Some Kind of Wonderful - The Movie

Trivia We have restricted the trivia page to trivia about the movie itself. Therefore, details such as "Lea Thompson later married director Howard Deutch", or "Chynna Phillips was in the group Wilson Phillips" we don't consider to be relevant. Further information about the movie, including answers to some common questions, can be found in the novel and script sections. Production trivia John Hughes wrote the script with Eric Stoltz in mind for the role of Keith. Martha Coolidge had originally signed to direct this movie but was replaced by Howard Deutch four days before production started. By this point, all filming locations had been scouted, the sets decorated, scenes storyboarded, and the cast hired. Kim Delaney was cast as Amanda Jones, and Kyle MacLachlan as Hardy Jenns. Howard Deutch (who replaced Martha Coolidge as director), was ultimately given this movie as a gift. Howard Deutch and John Hughes had a falling out following the Pretty in Pink alternative ending. However, after his box office success of 1986, John Hughes conceded that Howard Deutch was correct to shoot the alternative ending of Pretty in Pink (Andy with Blane), rather than try and find a way of getting the original version to work (Andy with Duckie). The two worked out their differences, and as a result, John Hughes gave Some Kind of Wonderful to Howard Deutch as a form of reconciliation. Molly Ringwald was originally offered the role of Amanda Jones but refused it. Kim Delaney was originally cast as Amanda Jones, but was subsequently fired (along with Kyle MacLachlan and then director Martha Coolidge) when Howard Deutch became director. At the recommendation of Eric Stoltz, John Hughes and Howard Deutch then hired Lea Thompson. That is Mary Stuart Masterson playing the drums. In an interview in 1988 she mentions fulfilling a longtime dream: to study the drums with Billy Moore. Apparently, Lea Thompson felt see was not attractive enough to play Amanda. In the production handbook for Some Kind of Wonderful, she is quoted as saying: "I felt too many things were dependent on her (Amanda) physical beauty and I didn't feel I was beautiful enough to carry that off. Thus I felt my character should have more inner beauty". The scenes at the high school were filmed during the summer break of 1986, and most of the extras were students at the time. As John Hughes had previously done with Pretty In Pink, he named Some Kind of Wonderful after a song title. The song was first recorded by the Drifters in 1961. Around the time of the movie's production, the Blow Monkeys also recorded a version of this song that ended up on their 1987 album She Was Only a Grocer's Daughter. This led some to speculate that this version may have been intended for the movie, but for whatever reason was rejected by John Hughes. It would appear that the cast members were asked to return to re-shoot a section of the party scene, either after production had finished, or very late into the production. The script change occurs after Keith tackles Hardy at the bottom of the stairs. From this point on, there are a number of extras that are different, and the friend restraining Keith by his right arm changes actors (see the errors and goofs page for additional information). This is reinforced by a couple of points: The cars parked in the driveway at the beginning of the scene, are gone when Keith and Amanda leave the house (the original version of this scene has all the guests leaving long before Amanda and Keith do). The front door is still on its hinges when Keith and Amanda leave (Duncan's gang break the door in the movie version). Alternative versions Three alternative scenes appear in the TV only version of this movie: A mellowed version of the night club scene. Alternative dialogue between Keith and Laura at the end of the scene shortly before the date. Alternative dialogue at Amanda's house where Keith mentions that the car is a classic Jag, rather than the line "...see I figured your ass was too precious for vinyl". It has been reported that the original French dubbed version of this movie is lost. A re-dubbed version was undertaken for the DVD release. In the re-dubbed version Watts is called Sharleen. The original French subtitles do remain however, where Watts is still called Watts. In the school scene shortly after Watts has parked the car, the original French dubbed version replaced the reference to "Mr Sunshine" with "John Lennon". Character trivia The three main characters have names relating to The Rolling Stones: Amanda Jones, named after the song of the same name (which is featured twice in the film), a drummer called Watts, and a character called Keith. Whilst all viewers of the film will know Mary Stuart Masterson's character as Watts. Her character is officially referred to as Drummer Girl, not Watts. This occurs in the script, the novel, literature released by Paramount Studios, and the many interviews with the cast and filmmakers. One major exception exists: this being the closing credits. According to the original script, Watts' first name is Susan. Dialogue changes to the final scene removed this information from being revealed. In the original script, the counsellor Mrs Gale (Patricia Gaul) is male - Mr Gale. The original script (scene 128) provides a brief desciption of how John Hughes originally invisioned Amanda's best friend Shayne: "the tall, elegant black girl". This movie credits an actor (Christine Spiotta) as Waitress. No waitress is featured in the movie, only waiters (which incidentally aren't credited). However, there is a waitress featured in the version of the restaurant scene found in the original script. This original version is not the version that eventually made it to the movie. The character Ray (Scott Coffey) wears the same shirt, even though his scenes appear days apart in the movie. In the credits of this movie, there is a Pamela Anderson listed as a party guest. This led many to believe this movie featured a young Pamela Anderson of Baywatch fame. This is not the case, it is a different Pamela Anderson. Three actors are credited by their character's names, but these names are never actually mentioned in the movie: Chynna Phillips (Mia) - This character's name is disclosed in the scene between Amanda and Hardy at the lockers. The line delivered by Hardy mentioning Mia's name has been removed. Laura Leigh Hughes (Holly). Patricia Gaul (Mrs Gale) - This character's name is disclosed in a scene between Duncan and Cliff after his meeting with Mrs Gale. This scene was omitted from the movie. Similarly, three actors are not credited with character names, but these names are mentioned in the movie: Elias Koteas (Duncan) is credited as Skinhead. Lee Garlington (Mrs Albright) is credited as Gym Instructor. Kenneth Kimmins (Mr Sauner) is credited as Detention Teacher. Filming locations Just as it appears in the movie, the actual filming locations for the three residences (Keith's house, Watts' house, and Amanda's house) are all within walking distance. During the scene where Keith gets a ride home with Shayne and Amanda, Amanda gives directions to Keith's house: "It's round the corner from...it's under the bridge from my house". From the actual filming locations, Keith's house is in fact around the corner, and under a bridge (the 110 freeway) from Amanda's. You can find these addresses in the filming locations page. Miscellaneous trivia On the jacket of the early 1987 VHS release of this movie in the United Kingdom, it misspells Craig Sheffer's character's name as "Hardy Jones". It is also reported that there is a version released with the character's name misspelt as "Hardy Jens" (with one n). Watts' Mini is a MKI (built between 1959 and 1961), model 850, with a full length webasto sunroof. The Californian licence plate of Shayne's Suzuki Samarai is "2BDI174". The Californian licence plate of Hardy's Corvette is "1PVX332". The Californian licence plate of the Mark VII Jaguar used in the date scenes is "1JEB580". The Californian licence plate of the car Keith is working on during the garage scenes is "TWR232". Music trivia The song (Turn To The Sky) sung by The March Violets during the night club scene differs from the version found on the soundtrack. It has an alternative first verse, and then repeats the chorus. The lyrics to this alternate version are available in the soundtrack section. The March Violets' record company at the time, London Records, were approached directly by John Hughes. He had heard the song (Turn To The Sky) on the radio and decided he needed it in his movie. Both The March Violets and Flesh for Lulu (who's songs feature in the film) performed at the film's after premier party at The Palace, in Los Angeles. The two bands were on tour together at the time. Movie connections During the restaurant scene, Watts' line to the car parkers "Mess with the bull, you get the horns" is said to be a reference to the similar line used by Principle Richard Vernon (Paul Gleason) in John Hughes' "The Breakfast Club". Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson) even uses the same hand gesture. Subtitles trivia There are some incorrect, and somewhat amusing errors in the English subtitles of this movie (are the subtitler's not given a script for reference?). Some of the better ones are: Duncan's line "And while we're on the topic of the double breasted party machine", is subtitled as "And on the topic of double-breasted parties". Hardy's line "Amanda'll blow in with her guy", is subtitled as "Amanda alone with her guy". The subtitled lyrics of the song during the night club scene are wrong. After the scene in the restaurant, when Keith and Amanda are walking back to the car in the car park, some improvisation dialogue occurs between the two of them. The subtitles have this as Keith saying "I gave him ten", and Amanda replying with "A buck". Amusingly, this is not what the dialogue is at all. Whilst a small section is inaudible, the dialogue is more along the lines of "No, he had a chin", "One chin", "Yeah, he's a boxer", especially considering Keith (Eric Stoltz) is actually pointing to his chin during the scene.