49 Fun Facts About Pretty in Pink

Who plays Andie Walsh, the film's working-class heroine?

Molly Ringwald plays Andie Walsh; she turned 18 on 18 February 1986, ten days before the film opened, having shot it at 17.

Who wrote the screenplay for Pretty in Pink?

John Hughes wrote the screenplay and was executive producer; he handed directing to a first-timer because he was busy making Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Who directed the film?

Howard Deutch directed Pretty in Pink, his feature debut; he had previously cut trailers, including The Breakfast Club's, and later directed Grumpier Old Men (1995).

Who plays Andie's best friend, Philip 'Duckie' Dale?

Jon Cryer plays Duckie; Ringwald had lobbied for Robert Downey Jr., and Anthony Michael Hall turned the part down to avoid typecasting.

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

Charlie Sheen was considered, but Ringwald persuaded the filmmakers to cast McCarthy instead.

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

James Spader plays Steff McKee, whose hostility stems from Andie having rejected his advances; Spader later won three Emmys for playing lawyer Alan Shore.

Who plays Iona, Andie's quirky thirty-something boss at the record store?

Annie Potts plays Iona; two years earlier she had played receptionist Janine Melnitz in Ghostbusters (1984), and she later starred in Designing Women.

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

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?

Andie works at Trax, the new-wave record store run by Iona; it is where Duckie performs his Otis Redding lip-sync and where Blane comes to ask her out.

In which Chicago suburb does Andie live with her father?

She refuses to let Blane drive her home at first because she does not want him to see the house.

Which band's song gave the film its title?

The Psychedelic Furs' 1981 song gave the film its name after Ringwald introduced Hughes to it; the band re-recorded a less raw version for the opening.

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

'If You Leave' was written in a rush for the reshot prom finale and peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1986, OMD's biggest US hit.

Roughly how long did OMD take to write and record a replacement prom song for Hughes?

OMD wrote and recorded 'If You Leave' in under 24 hours because the band was about to leave on tour; Hughes specified a tempo of 120 BPM to match footage already shot.

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 was the original ending; test audiences rejected it, so a new prom finale pairing her with Blane was shot months after wrap, with Duckie steering her toward him.

Why did the actor playing Blane have to wear a wig for the reshot ending?

He had cut his hair short for a stage play when he was called back months after wrap, so he wears an obvious wig in the reshot prom scene; he had also lost weight for the role.

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

Iona's dress, combined with the one her father bought, becomes Andie's pink prom dress, a creation that has divided fans of the film for decades.

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 the 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?

Andrew Dice Clay, then a little-known stand-up, plays the nightclub bouncer; four years later his act was filling Madison Square Garden.

What is the name of Steff's girlfriend, the leader of the 'richie' girls who torment Andie?

Benny Hanson, played by Kate Vernon, leads the 'richie' girls who snipe at Andie in gym class; Gina Gershon appears as Trombley.

Who did Ringwald say the character of Duckie was based on?

She said they 'had an extremely nonromantic relationship', which is partly why she doubted the original ending.

Which studio released Pretty in Pink?

Paramount Pictures released Pretty in Pink on 28 February 1986 and followed it with Hughes's Ferris Bueller's Day Off that June.

Approximately how much did the film gross in its US theatrical run?

Pretty in Pink grossed about $40.5 million in its US theatrical run, placing it among 1986's 25 highest-grossing films despite opening in late February.

What was the film's budget?

The budget was $9 million; the film opened on 28 February 1986 to about $6.1 million, taking first place at the US box office that weekend.

Who produced Pretty in Pink?

Lauren Shuler Donner produced it, credited as Lauren Shuler; she went on to produce the X-Men films from 2000 onward.

Which 1987 Hughes-Deutch film reworked the Pretty in Pink triangle with the genders swapped?

Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) recasts the triangle with a working-class boy, a rich girl and a tomboy best friend; Ringwald turned down a part in it, feeling it retread her earlier Hughes films.

Which Smiths song appears on the 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 the film?

'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 appears on screen performing 'Positively Lost Me' but has no songs on the soundtrack album?

The Rave-Ups, a Los Angeles band Ringwald was a fan of, perform 'Positively Lost Me' in the club scene, yet none of their songs made the soundtrack album.

On which label was the soundtrack released in February 1986?

A&M Records released the soundtrack in February 1986; its 10 tracks include INXS's 'Do Wot You Do', Suzanne Vega's 'Left of Center' and Belouis Some's 'Round, Round'.

Where did the film hold its premiere on January 29, 1986?

The general release followed a month later.

Which critic called the film 'slight and vapid, with the consistency of watery Jello'?

Even she conceded Ringwald 'carries the movie'.

What grade did CinemaScore audiences give the film?

Rotten Tomatoes has it at 75%, with Metacritic's 56 reflecting the more mixed contemporary reviews.

What car does Andie drive in Pretty in Pink?

Andie drives a pink Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, the beat-up coupe she parks among the richies' far newer cars in the school lot.

Which Bowling for Soup song name-checks the film alongside The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire?

In '1985', an SR-71 song Bowling for Soup took into the charts in 2004, the lyric runs 'she's seen all the classics, she knows every line: Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, even St. Elmo's Fire'.

Which actress, who plays Jena, is one of the two people the film is dedicated to?

Alexa Kenin, who plays Andie's friend Jena, died in September 1985 at 23; the closing dedication pairs her with set decorator Bruce Weintraub, who also died before release.

Which child of a famous avant-garde rock musician appears in the film as Simon?

Dweezil Zappa, son of Frank Zappa, plays Simon; he was an MTV VJ in the mid-1980s and later led the tribute tour Zappa Plays Zappa.

Which artist remixed 'Left of Center' for the soundtrack?

The song was Suzanne Vega's contribution to the album.

What did the 1986 re-recording of the title song peak at on the UK singles chart?

The 1986 re-recording peaked at No. 18 in the UK; the 1981 original had stalled at No. 43, and the new version narrowly missed the US Top 40 at No. 41.

Which Hughes film gave Ringwald her breakout role two years earlier?

Sixteen Candles (1984) was Ringwald's breakout; she played Samantha Baker, whose family forgets her sixteenth birthday.

Which magazine put Ringwald on its cover on May 26, 1986?

Time put Ringwald on its 26 May 1986 cover, hailing her as the face of Hollywood's teen-movie boom; she had turned 18 that February.

Whom did the film's director marry after meeting her on his next Hughes film?

Lea Thompson met the director on his next Hughes film and married him in 1989; their daughters Madelyn and Zoey Deutch are both actresses.

What does Duckie say the name 'Blane' sounds like rather than a name?

Duckie sneers 'His name is Blane? That's a major appliance, that's not a name!' when Andie tells him who has asked her out.

Which OMD song, written for Pretty in Pink's original ending, was dropped when 'If You Leave' replaced it?

'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 worry did Paramount executives have about the film's original Andie-Duckie ending?

Executives worried the ending might seem classist, implying rich and poor cannot mix; Ringwald herself also felt the Andie-Duckie pairing was wrong, and the finale was reshot.

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

'Shellshock', produced with John Robie, is New Order's track on the soundtrack; released as a single in March 1986, it reached No. 28 in the UK.

On the soundtrack, Nik Kershaw's 'Wouldn't It Be Good' is performed by a band fronted by a former singer of which group?

The cover is by the Danny Hutton Hitters, led by Danny Hutton, one of Three Dog Night's three lead singers on hits like 'Joy to the World'.

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.