Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Factual error: At the beginning of the movie, Steve Martin is trying to catch a cab to LaGuardia at about 5:30PM. In the movie, it's still daylight, whereas in reality, NYC is pitch black by that time of day - the sun sets at about 4:30PM in late November.

Factual error: If they are really in the Wichita, Kansas airport, listen carefully to the airport announcements (real faintly in the background). When they say for "Mary Ellen" to meet her party upstairs, there's a slight problem with that. There is no upstairs in the Wichita airport. (00:12:53)

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Suggested correction: There is an upstairs. You enter the terminal on the ground floor and go up for security and the gates.

Factual error: At the very beginning of the film during the boardroom scene, Steve Martin checks his plane ticket. Departure time on ticket from NYC is 6:00pm. Arrival time to Chicago is 6:45pm. Travel time from NYC to Chicago is approximately 2.5 hours. Arrival time after time zone change should be approx. 7:25pm, not 6:45 pm. (01:31:25)

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Suggested correction: Unsure about plane travel time in the 80s. But it currently takes 90 min to travel from DC to Chicago, and the airlines usually add a buffer. So this trip would most likely arrive at 6:30 CST, and a 15 min buffer time would still be reasonable (6:45 pm). For example, my plane tickets usually say estimated flight time of 1:45 or 2 hrs, but when the air currents are normal, it takes 90 min. DC is slightly further south than Chicago, while NYC is slightly further north.

Suggested correction: Considering from Los Angeles-Chicago is a 4-hour flight, and LA-New York is a 5-hour flight, I don't see how it could take 2.5 hours between New York and Chicago. Seems like 1-1½ hours is more accurate.

Factual error: In Wichita, when Del and Neal are getting picked up by Owen at the Braidwood Inn, there is a mountain right behind Owen. There are no mountains in Kansas.

Factual error: In the scene at the Braidwood Inn, after Neal shakes Owen's hand and the shot is of Owen with the freeway in the background, you can see a Jays Potato Chips truck drive past. The inn is supposedly near Wichita, Kansas. Jays Potato Chips were not sold west of the Mississippi at the time.

bogiehead

Continuity mistake: When John Candy and Steve Martin are travelling from Jefferson City, Missouri to St. Louis they are crossing the Mississippi River to enter downtown St. Louis. This would not have been possible unless the bus driver overshot the entire city and ended up across the river in Illinois.

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Suggested correction: I agree with the original post. However, there could be several possibilities for this scenario: 1. Road closures, 2. Road construction, 3. Accidents, 4. Detours, and 5. Heavy "holiday traffic" could have contributed to the bus having to enter St. Louis from the east despite coming from Kansas in the west.

More mistakes in Planes, Trains & Automobiles

State Trooper: What the hell are you driving here?
Del: We had a small fire last night, but we caught it in the nick of time.
State Trooper: Do you have any idea how fast you were going?
Del: Funny enough, I was just talking to my friend about that. Our speedometer has melted and as a result it's very hard to see with any degree of accuracy exactly how fast we were going.

More quotes from Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Trivia: When Neal's wife is watching TV in bed, she is impossibly viewing the John Hughes film "She's Having a Baby," which didn't even premier in theaters until February of 1988, three months after "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" premiered in November 1987. John Hughes (who directed both films) used his own unreleased "She's Having A Baby" footage/soundtrack and a cameo by Kevin Bacon as teasers for the upcoming 1988 film. There's still some speculation that the plots of the two films actually intersect, and that Kevin Bacon (who is credited as the Taxi-Racer in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles") was playing his character, Jake, from "She's Having a Baby."

Charles Austin Miller

More trivia for Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Question: Del was able to get a rental due to having Neil's card. Then, how was Neil able to get a rental card that eventually got him left in the parking lot if he didn't have a card?

Answer: He had multiple cards. He shows the burnt remains when he tries to rent a room.

Brian Katcher

More questions & answers from Planes, Trains & Automobiles

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