Adventures in Babysitting (1987)

Director:

Chris Columbus

Writer:

David Simkins (written by)

Release Date:

1 July 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy

Tagline:

She thought babysitting was easy money - until she started hanging out with the Andersons.

Plot:

Chris has a big night out planned when her boyfriend cancels on her. She agrees to babysit for a pre-teen girl and a pubescent boy...

Plot Keywords:

Jeep | One Night | Babysitting | Chase | Blues Music

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Mon. May 26	5:00 PM	OXYGEN
Tue. May 27	1:00 AM	OXYGEN

Cast

Elisabeth Shue	...	Chris Parker
Maia Brewton	...	Sara Anderson
Keith Coogan	...	Brad Anderson
Anthony Rapp	...	Daryl Coopersmith
Calvin Levels	...	Joe Gipp
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Dawson / 'Thor' (as Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio)
Penelope Ann Miller	...	Brenda
George Newbern	...	Dan Lynch
John Ford Noonan	...	Handsome John Pruitt
Bradley Whitford	...	Mike Todwell
Ron Canada	...	Graydon
John Davis Chandler	...	Bleak (as John Chandler)
Dan Ziskie	...	Mr. Anderson
Allan Aarons	...	Janitor #1
Marcia Bennett	...	Nurse

Also Known As:

A Night on the Town (UK)

Runtime:

USA:102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

UK:15 (TV rating) | UK:PG (original rating) | Australia:M | Finland:K-10 | Iceland:L | Sweden:11 | UK:12 (video re-rating) (2003) | UK:15 (video rating) (1988) | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Silver Screen Partners III

Trivia:

In both this film and in Back to the Future Part II (1989), Elisabeth Shue plays a character who faints and says the line, "I had the worst nightmare!" upon waking up again.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The story on Donald Campbell in Sally Williamson's typewriter refers to Coniston as a "Cumbrian village". In 1966 Coniston was in the county of Lancashire. The county of Cumbria didn't come into existence until local government reorganisation in 1974. It was formed by merging the ancient counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland and taking the southern part of the Lake District from Lancashire.

Quotes:

Janitor #1: Put the animal down.
Brenda: Why?
Janitor #2: We gotta kill it!
Brenda: [shocked] What? You monsters! Why would you want to kill a poor defenseless little kitten?
Janitor #2: Kitten?
[both janitors start laughing loudly]
Janitor #1: This ain't no kitten, kid.
Janitor #2: That's a jumbo-sized sewer rat!
[camera goes down to see that they are right, and Brenda screams hysterically]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "That's So Raven: Adventures in Boss Sitting (#4.5)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Babysittin' Blues

This movie set new boundaries in movie-making.

I didn't want to go see this movie back in '87 with my kids, but I was dragged into it. The movie was awesome then, and it still remains a great movie. Why? The music. Anyone even remotely interested in "The Blues" as a music genre should have this DVD in their library. Not only do you get some great blues music as part of the scoring, the incidental Blues Club Scene, vintage Chicago, pulls this out of the ordinary to a slam for music lovers.

And, ... how about the straggling scene after the credits, which is standard today. Heck, I'm in my 50s, and I still have to pull this movie out to hear the harp licks.