Home Alone (1990)

November 16, 1990

November 16, 1990

Home Alone is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film directed by Chris Columbus and written and produced by John Hughes. The first film in the Home Alone franchise, the film stars Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, and Catherine O'Hara. Culkin plays Kevin McCallister, a boy who defends his suburban Chicago home from a home invasion by a pair of robbers after his family accidentally leaves him behind on their Christmas vacation to Paris.

Hughes conceived Home Alone while on vacation, with Warner Bros. being originally intended to finance and distribute the film. However, Warner Bros. shut down production after it exceeded its assigned budget. 20th Century Fox assumed responsibilities following secret meetings with Hughes. Columbus and Culkin were hired soon afterwards. Filming took place between February and May 1990 on location across Illinois.

Home Alone premiered in Chicago on November 10, 1990, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 16. While the film's reception was initially mixed, in later years reception has been generally positive, with praise for its cast, humor, and music. Home Alone grossed $476.7 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing live-action comedy until the release of The Hangover Part II (2011), and made Culkin a child star. Moreover, it was the second-highest-grossing film of 1990, behind Ghost. It was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for Culkin, and for the Academy Award for Best Original Score for John Williams, and Best Original Song for "Somewhere in My Memory". Home Alone has since been considered one of the best Christmas films. A sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, was released in 1992.

In 2023, Home Alone was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Storyline

The McCallister family prepares to spend Christmas in Paris, gathering at Kate and Peter's home in Winnetka, a Chicago suburb, on the night before their departure. Kate and Peter's youngest son Kevin is ridiculed by his siblings and cousins due to his immaturity. Kevin inadvertently ruins the family dinner after a scuffle with his oldest brother Buzz, resulting in Kate sending him up to the attic. Frustrated with Kate for allowing the rest of the family to pick on him, Kevin wishes that his family would disappear. During the night, heavy winds create a power outage, disabling the alarm clocks and causing the family to oversleep. In the confusion and rush to get to the airport, Kevin is accidentally left behind.

Kevin wakes to find the house empty and the family cars still in the garage, unaware that they had rented vans to take them to the airport. Thinking that his wish has come true, he is overjoyed with his newfound freedom. Later, Kevin becomes frightened by his eccentric next-door neighbor, "Old Man" Marley, rumored to be a serial killer nicknamed the "South-Bend Shovel Slayer" who murdered his own family. The McCallister home is soon stalked by the "Wet Bandits", Harry and Marv, a pair of burglars who have been breaking into other vacant houses in the neighborhood. Kevin tricks them into thinking that his family is still home, forcing them to postpone their plans to rob the McCallister house.

Kate realizes mid-flight that Kevin was left behind, and upon arrival in Paris, the family discovers that all flights for the next two days are booked, and that the phone lines are still down back home in Chicago. Peter and the rest of the family stay at his brother Rob's apartment in Paris while Kate stays at the airport. Unable to book a flight to Chicago, Kate convinces a couple to trade tickets with her. When she eventually arrives in the US, she meets Gus Polinski, the lead member of a traveling polka band, who offers to let her travel with them to Chicago in a moving van on the way to Milwaukee.

On Christmas Eve, Harry and Marv finally realize that only Kevin is in the McCallister home, and Kevin overhears them discussing plans to break into the house that night. He starts to miss his family and asks the local Santa Claus impersonator if he could bring them back for Christmas. Kevin attends a church choir performance, eventually re-encountering Marley, who proves the rumors about himself to be false. Marley points out his granddaughter in the choir and mentions he has never met her since she is the daughter of his estranged son. Kevin suggests he try to reconcile with his son.

Kevin returns home and rigs the house with handmade booby traps. Harry and Marv break in, spring the traps, and suffer various injuries. Kevin calls the police and lures the duo into a vacant neighboring house that they had previously broken into. Harry and Marv ambush Kevin and prepare to get their revenge, but Marley intervenes and knocks them out with his snow shovel. The police arrive and arrest Harry and Marv, having identified all the houses that they broke into due to Marv's habit of flooding them.

On Christmas Day, Kevin is initially disappointed to find that his family is still gone. However, Kate arrives home and they reconcile. The rest of the family then returns after waiting in Paris for a direct flight to Chicago. Kevin keeps silent about his encounter with Harry and Marv, although Peter finds Harry's knocked-out gold tooth. Kevin then happily watches Marley reuniting with his family.

Also See

Movie Trailer

  • Home Alone (1990) (Trailers)

Sound Effects Used

Image Gallery

Audio Samples


External Links