Home Alone (1990): Trivia & Fun Facts Collection – Behind-the-Scenes Stories and Production Secrets

Home Alone(Official) is a family comedy film released in 1990, directed by Chris Columbus and written by John Hughes. For me, it is a memorable work that I watched so much as a child that the VHS tape wore out.

In this article, I would like to compile trivia and tidbits regarding Home Alone. Many people have likely watched it to the point of wearing it out as a Christmas classic, but hidden behind that are surprising production secrets and a history of “what ifs” where the film almost didn’t happen.

*This article is an English translation of the original Japanese article, “【ホーム・アローン(１作目)】雑学＆豆知識集-裏話や制作秘話を紹介-”.

Trivia & Tidbits Collection of Home Alone

The script was written in just “9 days”

The script for Home Alone is known for having been written by John Hughes in a short period of time. Moreover, it is interesting that the finished manuscript is spoken of not just as being fast, but like a “vigorous scribble.”

The good tempo of this work, the barrage of gags, and the acceleration leading up to the grand finale might have been compatible with the momentum of the scriptwriting stage.

Due to budget barriers, the distribution (production structure) was “overturned” once

Actually, this work could not run to the end with the initial structure. The production side hit a major wall regarding the budget, and as a result, the studio holding the work (the axis of distribution) changed.

Because it was an event that occurred due to a monetary difference that makes you think, “Is that all?”, you can realize that the movie could have followed a different history by a “paper-thin” margin.

The “interior” of the house was built in a high school gymnasium, not a real house

The house that became the setting for the movie Home Alone is a house located at 671 Lincoln Avenue, Winnetka, Illinois, and was built in 1920.

At least for us living in Japan, we feel it is a very large house, but the filming of the interior was done on a set built in a different location.

They built a whole two-story set in the gymnasium of New Trier Township High School. The flow design made possible precisely because it was a set might be connected to the “ease of viewing” of the rapid-fire traps in the final stage.

Robert De Niro was a candidate for the role of the burglar, Harry

Speaking of the villains in Home Alone, it is the duo of the short-tempered burglar Harry played by Joe Pesci and the goofy partner Marv played by Daniel Stern, the “Wet Bandits.”

Especially Joe Pesci’s acting, which is comical yet makes you feel a certain madness, is the spice of the work, but actually, at the beginning of the project, the big-name actor Robert De Niro was envisioned for this role.

The production team was looking for a star with “genuine intimidation” for the role of Harry, but De Niro turned down this offer. If he had played it, it might have become a more serious and hard-boiled burglar.

Furthermore, after De Niro’s decline, an offer also went to comedian Jon Lovitz, but he also refused for the reason that he “didn’t want to play a supporting role in a movie where a child is the protagonist.” Later, when the movie recorded a historical hit, Lovitz reportedly expressed regret, saying “Oops.”

https://en.sifrinsight.com/cast-staff-of-home-alone/

John Candy’s fee was only 4

Gus Polinski, the “Polka King of the Midwest,” who kindly gives Kate, Kevin’s mother, a ride to Chicago when she is stranded at the airport. The one playing him is the famous actor John Candy.

He was a close friend of screenwriter John Hughes and a regular who teamed up in Uncle Buck and other works, but his appearance in Home Alone was strictly a “Favor” as a friend.

Therefore, although it is unthinkable given his stardom at the time, it is said that the fee he received was only 414 dollars, which was close to the prescribed minimum wage. This was a lower amount than the movie extras or the pizza delivery boy role.

Even more surprising is that because he participated by sewing through the intervals of a busy schedule, his appearance scenes were shot all at once in a continuous 23-hour endurance shoot. Many of the lines, such as the “story of leaving a child at the funeral home” told in the play, were his ad-libs born amidst exhaustion.

▼ Click here for cast details other than John Candy

https://en.sifrinsight.com/cast-staff-of-home-alone/

The photo of Buzz’s girlfriend is a “boy dressed as a girl”

There is a scene where Kevin rummages through his brother Buzz’s room in the house where the family is gone. There, he finds a “photo of Buzz’s girlfriend” and grimaces saying “Woof!”, which has become a standard laugh point.

The person in the photo is a very charming (or if speaking unkindly, plain) girl, but actually, the person in this photo is the movie art director’s son dressed as a girl and photographed.

Director Chris Columbus judged that “using a photo of a real girl as a role to be laughed at by audiences around the world is too cruel,” so he asked the staff’s son to shoot it. It was a scene where the surprising consideration of the production team was hidden.

The gangster movie “Angels with Filthy Souls” does not exist

The video movie “Angels with Filthy Souls” that Kevin uses to drive away the pizza delivery boy and the burglars. This movie, which spits out the famous line “Keep the change, ya filthy animal!” in black and white footage, is often thought to be a real old movie, but it is a fictional movie made for Home Alone.

The source material is the 1938 movie starring James Cagney, Angels with Dirty Faces, but the footage in the play was newly shot using old shooting equipment and lighting techniques just for this scene.

Because the degree of perfection is so high, it is said that there was no end to people who believed it was a “real classic movie” and searched around rental video stores for many years.

The snow was actually “mashed potatoes”

The beautiful snowy landscape seen in the climax of the movie, the scene where the family returns home, etc. Actually, at the time of filming, there was not enough snow falling in Chicago.

So, what the production team adopted as artificial snow was, surprisingly, dried mashed potato flakes (potato flakes).

This is because, with the technology of the time, potato flakes fluttered down more lightly than plastic pieces and were closer to the texture of snow. However, this had a serious drawback. There was a possibility that it would absorb moisture and discolor over time, or rot and emit a bad odor.

If you imagine that the feet of the beautiful Christmas snowscape were actually covered with a large amount of potatoes, the way you see it might change a little.

Kevin’s “scream” was a fusion of Munch and ad-lib

The scene where Kevin applies aftershave lotion, puts both hands on his cheeks, and screams, which is also on the poster of this movie. This pose is inspired by the famous painting The Scream by Edvard Munch.

Furthermore, the acting itself in this scene was a miraculous take born from Macaulay Culkin’s ad-lib (misunderstanding).

The director’s instruction was the procedure of “apply lotion, take hands off, and then scream,” but Culkin screamed with his hands stuck to his cheeks. This created a strong visual impact like Munch’s painting, and it was decided to be adopted as is.

Kevin’s stuntman was a 30-year-old man

Dangerous action scenes where Kevin slides down the stairs on a sled or escapes to the treehouse on a zip line. The one performing this was naturally not Macaulay Culkin himself, but a stuntman.

The one who served as that stuntman was a man named Larry Nicholas, who was 30 years old at the time.

Because he had a very small physique and his back view and silhouette looked exactly like the 9-year-old Culkin, an adult could pretend to be a child and perform dangerous stunts. Culkin said that when he first met him, he was convinced that he was a child around 13 years old, slightly older than himself.