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John Hughes Will Receive His Own Tribute During the Oscars

by Ethan Anderton
February 17, 2010
Source: Deadline

While some find the Oscars show hard to endure in itself, for me, the most heart wrenching portion of the program is seeing the montage of all the cinematic greats we've lost over the past year. It inspires sad, yet fond memories of the times we spent enjoying them in front of or behind the camera. One such loss will be isolated from the usual "in memoriam" clips as Deadline Hollywood reports that the late filmmaker John Hughes will receive his own special tribute with film clips and cast members who've worked with him including hosts Steve Martin (Planes, Trains & Automobiles) and Alec Baldwin (She's Having a Baby).

This doesn't mean that Hughes is necessarily anymore important or worthy of a tribute, but because of the presence of talent who have worked with Hughes at the ceremony (besides dozens of actors and actresses, AMPAS President Tom Sherak and Oscar producer Bill Mechanic also worked with Hughes) the time and place is appropriate and almost necessary. After all the outpouring of talent speaking wonderful words about Hughes after his death, I'm sure this will be a very difficult tribute to get through for everyone involved in it.

Hughes' passing is one of the most hard hitting deaths I've ever experienced as far as an inspiration in life. I grew up watching his films like Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Sixteen Candles, Planes, Trains & Automobiles and The Breakfast Club, in addition to many films he wrote like Home Alone, the first three National Lampoon's Vacation flicks and Pretty in Pink. The man is a legend and he shaped my movie tastes in my younger years.

Last year I had the pleasure of attending a tribute screening of Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Planes, Trains & Automobiles at the New Beverly in Los Angeles with Jeffrey Jones (Principal Edward Rooney), Edie McClurg (Grace the secretary), Lyman Ward (Tom Bueller), and Cindy Pickett (Katie Bueller) all in attendance and they all spoke so fondly of Hughes. Did you know that Hughes wrote Ferris Bueller in only six days? Well don't you feel inadequate! I'm certainly looking forward to and also dreading this tribute when it airs March 7th during the Academy Awards. And feel free to remember John Hughes in the comments below.

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17 Comments

WELL DESERVING.

People's Champ 3D on Feb 17, 2010

Even across the other side of the world in Australia, Hughes's work struck a cord with 80's youth. Another dreamer we will always remember.

Cisco on Feb 17, 2010

I love Hughes, dont get me wrong, but whose to say that one person alone is deserving of more of a tribute. I personally would enjoy a solo David Caradine or Edward Woodward tribute over Hughes. Special treatment always bugs me. On that note, although this is off topic, whats the deal with no more honorary oscar presented during the show? No more musical presentations? Shankman is throwing into question the dignity and relevance of people that the oscars were designed to celebrate. I suggest anyone as aggravated as me annoy the hell out of Shankman on twitter and hope for change.

Al on Feb 17, 2010

i'm with #3. The tribute is nice, but what about the other past performers who had died and didnt get their tributes.

Gabe the Accuser on Feb 17, 2010

A agree but Hughes still deserves a tribute, no question!

roke on Feb 18, 2010

With all due respect to Mr. Hughes, his family and his fans: HE DOES NOT DESERVE THIS TYPE OF TRIBUTE. There are only two reasons for this: His colleagues are involved at the Oscars this year AND it's ploy to get ratings. I don't think John Hughes' work is nowhere near the achievements of Robert Altman, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, Eric Rohmer, Ingmar Bergman, Michelangelo Antonioni, etc. They're filmmakers whose contributions to film is FAR, FAR, FAR more important and significant than John Hughes. And those filmmakers did NOT get a seperate tribute. If you honestly think John Hughes OBJECTIVELY deserves a seperate tribute, I doubt you know much about cinema.

Irvin on Feb 18, 2010

#6 - True.

d1rEct on Feb 18, 2010

It's abit to late for atribute to John Hughes when he is not here to resieve it even though i like John Hughes they should have given it to him a few years ago instead of wating all this time.

Cineprog on Feb 18, 2010

i don't know... there are certainly other filmmakers who were technically and artistically better, but i think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who reached the teen audience like hughes did. and i'm talking REAL teenagers; not the american pie/gossip girl/abercrombie ideals of what teen life is like. in this regard, he was truly the best there ever was. anyone who has learned to appreciate "the greats" didn't start out loving movies because they watched "rashomon" or "seven samurai" as a child. and they certainly weren't sneaking in to see the ingmar bergman film festival in hopes of seeing the best of what european filmmakers had to offer. my point is, everyone has to start somewhere in their movie watching life and who better to get us started than john hughes? hughes words spoke to teens as a peer; not as an authoritative figure. he made the complexity of our youth understandable and relatable while also being VERY entertaining... how valuable is that? john hughes nailed what it was like to be young, and that's where each one of us comes from. before you can competently discuss the cinematography in "chinatown," you need to be able to appreciate the humor and sophisticated wordplay of a character like long duk dong. everyone with a love of film knows that altman, bergman, kirosawa, etc. were these great auteurs, and believe me when i say that they have been fellated plenty by their peers... hughes, on the other hand disappeared (by his own choice) and now that he's gone, people in the industry are probably finally realizing exactly what he meant to them and the movie industry as a whole. he inspired many who followed him, and that's what great artists do.

Fry, Cameron on Feb 18, 2010

"my point is, everyone has to start somewhere in their movie watching life and who better to get us started than john hughes?" I was teenager during the 1990's so my love for film originated with "Pulp Fiction", not "The Breakfast Club" or "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (two films of his I have yet to see and frankly, have very little interest in seeing). I've seen "Sixteen Candles" (which I thought was just okay), "Uncle Buck" (which I thought was just meh) and "Curly Sue" (which I hated). I've also seen the "Home Alone" movies when I was little kid which I found entertaining (but I outgrew them). None of these films particularly influenced or inspired me to see more films. "john hughes nailed what it was like to be young, and that's where each one of us comes from." Francois Truffaut did it better in "The 400 Blows", I think.

Irvin on Feb 18, 2010

FYI: Roger Corman, Lauren Bacall and Gordon Willis all received Honorary Oscars this year but a billion people wouldn't know it because they received their Oscars and made their acceptance speeches in a seperate non-televised ceremony (Though their acceptance speeches were posted online but who the hell is gonna see that except those who knew about it and truly wanted to see it?). Those three people's contributions to film are also far more significant than John Hughes and THEY didn't get their moment of glory in front of a billion people. They'd be lucky if they were mentioned for more than a few seconds during the Oscar telecast. Phooey!

Irvin on Feb 18, 2010

so, is Tarantino your favorite director then (or at least one you remember fondly from your youth)? how lucky you are to have him alive and still making films! it sounds like those, like yourself, who take film very seriously recognize the true "artists" and have found their own way to honor them – such as searching out the online posts of their acceptance speeches. their films will live on forever and will always be studied by future filmmakers; that's how they are honored. hughes movies are infinitely less complex, but are still very entertaining (for the casual movie watcher). and a general rule is you shouldn't criticize a movie (or a director) until you've seen it ("breakfast club" "ferris bueller"). everyone has different opinions, and that's fine but you can't expect to be taken seriously in a discussion about a director when you choose to remain ignorant and haven't seen two of his defining movies. "curley sue" is hardly his best effort and certainly not a hughes movie i would've recommended seeing before other films of his. but your opinion is your opinion (i.e. "400 blows") and you have the right to state as much. enjoy the oscars!

Fry, Cameron on Feb 19, 2010

I wasn't criticizing John Hughes or his movies. I was criticizing the choice of giving him a seperate tribute at the Oscars which I feel is more of a case of nepotism (Bill Mechanic and Academy president Tom Sherak worked with him and were friends with him) and a ploy to get bigger ratings rather than honoring him based on merit. This is especially egregious since they jettisoned the Honorary Oscar presentations to a seperate non-televised ceremony. This is unfortunate because as a kid and I was just starting to get into film, the Honorary Oscars is when I first heard of Michelangelo Antonioni, Deborah Kerr, Satyajit Ray, etc. And I would later seek out their films. Now, people like Lauren Bacall, Gordon Willis and Roger Corman whose cinematic contributions are far more valuable and important than anything John Hughes has ever done do not get a chance to make their acceptance speeches and be shown a tribute reel in their honor. John Hughes is not even the most important filmmaker who passed away. Eric Rohmer, one of the pioneers of the French New Wave, made beautiful films in his career. He passed away earlier this year. In terms of his films and his contribution to cinema, he probably deserves a tribute reel way ahead of John Hughes. He needs it too since it will allow more people to check out his films especially those young, budding film buffs. John Hughes is already popular. He doesn't need any more publicity for people to be aware of his films. I feel the Oscars, as much as it is a popularity contest, needs really to encourage learning about film and film discovery, not just ejaculating over what's popular.

Irvin on Feb 20, 2010

Upon learning that the Academy will be organising an additional tribute to John Hughes actually brought tears to my eyes. I understand those who feel no one should be singled out. I can empathise because I am really bothered by the applause from the audience during the 'In Memoriam' clips - for what it's worth I believe everyone should be silent, not cheering for their favourite. For those that are upset by John's tribute, I'm sorry that you wont be able to appreciate this for the wonderful gesture that it is. John Hughes' work gave a voice to and shaped my generation and the generations that follow. People are naming others that they feel have more right to be singled out, although I would argue that the names listed in the comments here and their body of work are not as widely recognised, nor had such a phenomenal impact on an entire generation.

Mandy on Mar 1, 2010

"People are naming others that they feel have more right to be singled out, although I would argue that the names listed in the comments here and their body of work are not as widely recognised, " Which is why they SHOULD be singled out. "nor had such a phenomenal impact on an entire generation." Eric Rohmer's work DID have an impact on an entire generation. It's just that most of them don't live in the Middle-America and have a corporate sponsor manufacturing hype around them. With all due respect, quite frankly most film fans of my generation and younger (born in the late 70's onwards) don't really give all much crap towards John Hughes. Frankly, I think he spoke mostly only to older Gen-X'ers.

Irvin on Mar 1, 2010

Irvin, to preface your sentence with "With all due respect" and then follow it with "... don't really give a crap" is so fucking patronising. Your tone insults my intelligence and your content is totally dismissive of my opinion. Irvin, we are of the same generation - I too was born in the late 70's. You haven't even seen the work that had such a heavy impact me so I don't understand why you are so passionately against him??? Get yourself educated on the subject matter, then perhaps you may have something valid to contribute.

Mandy on Mar 2, 2010

I'm not passionately against John Hughes. I'm passionately against John Hughes getting a seperate tribute ESPECIALLY when Lauren Bacall, Gordon Willis and Roger Corman DO NOT get to have tribute reels and acceptance speeches in the real ceremony in front of a billion people AND filmmakers with far more relevance and importance to the art of filmmaking did not get a seperate tribute when they passed away. The ONLY reasons John Hughes is getting a seperate tribute at the Oscars at all is because of nepotism and ratings and most CERTAINLY not solely because of artistic merit. It's great that John Hughes' films had an impact on you and certainly had an impact on a huge chunk of the audience. But again with all due respect, you're being naive if you think that's the #1 reason John Hughes is getting a seperate tribute which I maintain he does NOT deserve based on merit or even influence. Most film geeks I hang out with don't hold John Hughes to a very high regard as a filmmaker (Even people I know who love his work agrees with me that he does not deserve such a treatment) and his work which I've seen, I wasn't very impressed with so I have very little desire to see "The Breakfast Club" or "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". I will, eventually, but I'm not in a hurry.

Irvin on Mar 3, 2010

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