Forty years after its theatrical release, Pretty in Pink remains one of the defining coming of age films of the 1980s and another enduring chapter in the legacy of legendary Chicago filmmaker John Hughes.
Released on February 28, 1986, Pretty in Pink starred Molly Ringwald, Andrew McCarthy, Jon Cryer, Annie Potts, Harry Dean Stanton and James Spader. Directed by Howard Deutch, written and executive produced by John Hughes and the first of four Hughes films executive produced by Michael Chinich.
The film explored class divisions, first love and teenage identity through the story of Andie Walsh (Molly Ringwald), a high school senior navigating romance across social lines.
A Chicago story, even without Chicago
Pretty in Pink has always felt like a Chicago movie, even though it wasn’t filmed in Chicago.
Like many of Hughes’ stories, the film is set in the fictional Chicago suburb of Shermer, Illinois, the recurring setting that became synonymous with Hughes’ work. Shermer was inspired by Chicago’s North Shore communities, particularly Northbrook, where Hughes lived. Budget considerations ultimately moved production to Southern California, making Pretty in Pink one of the few Hughes classics set in suburban Chicago but filmed elsewhere.
Inspired by a song
The screenplay also has an interesting origin. Hughes reportedly conceived the story after Molly Ringwald introduced him to The Psychedelic Furs’ song “Pretty in Pink.”
Inspired by both the title and Ringwald herself, Hughes wrote the screenplay specifically for the actress shortly after completing Sixteen Candles.
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The ending rewritten by test audiences
The film almost ended very differently. Originally, John Hughes wrote Pretty in Pink so that Andie (Ringwald) ended up with Duckie (Jon Cryer), her quirky, devoted best friend who had secretly loved her all along. Hughes believed it was the more emotionally satisfying ending because Duckie had stood by her from the beginning.
When the movie was screened for preview audiences, however, the reaction was unexpectedly strong. While viewers adored Duckie, they didn’t believe Andie was romantically interested in him and felt it would seem forced if she suddenly chose him at the end. Instead, audiences overwhelmingly wanted Andie to end up with Blane (Andrew McCarthy), despite the social barriers that had defined their relationship throughout the story.
The response was convincing enough that Hughes and director Howard Deutch agreed to rewrite and reshoot the film’s prom finale. The original ending was abandoned, Andie and Blane became the couple, and Duckie was given a hopeful final moment when another girl catches his eye at the dance.
The reshoot also created an unexpected piece of movie history. The original ending featured OMD’s Goddess of Love, but once the finale changed, the song no longer fit. Hughes asked Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark to write a new song specifically for the revised ending. The result was If You Leave, which became one of the band’s biggest international hits and is now inseparable from Pretty in Pink.
The film is often cited as one of Hollywood’s best examples of preview audiences fundamentally changing a movie’s ending and, in the process, helping create one of the most memorable finales of the 1980s.
A defining soundtrack
Pretty in Pink helped define the soundtrack driven filmmaking that became a Hughes trademark.
The soundtrack featured music by The Psychedelic Furs, The Smiths, New Order, Echo & the Bunnymen, INXS and OMD, blending alternative and new wave music with the emotions and social tensions of the story.
The music became part of the film’s identity rather than simply accompanying it, and the soundtrack remains one of the most recognizable collections of songs associated with a 1980s teen film.
A legacy that endures
Four decades later, the film continues to resonate with new audiences, a testament to John Hughes’ remarkable ability to capture the awkwardness, uncertainty, heartbreak and hope of adolescence in stories that remain as relatable today as they were in 1986.
