Five key St. Louis scenes from a Thanksgiving classic: Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Steve Martin, John Candy, John Huges during Press Conference for “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” in Los Angeles, Calif., November 1987. (AP Photo)
ST. LOUIS – Tens of millions will travel nationwide to celebrate Thanksgiving with their families this year. The annual pilgrimage back home doesn’t always come smoothly, as depicted by a 1987 hit comedy that rolls through St. Louis.
John Hughes’ fictional film Planes, Trains and Automobiles stars Steve Martin and John Candy in the lead roles as Neal Page and Del Griffith. Despite clashing personalities, they both share one goal in mind: To make it back from New York to their hometown of Chicago in time for Thanksgiving.
The movie starts with Del and Neal, then unknown to each other, competing for a taxi ride to the airport. The two eventually end up on the same flight, intended from New York to Chicago. Because of severe weather, the two are rerouted and end up in Wichita, Kansas.
This leads to a series of setbacks and ordeals that eventually lead the duo to St. Louis on the eve of Thanksgiving. This stop followed a bus ride from mid-Missouri, which followed a train faltering around the area.
St. Louis is the setting for many important moments within Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Here is a look back at five key St. Louis scenes from within the movie.
Selling shower curtains
As Neal and Del arrive in St. Louis, they’re both a bit short of money from an unexpected theft in Kansas. Del, a salesman, attempts to recoup some of his losses by selling shower curtain rings to travelers, promoting them as earrings for some female customers. While the scene is based on their time in St. Louis, it seems this particular scene was filmed elsewhere in Illinois.
Grabbing a meal
Neal and Del share a deep conversation about their family lives over a meal. Neal shares he is missing his daughter’s recital. Del reveals “he hasn’t been home in years” and indicates he misses “precious moments” with his wife Marie. After sharing personal stories, Neal insists that the two go separate ways to speed up their travels. There is also some contentious talks about who should pay the dinner bill.
Rental car search
Neal makes a phone call to his family and gets help in arranging a rental car service. Unfortunately, the rental car on his order isn’t at the lot. This leads a distraught Neal to throw his paperwork in frustration and walk back to the airport terminal through snow and cold conditions. The scene was filmed with a building currently known as the Renaissance St. Louis Airport Hotel in the background.
Memorable rant
Neal returns to the airport terminal and is visibly frustrated by his rental car situation. He waits in a line for the Marathon car rental service with one clerk chit-chatting over apparent non-work related matters over the phone. This follows with the scene that most likely gave the movie an R-rating.
Neal used a certain curse word 18 times in roughly one minute to the clerk, seeking answers as to where his rental car ended up. The clerk asks Neal for documentation of his rental car order, to which he says he lost it. That doesn’t give much closure to his situation, with the clerk reversing that same curse word to end their interaction.
Scary encounter
Realizing he was running out of options, Neal exits the Lambert Airport terminal and tells a cab dispatcher he needs a ride to Chicago. He replies: “Chicago? You know you’re in St. Louis? Why don’t you try the airline, it’s a lot faster and you get a free meal.” Neal fires back with some sarcastic comments, which builds tension between the two and ends with the dispatcher punching Neal.
Neal falls to the ground and nearly gets run over by a car. Who’s that driver? None other than Del Griffith, through which Neal reunites, knowing it’s pretty much the best-case scenario from that point forward.
After that, Del and Neal are forced to stop in central Illinois when their car catches on fire. Though tensions escalated at times from St. Louis on, the two made it back to the Chicago area on Thanksgiving Day, and a revelation from Neal leads to a heartfelt ending.
Where to stream?
Want to watch Planes, Trains, and Automobiles around your Thanksgiving plans? The movie is available on Paramount+, HBO Max, YouTube TV, Sling TV, Philo, fuboTV, and Amazon Prime video with a subscription. It can also be purchased on YouTube, Google Play, Vudu, and AppleTV. You might be able to catch it for free at times on Pluto TV as well.
