Friday, November 6, 2009

Visiting a Movie Hotel

Richard Roeper in his August 10th column in the Chicago Sun-Times, talked about the ultra-funny movie starring two of my favorites, John Candy and Steve Martin, 1987's "Planes, Trains and Automobiles."

This is the one they arrive at after one calamity after another and they need a place to rest. Steve Martin's credit cards have been burned beyond recognition, but he talks his way into a room for $7 and a really nice watch.

As id the case often in films by director John Hughes, who had just died back then, many of the scenes were set in Illinois and that motel, the El Rancho, is still open in Gurnee to this day.

"The place has not changed," says Thomas Krawczynski who lives and works there. "The room depicted in the movie is almost exactly the same, as is the motel office. Andsome of the residents who live here could have been in the Hughes film."

Roeper closes with: "Sure. The Del Griffiths of the world are still out there on the road, selling shower rings and telling stories."

Two of the scenes were also filmed in Woodstock, Illinois, as was most of the "Groundhog Day" movie. Also, the Braidwood Motel in Braidwood, Illinois, right on old Route 66 and near the Polka-Dot Drive-In, was used in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles."

One Hilarious Movie. --Da Coot

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