There Is A Three-Hour Version Of ‘Planes, Trains & Automobiles’ Out There Somewhere

Most fans are unaware that the comedy classic Planes, Trains and Automobiles has an unseen three-hour version with extra scenes and storylines. It originally ran for 45 minutes more, with a focus on the backstory of John Candy’s character Del Griffith, and his relationship with Steve Martin’s Neal Page.

One of the many cut scenes includes a monologue in which Del hopes to reconnect with Neal, whose wife already concludes he is delaying his return because of an affair. This may have watered down the emotional effect of their reunion at the end of the release film, but fans enjoyed it regardless.

John Candy had more screen time in the original cut

John Candy’s portrayal of Del shined more in the rare three-hour movie, making him the heart of the original; however, Martin’s Neal took the shine in the 1987 release. Editor Paul Hirsch admitted that he and director John Hughes cut out up to a month of shooting in one pass and ended up leaving more than they took out.

Thankfully, some of the deleted scenes made it to Paul’s archives in the form of VHS-quality recordings, giving curious fans a glimpse of what they missed. One of the scenes was included in a TV airing of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, where Candy talks about plane food.

Will fans ever get to see the three-hour film?

Sadly, fans are unlikely to see the original three-hour version as Paramount’s Bob Buchi noted that discarding scenes was common at the time, so no one ever prioritized saving unwanted parts. While fans remain in wonder of what could have been, they can rerun the released version on Paramount + this holiday.

Lead actor Candy went on to do more hits, including The Great Outdoors, Uncle Buck, and Cool Runnings, and a few more film appearances until 1994, when he died of a heart attack at 43. He struggled with alcohol and cocaine abuse and reportedly smoked a packet of cigarettes daily, despite being at risk due to family history.