48 Fun Facts About Pretty in Pink

Which actress did the studio want for Andie in Pretty in Pink before John Hughes insisted on Molly Ringwald?

Jennifer Beals was fresh from Flashdance, but Hughes had written Andie for Ringwald and held out; she said anyone else in the part would be like somebody wearing her clothes.

What has become of Andie's mother before Pretty in Pink begins?

She left the family three years earlier, and Jack is still too heartbroken to hold down a job, until Andie tells him bluntly that her mother is not coming back.

John Hughes wrote Pretty in Pink but handed the directing to which first-timer?

Howard Deutch had been cutting trailers and shooting music videos when Hughes, who preferred to be writing scripts, trusted him with his first feature.

Who plays Andie's best friend, Duckie, in Pretty in Pink?

Jon Cryer won the part after Anthony Michael Hall turned it down; Ringwald had wanted Robert Downey Jr., but came round once Cryer made Duckie his own.

Who plays Blane McDonnagh, the 'richie' who asks Andie out in Pretty in Pink?

Andrew McCarthy got the part because Ringwald told the filmmakers he was the kind of boy she would fall for, not a square-jawed jock like the front-runner, Charlie Sheen.

Who plays Steff McKee, Blane's wealthy and spiteful best friend, in Pretty in Pink?

James Spader had never been to a prom himself: he left school at seventeen to act, and said in 1986 that he would have been one of the film's misfits, not one of its rich kids.

Who plays Iona, Andie's quirky boss at the record store, in Pretty in Pink?

Annie Potts, Ghostbusters' receptionist Janine two years earlier, plays the boss who talks Andie into going to the prom with the tale of a friend who always regretted missing hers.

Which veteran actor plays Andie's underemployed father, Jack, in Pretty in Pink?

Harry Dean Stanton plays Jack Walsh; he had just starred in Paris, Texas (1984) and Repo Man (1984), and here he buys Andie the pink dress she reworks for the prom.

What is the name of the record store where Andie works in Pretty in Pink?

Trax is the new-wave record store run by Iona: Blane first approaches Andie there over a pile of uncool records, and Duckie performs his Otis Redding lip-sync between the racks.

Why does Steff really have it in for Andie in Pretty in Pink?

She turned him down: Steff propositions Andie early in the film and is rejected, and at the prom Blane finally says it to his face, that he could buy everything except her.

Which band's song gave Pretty in Pink its title?

The Psychedelic Furs' 1981 single gave the film its name after Ringwald played it to Hughes; the band then re-recorded it with a saxophone for the opening titles.

Which OMD song, written for Pretty in Pink, reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1986?

If You Leave plays over the prom finale; it became OMD's biggest American hit yet stalled at No. 48 back home in Britain.

About how long did OMD take to write and record Pretty in Pink's replacement prom song?

About a day: with a tour two days off, OMD wrote through the night until 4 a.m., sent over a rough tape and were back in the studio finishing it a few hours later.

Hughes asked OMD to write the new song at 120 BPM to match which track the actors had danced to on set?

The prom footage had been shot with the cast dancing to Simple Minds' 'Don't You (Forget About Me)', the Breakfast Club hit, so Hughes wanted the replacement song at the same 120 BPM.

What did the original ending of Pretty in Pink, rejected by test audiences, show?

Andie pairing off with Duckie, the two of them dancing together at the prom, was booed at the first test screening, so Hughes wrote a new finale and the prom was restaged for a single day's shooting.

Blane wears a wig in Pretty in Pink's reshot ending because the actor had cut his hair for what?

A stage play: he was playing a soldier on Broadway in The Boys of Winter when the call came, and has joked ever since that the hairpiece looks like a rodent on his head.

In Pretty in Pink, Andie sews her prom dress from her father's gift and whose old dress?

Iona's old prom dress and the one from her father become a single pink gown; Molly Ringwald hated the result so much that she burst into tears when she first saw it.

Which Otis Redding song does Duckie lip-synch to in the record store in Pretty in Pink?

Duckie's record-store lip-synch to 'Try a Little Tenderness' is in the film, but the track was left off the soundtrack album.

Who plays 'Duckette', the girl who beckons Duckie at the end of Pretty in Pink's prom?

Kristy Swanson, later the title character in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer, plays 'Duckette'; the moment was added so Duckie would not end the reshot finale alone.

Which comedian plays the nightclub bouncer in Pretty in Pink?

Andrew Dice Clay, not yet famous, plays the bouncer who never lets Duckie into the club and sums up his plight in one line: 'Love's a bitch, Duck.'

In Pretty in Pink, what is the name of Steff's girlfriend, leader of the 'richie' girls who torment Andie?

Benny Hanson, played by Kate Vernon, mocks Andie's thrift-shop clothes in class and later rounds on Blane at Steff's party for bringing her along.

Who did Molly Ringwald say Pretty in Pink's Duckie was based on?

A gay pal of hers, her best friend in those years, whom she got a job on the set as a production assistant at 20; theirs, she says, was always 'an extremely nonromantic relationship'.

Which studio released Pretty in Pink?

Paramount Pictures made it the studio's first wide release of 1986, opening on about 800 screens at the end of February; a week later it was the most popular film in America.

Why does Pretty in Pink's Andie go to prom alone?

To show she's unbroken: Andie says she just wants them to know they didn't break her, then sets off for the prom without a date in a dress she has made from two.

Which X-Men producer earlier produced Pretty in Pink?

Lauren Shuler Donner, billed then as Lauren Shuler, already knew Hughes: he had written Mr. Mom, her first feature as a producer, three years earlier.

Which 1987 film from the same writer and director replayed the Pretty in Pink triangle with the genders swapped?

Some Kind of Wonderful swaps the roles, with Eric Stoltz as the working-class artist and Mary Stuart Masterson as his tomboy best friend; one reviewer dubbed it 'Pretty in Blue', to its director's dismay.

Which Smiths song appears on the Pretty in Pink soundtrack?

The Smiths' 'Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want' is on the soundtrack; the Dream Academy's instrumental cover of the same song turned up in Ferris Bueller's Day Off that year.

Which Echo & the Bunnymen song was recorded specifically for Pretty in Pink?

'Bring On the Dancing Horses' was written for the film and first appeared on the band's compilation Songs to Learn & Sing, months ahead of the soundtrack album.

Which band performs 'Positively Lost Me' on screen in Pretty in Pink yet has no song on its soundtrack album?

The Rave-Ups owed the spot to Molly Ringwald, a fan whose sister was dating their singer, Jimmer Podrasky; the soundtrack album still left the band off.

Which record label released the Pretty in Pink soundtrack album in 1986?

A&M Records was also OMD's American label, and was so keen to cash in on the soundtrack's biggest hit that it pressed the band for a new album within months.

The prom in Pretty in Pink was filmed in the ballroom of which landmark hotel?

The Biltmore's ballroom hosted the first prom shoot; when the ending was rewritten, the room was rebuilt on a soundstage and the whole finale restaged in a single day.

Which critic called Pretty in Pink 'slight and vapid, with the consistency of watery Jello'?

Pauline Kael of The New Yorker added that the film 'isn't about teenagers' at all, but closer to a pre-teen's idea of what being a teenager will be like.

What is the name of the nightclub where Andie takes Blane on their first date in Pretty in Pink?

Cats is where Duckie usually waits outside, barred by the bouncer; on the night of the date Iona gets him in by claiming he is her son, and he kisses her to make Andie jealous.

What car does Andie drive in Pretty in Pink?

Andie's Volkswagen Karmann Ghia is pink like her bedroom and her clothes, and old: parked among the rich kids' expensive cars and motorbikes, it marks her out before she says a word.

Which band's 2004 hit '1985' lists Pretty in Pink among the 'classics' its heroine has seen?

Bowling for Soup took '1985' to No. 23 in the US, but the song was a hand-me-down: the band SR-71 had recorded it first, to no notice, and its singer passed it on two months later.

Which future star of Bound and Face/Off has a bit part as one of the rich girls in Pretty in Pink?

Gina Gershon appears in gym class with the rich girls, credited simply as 'Girl friend'; the bit part was her break, nine years before Showgirls.

Which of Frank Zappa's children appears in Pretty in Pink as Andie's friend Simon?

Dweezil Zappa was dating Molly Ringwald when he filmed his cameo as Simon, one of the friends Andie sounds out about going out with a rich boy.

Which singer-songwriter's 'Left of Center' featured on the Pretty in Pink soundtrack?

Suzanne Vega wrote it with Steve Addabbo a year before 'Luka' took her into the American top three; Joe Jackson's piano part earned him billing on the single, which went out as 'Suzanne Vega featuring Joe Jackson'.

What did the 1986 re-recording of 'Pretty in Pink' achieve that the original had not?

UK top 20: the film version climbed to No. 18 where the 1981 single had stalled at 43, though in America it stopped one place short of the top 40.

Which Hughes film gave Molly Ringwald her breakout role two years before Pretty in Pink?

Sixteen Candles cast her as Samantha Baker, whose family forgets her sixteenth birthday; Hughes wrote Pretty in Pink for her right after finishing it.

Which magazine put Molly Ringwald on its cover in May 1986, after Pretty in Pink?

Time gave her its cover of 26 May 1986 after Pretty in Pink reached No. 1 at the box office; she had turned 18 only ten days before the film opened.

Pretty in Pink's director married which actress after casting her in his next film?

Lea Thompson, Back to the Future's Lorraine, played the popular girl in his next film; they married in 1989, and their daughters Madelyn and Zoey both became actresses.

In Pretty in Pink, what does Duckie say 'Blane' sounds like instead of a name?

A major appliance: Duckie spits the line out mid-argument on the night of Andie's first date, moments before warning her that, when it all goes wrong, this once he won't be there.

Which OMD song, written for Pretty in Pink's original ending, was dropped when the finale was reshot?

'Goddess of Love' was written for the original ending; once that changed, Hughes felt it no longer fit, and OMD rewrote it for The Pacific Age.

What change to Blane did John Hughes make so that Pretty in Pink's reshot ending would work?

He comes to the prom alone: in the first cut Blane had another date on his arm, and Hughes saw that turning up solo showed he had chosen Andie over his friends.

Which New Order song was recorded for the Pretty in Pink soundtrack?

Shellshock is the only one of three New Order pieces in the film to make the album; the instrumental that plays while Andie sews her prom dress, 'Thieves Like Us', was left off.

Danny Hutton, whose band covers 'Wouldn't It Be Good' on the Pretty in Pink soundtrack, once sang lead in which group?

Three Dog Night was Hutton's own idea, a band built around three lead singers; two decades on, his Hitters remade Nik Kershaw's British hit for the film.

Where do Andie and Blane finally kiss at the end of Pretty in Pink?

After Duckie tells her to go after him, Andie finds Blane in the parking lot outside the prom and they kiss as OMD's prom song plays.