical/ect. Why can't people be nice to each other?"
Marv then without any irony in his tone asks, "So which place should we break into first?"
Thereby kinda hilariously contradicting Harry's whole statement, and making them unsympathetic again, showing they're being hypocritical.
Agreed. The extra humanising could've worked because, at the end of the day, they're in this situation, robbing houses, because of their own life choices.
I don't think it was necessarily about humanizing them, I think it simply took away from the focus of the movie's narrative, we're not supposed to learn a lot about them, understand their true thoughts, motivations, etc...They're supposed to be strangers coming to rob the McCallister house, and seeing as we're experiencing the movie from Kevin's perspective for the most part, it helps to keep that focus with them just being robbers (the way Kevin views them) rather than giving us a tertiary point of view like "Oh, they're not completely bad after all."
Why would we humanise them? They are there for comedy. That would ruin the film. If you wanted to add it id put it in the end of HL2 or a H3 as the final movie and they become friends with kevin as the two get the christmas spirit and turn over a new leaf then make the riches they have always wanted
I don't think it creates empathy for them.
However, I can understand the concern there might have been from the filmmakers for preventing such a thing.
The wet sticky bandits gets horrifically tortured. They are put through dangerous traps that in real life would kill them. You don't want the audience caring for them while that is happening because then you're emotionally torturing them. Haha.
The psychology of movies can be a funny thing.
@@GawrGurasBathTubPizzaHalf-Life 3 confirmed. 👍
I love the uncut part where Marv says "He's a kid. Kids are stupid. I know I was." and Harry says "You still are, Marv."!
Same :D
Me to I like it
I could watch the wet bandits just driving around just talking for hours 😂
Catherine and John were both in SCTV together since the start of their careers, hence why their chemistry is so good together.
He talked to her on the phone the night before he left for Mexico to shoot a movie (where he would ultimately have his fatal heart attack) and told her he ‘had a bad feeling about the trip’ - so sad 😢
John Heard thought the movie was gonna flop...hard. When he saw how wrong he was, he personally apologized to Chris Columbus before his first scene in the sequel.
Plus John Candy played a professional polka musician as one of the "Schmenge Brothers" (w. Eugene Levy) in multiple SCTV episodes. Lots corned beef and cabbage down at the Fire House or Union Hall!
@@IndyCrewInNYC that wasnt John Candy that was John Heard (the guy who plays Kevins dad)
They were a good friends in real life too.
I always figured we never got a proper goodbye between Kate and Gus because John Candy was only available to shoot for one day and they didn't have time to move everything to the exterior of the McCallister house to shoot it during the day. Too bad. Even as a kid I wondered why we didn't see John Candy saying goodbye.
John Candy held a second British Passport under the name John Sweets.
Yup, and the question becomes why was he only available for one day for the next big John Hughes project? You'd think budgeting proper time for this would be a priority for all parties involved. I mean you don't put John Candy in a John Hughes film and say "oh yeah this'll be wrapped in three hours or less. Just hire him as a day player!"
@@kz1000psit’s explained on the Netflix behind the scenes series featuring Home Alone. Why assume?
She was just dropped off at her house and the band drove off
@@kz1000pshe might have wanted to be in the movie 🍿 but he was probably busy with other projects or maybe needed relaxing time with his own family?
Seeing the scripted scenes of Kevin's mom say goodbye to John Candy's character and the stinger where we get a payoff to the "Snakes" line gives me a sense of completion I didn't know I was missing. Thank you.
The more clips I see of John Candy, the more I realize that he's likely the best improv actor I've ever seen - because he doesn't try too hard to sell the humor and he MAKES HIS DIALOGUE SOUND NATURAL, like a real person would say it. He sounds so conversational and when he's paired with someone who's just as good (his former SCTV co-star Catherine O'Hara) it results in magic.
My parents loved John Candy. We used to rent any VHS with him in. Great actor 👍🏼
The store manager from the trailer is in the final movie. In the scenes where the camera is focused only on the cashier, you can see him working in the background on the other side of the glass wall. As for why he'd be in the trailer, maybe someone figured it would be more realistic for the store manager to question Kevin than the cashier. Or maybe they wanted a different tone for the clip; the version with him is faster and more authority-figure-y than the cashier's casual-but-knowing questions.
Yeah, it makes more sense that he would care and ask Kevin questions as opposed to the cashier. Even 1989/1990 standards, no way she's getting paid enough to care.
You can actually see him at 9:37 here as well.
I bet it's for pacing. The way it is in the movie is longer and seconds extra for a trailer is precious.
Her delivery was better tbh. She felt like an actual cashier.
Could have been a favor - where they give the guy a few lines so the actor can get better pay or a Sag card or whatever. I'd be interested in learning about why he was demoted to background in the final edit.
pesci never got enough props for his comedic chops
that scene between harry and marv is like something out of a tarantino film
one issue i had with hughes is that most of the characters in his films were 2d
not one of those scenes between harry and marv humanize them...just make them seem real and not cartoon characters
I'm surprise you didn't include the scene with Kevin's sister, Linnie, and the Father where she says "Families shouldn't be apart on Christmas." It pretty much sets up the ending scene on why they all came back home on Christmas Day. It's such a good scene too, I can't really see why it was cut.
Pacing I'd imagine. It's a good scene but would bring the film to a halt.
My god, that movie has been part of my life so much so that watching new footage of it (or the making of) feels surreal.
Isnt it. Like glimpsing into a parallel universe or a dream
Same! Just watched the movie three days ago when doing Christmas preparations.. and this is like a Christmas gift!
Very true
I love your Lost Versions. Thank you for putting in all this work.
I would love to see one on The Santa Clause as apparently there’s a whole middle section that’s never been seen. There’s some outtakes online of Charlie getting beat up at school and Scott talking to him while carving a pumpkin. Also Scott getting fired from his job.
Anyway, great work as usual!
I second this proposal.
I remembered the VHS had the 1-800 Spank Me moment in the film
@@jeffreywebster4388 Wait... They deleted that scene? I remember quoting that part and getting in trouble with my mother. As a kid, I did not get what the actual joke was.
There was a scene or maybe a line in a trailer that wasn't in the movie itself. A room of toys?
There was also a scene that was removed but in the novelisation where Scott is shown a room with portraits dedicated to each Santa, apparently Bernard was meant to tell him that most Santa’s only last two years before dying which sparks Scott’s constant fear of falling off a roof near the end of the movie
John Candy was truly a legend.
Now, I want to see that lost post-credit scene with Harry and Marv behind bars and learning about "Snakes" to their surprise!
Keep up the good work with these!
Yeah. The robbers all getting chickenpox at the end of Home Alone 3 was a fantastic conclusion.
My favorite deleted scene was the father-daughter talk between Peter and Linnie. About the true meaning of Christmas and families being together. Angela Goethals pulled it off well.
I really liked seeing the character development of Kevin's siblings throughout the film such as Buzz (Devin Ratray) and Megan (Hillary Wolf). I wish they would've kept this one in with Linnie, it looked like a great performance.
You forgot about that, Hats Off!!!
Yeah, she really did that well. Poor thing must have been crushed when the film came out and that scene wasn't in it.
I see why they left it out, though. It kind of takes the audience on a bit of a detour that doesn't really go anywhere in relation to the rest of the story. The relationships between the other family members aren't really explored at all, keeping the focus pretty tight. Expanding outward to this little moment between father and daughter is nice, and gives some insight to how close they seem to be, but ultimately it probably would have muddied the waters a little bit.
@@Marbles471 What do you mean?
This is one of those movies that should have stopped at two and never had any further installments. They are just too perfect
That's why almost everyone stops watching at two xD
Consider all the others are just straight to dvd cash-in using the name, I doubt anyone considers them part of the main two.
@@Arjay82 The third one was theatrically released
Yep I totally agree with you, just like the Terminator movies it's should've ended with the second movie.
The third one isn't bad. Alex D Linz did a fantastic job for his age and it has some hilarious moments, like when he messed with the old lady's TV.
I'd honestly be more interested to learn about the making of Home Alone 2. There are no special features of any kind in the box set I have and it'd be interesting to hear from the production team considering the film is entirely made up up equivalency scenes. It would've been more interesting if ALL the McAllister kids got separated from the two sets of parents and had to become a sort of family unit that relied on each other.
That's a great plot idea.
@@gage6209 i know alot about films art and more im a pure movie buff
I suppose that movie would be "Home Alone Together" 😉
@@seanmyster6 I was thinking of calling it Away From Home, But Without Parents and In New York
Same i hope he does a video on that
As with anything with John Hughes, it’s always interesting to see all this behind the scenes stuff for lost versions of his film.
Also, I wanna make a recommendation for almost cult classics, or forgotten failures. 1994 Toys Starring Robin Williams.
This is become one of his forgotten films and also a hard film to track down. It’s streams know where there is no Blu-ray of it and DVD copies are extremely hard to fine.
I 100% believe that this would make a great addition to your series
Good call. So much background behind that movie and in many ways captures the vibe of Willy Wonka. Robin was also protective of his Genie image because we didn't want it to take away from Toys.
RIP John Heard. You were a fine actor.
RIP John Candy
@@ArthurKillingsworthJr Amen to that. Alex knew him, I never met the guy. Lived up around Thornhill or Aurora I think.
Another Home Alone video! 😁
Every John Hughes movie has one common thing: bunch of deleted scenes.
That's every movie
@@CDRiley John Hughes in particular have tons of deleted scenes.
@Luke Bickner all movies have abundant Deleted scenes , that's Hollywood for you.
Don't undermine how Hughes writen films are particularly full of deleted scenes compared to other contemporary Hollywood ones (or to the current filmmaking era, in which the money people order films to be fully reshot for a couple of millions more and so practically replace the whole film already done; I bet lots of Disney and WB films have EVEN MORE deleted scenes than most older films due to all the reshoots alone). That is mostly from how written like literature his scripts were, everything had backstory, set-ups and payoffs, a paralel in another character or anything like that that a novel would probably use but were too much and needless for a well edited film.
It’s probably wise that they left out any scenes that humanize Harry and Marv, but I also find them to be the most interesting characters of the films and was always wondering about their backstory. They could’ve been a part of a really funny spin off!
It’d be awesome to see how they met and became friends and partners in crime
This is very interesting material to see. I've never seen much behind-the-scenes footage of Home Alone, despite it being one of my favorite movies. It's actually kind of surreal after all these years.
Still, Home Alone is perfect just the way it is. The cut material really shows how tightly-written the final film is. I'll always love Home Alone 1 and 2 for their cozy, nostalgic display of childhood wonder during the holidays and clever foreshadowing of elements that come into play throughout the climax. They are true masterpieces that captured lightning in a bottle, and my holidays just wouldn't be the same without them.
These lost versions of John hughes movies are amazing. Thank you for this I was waiting for Home Alone!
I feel bad for the grocery story manager who got cut. You know he told everyone he knows he was gonna be in a big John Hughs movie that year 😬
9:17 the man is supposed to be the store manager and was played by Richard J. Firther. I don’t remember what video it was on but he commented on CZcams several years ago on why he got cut from the film. You can still see him in the background behind the glass in the final film however.
Let's get a petition going for an uncut version of Home Alone!
Well both Home Alone AND Planes, Trains & Automobiles.
Thing is, both have gone to 4K without the slightest interest from studios in releasing alternate/extended versions.
With Hughes' unfortunate passing many years ago, who therefore would be authorised/competent to over see any further remastering or editing of archived films?
Have there been any examples of "director's cut" releases, after the passing of the actual director? [is post humous the correct term?]
Nah.
What's interesting about that Candy and O'Hara cut scene is historically Czechs are very good at making crystal. Maybe that's why it was cut, because the joke is it's tacky but it actually doesn't sound tacky at all. Maybe it came up in improv because it's something John or his wife actually bought. It sounds like a really nice Christmas decoration.
I thought Kate's reaction ruined the scene.
@@bertmustin Yeah she seemed kinda awkward there, not knowing how to bounce off from John's improv...
@@DJ.KyloRen It's understandable she wouldn't be interested in small talk but it ruins the scene.
There were scenes cut from Home Alone 2 as well, yet none of those deleted scenes have emerged as of today. I really wish they will realise them one day on a special edition DVD of Home Alone 2.
This was great. I’ve seen this movie countless times and never saw the extra scenes of the bandits singing in the van and discussing more of their backgrounds. Definitely gonna subscribe. Great work my friend
I mean, if you have John Candy on the set, why not use him for more scenes. How I miss him. 😊
I like the "humanized" Wet Bandits. It really shows that anyone of us could be those guys in the wrong circumstance.
no
@@V0YAG3R Hahaha
You never really travel back in time by consuming old media until you uncover the mysteries of what could have been during production. That’s when it truly hits you that there was once a time when said work of fiction - in this case, _Home Alone_ - didn’t yet exist.
Just watched it on Disney + the other day, still a Christmas classic!
also shown on Freeform
It's too bad that John Candy was never in a Christopher Guest film.
I read the novelization of this movie recently. The scene with Harry and Marv talking in the van about how people take off for Christmas was in that book.
Home Alone was John Hughes Rosetta Stone of elevator pitches for a movie premise. It's so genuis in it's simplicity and deceptive in how it's hidden depths and profoundness contains multitudes. Translation: Hughes was so in the zone for a ten year stretch that he was writing a finished screenplay start to finish over a weekend. And it's the ones that turn out to be the iconoclastic films we know and are cemented in celluloid history.
As the years turn into decades and generations changing of the guard have come to pass, it becomes more and more apparent just how much of a once in a lifetime find and national resource and treasure Macaulay Culkin was and is, and the utter miraculous discovery, timing, luck that played into him existing at the right moment in the zeitgeist and Hughes being present at this one given flash in time to preserve Mac forever in a movie vehicle fused with the 80s teen comedy legend's also one in a billion cinematic high concept, all-timer gimmick for the ages. This film is like bottled euphoria. It's infinitely joy-inducing and advised annual dosage is the recommended prescribed yearly allowance, by 4 out of 5 doctors. The 5th doctor is an quack and can keep the change, you filthy animal...
Home Alone, I loved it then when I watched it for the first time and to this day I still love watching now. I have worked in the film industry for almost 24yrs now and watching the BTS of this production I can see that they had a blast and had a great time on set. I my self have worked on many productions and I understand when cast and crew can say we are family. 🙂
I recently heard there was an early draft where it was discovered that Uncle Frank was the mastermind behind the wet bandits. The idea being he was heavily in debt and jealous of his rich brother. This is probably where a lot of his cheapness and dickishness came from in the writing, so it would make sense when revealed. While part of me loves this I'm glad it wasn't kept.
It does seem to be weirdly on brand for him given what a mooch Uncle Frank was
That’s a fan theory
@@psilva2462 Actually, its True. The First Script of Home Alone was Drafted November 24,1989, it included a Description of that. Literally as they were filming in February of '90, Hughes revised his Script several times.
Yet more proof John Candy was an absolute treasure we all lost too soon.
It's weird being a little kid and knowing that, and so many more reasons I've found since...
@@joeykeilholz925 you're a little kid?
John Candy character could have been Del Griffith instead of the polka player.
He could've teach Kevin's mom some lesson that he learned on his movie and show that Del is living a happy life on the road again.
Home Alone extended universe
R.I.P John Heard (Aka: Mr. Peter McCallister).
heard was another actor who could seamlessly move from comedy to drama
This is how the Mandela effect happens a lot of the time. People see a scene in a movie and they know how it goes. they dont realize that they saw a scene, a clip, or even a frame that was released in a trailer, a deleted scene, or in a version of the movie they happened to catch on tv or in an ad. The cognitive dissonance is so sensational that we assume that there are parallel universes instead of realizing that different versions of media exist at different times for different reasons.
Yes but the fact that companies never admit to making several different kinds of the same media makes people question when they actually come across different versions of the same thing.
@@kennypowers1945 you're right. I think that if more people knew these little things then it would help them to understand some of these things
Agreed, the most common example of this probably is Forrest Gump where people argued if he said "Life is like a box of chocolates" and "Life was like a box of chocolate"... turns out he said both in different versions of the film
@@Cvolton yep that's a perfect example
Uncle Frank, my hero. 🥰
A manager asking questors makes much more sense then some random cashier.
You can see the "Mysterious Trailer Guy" in the background behind the glass behind the cashier in the final film.
I’m hoping we get an extended cut of this movie for Christmas Time Next Year like we had the 75 minutes of deleted scenes that we got for Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
It would be a great Christmas present.
Can't imagine why "pantsing" a 10 year old would've gotten cut 🤔
The grocery store manager is still there in the movie. Look behind the cashier's head. He's counting money. @9:37
How many people are going to write this in the thread
I already can't stand the McCallisters, but you could almost argue that the treatment we're seeing is fueled by holiday stress. With the stuff that was cut, you'd have a pretty solid argument that the McCallisters are just abusive normally.
I love that ending scene with Harry and marv in jail, I wish it was in the final cut.
This is the time of the year to watch the two movies, two of my favorite movies since I was a kid. Thanks for this insight! I'd love to see a director's cut type of thing someday!
Kinda surprised you didn't mention the radio announcement from the trailer, even if it's a little obvious that was recorded just for the trailer.
But man, I realize what a treasure Candy was, but I'm amazed he improvised all that. I mean, the funeral home story? That's impressive
Also voiced by Chris Columbus.
I remember at the end of the Home Alone 2 VHS there was a little commercial for American Airlines talking about how that was the company they used to fly the cast and crew from Chicago to New York. Back when we used VHS tapes a lot of times you'd watch the whole thing so they could add a little ad at the end like that. I just thought it was a cool little detail
Marv is implied to be Jewish in Home Alone 2.
Word
Of all the deleted scenes, I really wish they kept the singing bit. Yes I kinda get not wanting to humanize the bad guys too much but, they are still silly. We even see them checking the toys at that one house they rob, so them singing isn’t that unrealistic
I’m always so impressed and love the amount of work you put into Lost Versions, there so informative and fun to watch
0:58 Technically, that guy IS in the movie. You can see him in the background in the same scene in the final cut.
I like to imagine that Kate McCallister became a fan of polka music thanks to Gus doing her a solid and giving her a ride back home.
I like to imagine that the rest of the movie takes place in her head because it's her happy place after she was abducted by the band and is locked in a basement now.
Imagine her discovering Weird Al for the first time lol
It’s amazing just how much stuff was removed either in rewrites or in the editing of the films that John Hughes wrote, produced and/or directed. Thanks for the video Joe, Home Alone is my favorite Christmas film and this just helps with my fondness of the film. Keep up the great work!
the scene where Uncle Frank pulls down Kevin's pants is inappropriate for a family movie which is why they deleted it
I don't know why but I love watching these kind of videos.
this is GOLD for a big fan like me, thank you for your hard work, Merry Christmas!
This idiots and gentlemen is the BEST Christmas movie! Nothing compares to John Hughes.
That's the sad thing about incredible films, There's so much cutting room floor content which is lost to time.
Home Alone, Lord Of The Rings, Pulp Fiction, Planes Trains And Automobiles.
I love these videos, man. So much I had no idea about. Thank you.
Wow, I didn't think I could despise Uncle Frank anymore than I already did-- those excised scenes were brutal!!
I can't stand him, he's vile and a parasite
Thank you for your videos! I really enjoy them and you've covered many of my favorite movies!
I love the scenes between Marv and Harry that were cut. I figured they were cut because they slowed the pace down too much. I don't think it humanizes them at all. It's the kind of irony that increases their level of stupidity and insanity. I mean, watching them get seriously injured by a "kindigart'nuh" was more like watching an old Road Runner cartoon. That's the level I took it as. Frankly, they were a kind of stand-in for Kevin's family who got humanized way more and you still ended up thinking they were jerks. "What kind of mother am I?" and we all scream at the screen, "A terrible one!"
my hats off to you for doing this man :) Merry Christmas and warm up with a lovely cheese pizza, just for you ;)
I really enjoy the deleted scenes but the finished product is just perfectly paced and put together so well.
Quality work as always, and I can only agree: More John Candy footage is always a treat!
Cool!!
HOWEVER, most of the deleted scenes can be found on the BLU Ray version.
Extra deleted scenes on the bluray?
Own the family fun 2006 DVD with a few of them
You should do a version of The Great Outdoors that John Hughes script is fascinating, many more scenes and dialogue and little subplots. The trailer also has added moments, a couple deleted scenes from the TV version were released on CZcams recently. I've been obsessed with lost footage lately myself.
Such great research! I saw this at the cinema when it came out. Thanks for the alternative cut!!!
Awesome job love it man
I think that it was wise of the film makers to leave out the scenes that made Uncle Frank out to be an even bigger creep than he already was, otherwise, he might have been less sympathetic than Harry and Marv. On the other hand, a few of the deleted scenes around the wet bandits might have made them less one-dimensional.
Great video as always. Merry Christmas :)
Excellent video. Thanks!
was anyone else very sad that kate and gus didnt stay friends? that actually hurt me as a kid. they were so nice to eachother and they couldve been very good friends for life. not even in the second film did he come back.. what if it was the same person from planes trains and automobiles but the next year or something? it adds depth thinking, as a kid, it was the same guy and this guy is trying to make connections and its just gone just like that
Great video. Thanks for sharing.
I covered this on my podcast, but it’s amazing that John Hughes was able to write his first draft script only in the course of a few days. He had that knack for most of his screenplays
emphasis on "most of"
Part of it might be that he was really flexible with them, encouraging a lot of improv.
My belief was that he'd write a first draft, then just keep on making changes as he was filming them, and then compiling the mess into a good movie. It's why his more structured movies didn't tend to work out very well.
King of 80s movies
Hughes wrote the Very First Draft During Thanksgiving in '89.
Been recently binging the Home Alone series (and by that I mean just the first 2 films). Seeing all this is just adding to my experience. Also it’s good to know Frank was just an asshole to everyone and not just Kevin
This is always been one of my favourite movies to watch around Christmas
the writers sure loved having some guys pulling kevin's pants down... classic hollywood
This is great I love stuff
Like this. ThAnk you! U got my subscription
Thanks Joe! This video is a wonderful Xmas Treat. Home Alone is one of the first movies I saw in a theater and it holds a special place in my heart. I can’t describe how fulfilling it is to find out about what we didn't see in the movie. On that note, would you be able to do a video on the Lost Version of Ferris Bueller's Day Off? The first trailer likewise contains cut material and characters, and having read one of the scripts there's some great omitted stuff. All the best and Merry Xmas!
I've always wanted to see the footage of Daniel Roebuck playing Marv after Daniel Stern left. Just to see how he and Pesci were together and how casting can make a huge difference.
Amazing. One of my favorite films. We need it!
Are we going to get 40 additional minutes of 4k Home Alone now?....
If so I'm totally down.
I feel like if some of these scenes with Harry & Marv were left in, Joe Pesci probably would've received another Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for this film!!!
That planned post credits scene would’ve been great!!
Rest in peace John
John Candy was just such a treat. Even his worst films were still fun to watch just because of him. Hell, he stars in or at least appears in half of the movies I watch once a year and he always remains fun.
I always felt like Kevin was probably adopted which is why he was not treated like an actual family member
i can sympathize with that as i 2 am adopted and never felt like i fit in with my family
I had the novelization of Home Alone back when I was a kid, which was 30 years ago, but I remember it did have some dialogue between O'Hara and Candy when she is dropped off at her house, she asks Candy how she can repay him for his help, he asks her to be the first on her block to buy his upcoming polka record. And the 'Yank' lines were in the book too. Plus, the book mentions the town the film is set in. Oak Park, IL, which is a real town, a suburb of Chicago. Odd, considering the filming location was Winnetka, which isn't too far away.