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Sixteen Candles
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Hughes
Produced by	Hilton A. Green Michelle Manning Ned Tanen
Written by	John Hughes
Starring	Molly Ringwald Justin Henry Michael Schoeffling Haviland Morris Gedde Watanabe Anthony Michael Hall
Music by	Ira Newborn
Cinematography	Bobby Byrne
Editing by	Edward Warschillka
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	May 4, 1984
Running time	93 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$6,500,000
Gross revenue	$23,686,027
Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Sixteen Candles is a 1984 coming-of-age film starring Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling and Anthony Michael Hall. The film was written and directed by John Hughes and is often associated with the beginning of the Brat Pack^{[citation needed]}.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Filming locations 4 Rating 5 Sequel 6 References 7 External links

The plot summary in this article or section is too long compared to the rest of the article. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot.

Awkward high school sophomore Samantha "Sam" Baker (Molly Ringwald) struggles to get through her sixteenth birthday, which her entire family forgets because her older sister, Ginny (Blanche Baker), is getting married the next day. She is also plagued by her ongoing infatuation with the very popular and very attractive senior Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling). Her day at school fares no better when she finds out her completed "sex quiz" she surreptitiously slipped to her friend never reached her (and, unbeknownst to either of them, was picked up by Jake Ryan himself). She panics about it since the quiz contains personal information, including the fact that she is a virgin and is saving herself for Jake. She has a whole new set of problems when she arrives home to find that both sets of grandparents are staying at the Baker's home for the duration of the wedding visit. On top of it all, one set of grandparents brings along weird foreign exchange student Long Duk Dong (Gedde Watanabe). Samantha's grandparents force her to take him along to her school dance that night, and to Samantha's amazement, it takes "The Donger" only five hours to find an unlikely girlfriend - the tallish large breasted jock promptly nicknamed "Lumberjack". After an ensuing madness with everyone involved, Samantha's family eventually makes up before the wedding and apologizes for forgetting her birthday.

A running subplot involves geeky, insecure Ted (Anthony Michael Hall), a freshman who continuously (and unsuccessfully) tries to bed his love interest, Samantha, to satisfy a bet with his friends. In the auto-shop room during the dance, the two get to talking and Sam confesses her love for Jake to Ted. Upon hearing this, Ted tells her Jake had been asking about her at the dance, and they agree Sam should just go and talk to him. As she's leaving, he reveals the wager to Sam, who, in her excited state, agrees to loan him her underwear to help him win a dozen floppy disks.

Later (after a peep show of Samantha's underpants for $1 admission, which she does not find out about until the next day), the geek and his equally unwelcome friends Cliff (Darren Harris) and Bryce (John Cusack) crash the senior after-party at Jake's, which turned into a complete disaster that trashed the house. At night's end, Jake finds Ted trapped under a table, and they talk, where Jake inquires further about Sam. Ted explains to Jake the situation with Samantha, and Jake makes a deal with Ted: if Ted lets Jake keep Sam's panties, then Jake will let Ted drive home his inebriated, selfish, prom-queen girlfriend, Caroline Mulford (Haviland Morris) in Jake's father's Rolls Royce. Jake later uses the excuse of finding them together to break up with Caroline (who had surprisingly fallen for Ted, and thus didn't mind the break up very much). Afterward, Jake drives over to the church just to meet an incredulous Sam after her sister’s wedding. The movie concludes with them sharing a kiss over a birthday cake with sixteen candles.

• Molly Ringwald as Samantha Baker
• Justin Henry as Mike Baker
• Michael Schoeffling as Jake Ryan
• Anthony Michael Hall as The Geek, also known as "Farmer Ted"
• Gedde Watanabe as Long Duk Dong
• Haviland Morris as Caroline Mulford
• Paul Dooley as Jim Baker
• Carlin Glynn as Brenda Baker
• Blanche Baker as Ginny Baker
• Edward Andrews as Grandpa Howard Baker
• Billie Bird as Grandma Dorothy Baker
• Carole Cook as Grandma Helen
• Max Showalter as Grandpa Fred
• Liane Alexandra Curtis as Randy
• John Cusack as Bryce
• Darren Harris as Cliff
• Deborah Pollack as Marlene, aka "Lumberjack"
• Joan Cusack as Geek Girl #1 (the girl with the braces)
• John Kapelos as Rudy Ryszczyk

Sixteen Candles was filmed primarily in and around the Chicago north shore suburban community of Evanston, Illinois. Most of the exterior scenes and some of the interior scenes were filmed at Niles East High School. Some exteriors were also shot at New Trier East High School. A cafeteria scene, gym scene, and auto shop scene were filmed at Niles North High School. Still other filming took place in the gymnasium at New Trier West High School. The Baker house location is on the 3000 block of Payne St. in Evanston.^{[citation needed]}

The film was originally rated R by the MPAA in the US however, the rating was re-rated PG on appeal.^[1] The film was released just eight weeks prior to the establishment of the PG-13 rating;^[2] it contains levels of profanity (including use of the word "fuck"), drug use and nudity that would result in a PG-13 rating shortly thereafter.^{[dubious – discuss]}

In 2005, Ringwald was reportedly producing a sequel to the film.^[3]

• The Sixteen Candles DVD Official Universal Site
• Sixteen Candles at the Internet Movie Database
• Sixteen Candles at Rotten Tomatoes
• Sixteen Candles at Box Office Mojo
• Sixteen Candles at All Movie Guide
• Sixteen Candles quotes at MovieWavs.com
• Sixteen Candles at The 80s Movie Rewind
• "Real Men Can't Hold a Match to Jake Ryan of Sixteen Candles" article

v • d • e American films of the 1980s
1980 •1981 •1982 •1983 •1984 •1985 •1986 •1987 •1988 •1989

v • d • e John Hughes
As Director	Sixteen Candles (1984)  · The Breakfast Club (1985)  · Weird Science (1985)  · Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)  · Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)  · She's Having a Baby (1988)  · Uncle Buck (1989)  · Curly Sue (1991)
As Writer	National Lampoon's Class Reunion (1982)  · Mr. Mom (1983)  · National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)  · Nate and Hayes (1983)  · Sixteen Candles (1984)  · The Breakfast Club (1985)  · Weird Science (1985)  · Pretty in Pink (1986)  · Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)  · Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)  · Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)  · She's Having a Baby (1988)  · The Great Outdoors (1988)  · Uncle Buck (1989)  · Christmas Vacation (1989)  · Home Alone (1990)  · Career Opportunituies (1991)  · Dutch (1991)  · Curly Sue (1991)  · Beethoven (1992)  · Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)  · Dennis the Menace (1993)  · Baby's Day Out (1994)  · Miracle on 34th Street (1994)  · 101 Dalmatians (1996)  · Flubber (1997)  · Home Alone 3 (1997)  · Reach the Rock (1998)  · Just Visiting (2001)  · Maid in Manhattan (2002)