Home Alone Trivia | 70 facts about the classic Christmas movie

«Home Alone» is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film. It was the highest-grossing live-action comedy until the release of The Hangover Part II (2011).

Let’s find out more about the movie!

1. Joe Pesci deliberately avoided Macaulay Culkin on-set because he wanted Culkin to think he was mean.
2. Catherine O’Hara revealed in 2014 that Macaulay Culkin still calls her “Mom.”
3. The picture Kevin finds of Buzz’s girlfriend was a picture of a boy made up to look like a girl, because director Chris Columbus thought it would be too cruel to make fun of a girl like that. The boy that was used in the photo was art director Dan Webster’s son.
4. Joe Pesci was used to adding profanity to most of his scripts, and kept forgetting that he was filming a family movie during his character’s on-screen outbursts, so director Chris Columbus advised him to say “fridge” instead of the “f” word. A lot of Pesci’s unintelligible pained mutterings were his way to avoid cursing.
5. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern felt indifferent about the movie’s potential during shooting, so they intentionally gave over-the-top performances, neither one of them believing this movie would become a massive success.
6. John Candy shared all of his screentime with Catherine O’Hara.
7. The two previously worked together on Second City TV (1976), and were good friends. Candy died on O’Hara’s 40th birthday, and O’Hara gave a tearful eulogy at his funeral.
8. Although John Hughes was fiercely defensive of his screenplay and insisted that everyone deliver his lines as written, he allowed his friend John Candy to improvise. This was actually a trademark of writer and producer Hughes, who also had the five students in The Breakfast Club (1985) improvise when they told one another why they were in detention. In the film, almost all of Candy’s dialogue is improvised.
9. The movie originally had more scenes of the family in Paris, France, but test audiences wanted to get back to Kevin.
10. Macaulay Culkin’s stunt double was a very short 30-year-old man.
11. Marv’s lines “Why the hell are you dressed like a chicken?” and “Maybe he committed suicide?” were improvised by Daniel Stern.
12. Everyone on-set was amazed with how mature and professional Macaulay Culkin was. Joe Pesci told Entertainment Weekly, “Mac is not like a nine-year-old. He’s an old man already.”
13. This movie was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as the “Highest Box-Office Gross – Comedy,” grossing $477 million worldwide.
14. Writer and producer John Hughes was worried that mothers would never believe a family could forget one of their kids. Chris Columbus recalled, “John really filled in every possible logic hole, and the audience always bought it.”
15. Roberts Blossom considered this movie one of the high points in his career after its release. Blossom said kids would often recognize him from playing Old Man Marley and ask “Aren’t you the guy . . .?”
16. John Williams stepped in when the original composer backed out. The filmmakers jokingly suggested Williams even though they never thought they could get him, but after he saw an early cut of the movie, he was “enchanted” and happily stepped in.
17. Director Chris Columbus’ biggest fear as a kid was burglars. It’s part of why he wanted to make this movie.
18. John Candy filmed his part in only one day, albeit a twenty-three-hour day. Almost all of his dialogue was improvised. His part was potentially partly inspired by the character he played in Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987), also written and produced by John Hughes.
19. John Candy played the role of Gus Polinski as a favor to John Hughes, and was paid scale (Screen Actors Guild minimum wage).
20. The character was inspired by real-life Jan “Polka King” Lewan, who lived in Pennsylvania, and whose polka band really did do tours around the world.
21. When nine-year-old Macaulay Culkin got tired on-set, he would just lie down on the ground and sleep between takes.
22. The concept for this movie originated during the filming of a scene in Uncle Bunk (1989) in which Macaulay Culkin plays a character who interrogates a would-be sitter through the letter opening in the front door.
23. Macaulay Culkin was only allowed to work on-set five hours a day because of child labor laws. The crew planned out the scenes around his schedule, putting him on camera alone a lot.
24. Although the part was written especially for Macaulay Culkin by John Hughes, several hundred other boys were auditioned by Chris Columbus.
25. According to the DVD commentary, Columbus was hesitant to cast Culkin because Hughes had so recently cast him in Unclu Buck (1989), and didn’t want to appear as a pushover in the film community. It was only after auditioning all the other young actors that he realized Culkin was, in fact, the best choice for the part.
26. When the filmmakers had initially cast Daniel Stern for the role of Marv, Stern agreed to shoot for six weeks. When producers later said they needed him for eight weeks but the studio was not willing to pay him more, Stern declined the offer. At the recommendation of the studio, Daniel Roebuck was then cast from a tape as Marv, as he was willing to work for a lower price than Stern. According to Roebuck, after two days meeting with producers, who were “cold” towards him, Roebuck was then told he was no longer needed, citing a lack of chemistry with Joe Pesci in their screentests. The studio finally caved to the producers’ wishes and brought back Stern, since he and Pesci had been friends since they had both appeared in I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982) and had a great chemistry. Roebuck earned a hefty paycheck for his troubles, but could only receive it if he agreed not to be hired for any other acting jobs until this movie had been completed. Though he was able to put a down payment on a house with the money he received for not working on this project, Roebuck took the rejection as a huge blow to his ego, remaining bitter for a long time about his experiences with this movie.
27. Director Chris Columbus would ask Joe Pesci to do his “How am I funny?” speech from Goodfellas (1990) on-set. In fact, Pesci was to have a similar scene with Daniel Stern, defensively questioning him about having an edge. This scene was deleted.
28. The movie is considered a traditional Christmas movie in Poland. It has aired on national television during primetime Christmas season every year since 1990. In 2010, the movie was scheduled not to air in Poland, but was broadcast after over 90,000 people protested. In 2011, the movie aired on December 23, with an audience of over five million, making it the most popular show aired during the Christmas season in Poland.
29. According to Chris Columbus, during an interview with Alec Baldwin on Baldwin’s podcast “Here’s the Thing”, John Heard was unhappy about working on this movie, feeling that the movie was going to be terrible.
30. However, upon seeing the finished product and its subsequent success, Heard apologized to Columbus when they were shooting his scenes for Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), having broken character before his first take to tell Columbus. Columbus says he still had footage of Heard’s apology on videotape.
31. Chris Columbus was previously hired by John Hughes to direct National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989). After meeting with Chevy Chase, however, it became clear to Columbus that the two of them would not get along, so he asked Hughes if there were any other projects he could work on instead. This movie was one of the options presented to him.
32. Soon after this movie, Hillary Wolf (Meagan) quit acting and became a member of the U.S. Olympic Judo team.
33. The trailer featured deleted and alternated scenes: a television anchorman warns viewers to be on the lookout for the Wet Bandits. In the supermarket scene, the manager of the supermarket stands behind the check out girl and asks Kevin the questions check out girl asks him in the theatrical cut, and there’s additional dialogue between Harry and Marv just before they go to Kevin’s house, which Marv says “Kids are stupid. I know I was”, to which Harry replies “You still are, Marv.”
34. The role of Uncle Frank was written with Kelsey Grammer in mind.
35. The major success of this movie and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) allowed Chris Columbus to move on to other more successful projects like Mrs Doubtfire (1993), and the first two Harry Potter movies.
36. The wax-and-plastic snow used in this movie was given to the Lyric Opera of Chicago when shooting finished. It has since been used in numerous opera productions.
37. In May 2011, the house in Winnetka, Illinois used in this movie was listed for sale at $2.4 million. It sold in March 2012 for $1.585 million.
38. The house is promoted as a tourist attraction, and cited as an example of “How to Get Your Home in the Movies”.
39. Some scenes were shot in a three-story single-family house, located at 671 Lincoln Avenue, in Winnetka, Illinois. The kitchen in this movie was shot in the house, along with the main staircase, basement, and most of the first floor landing. The house’s dining room, and all of the downstairs rooms (excluding the kitchen) were built on a soundstage. The house was built in 1921, and features five bedrooms, a fully converted attic, a detached double garage, and a greenhouse. “Kevin’s tree house”, in the backyard, was built specifically for this movie, and demolished after principal photography ended.
40. A fake burnt head was used for the blowtorch scene. Chris Columbus still has it in his office.
41. When Devin Ratray was asked what happened to Buzz later in life, he said he probably went to prison. Ironically, Ratray himself was arrested in 2021 for domestic assault and battery of his then-girlfriend, and came under investigation after allegations of rape a few years later.
42. The look for Marv and Harry was based on Fagin, the thief in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist.
43. In December 2018, Macauley Culkin reprised his role, and certain scenes from this movie, in a television advertisement for the “Google Assistant” product. Although Culkin previously went through a rather public bad period in his private life with people concerned about his health, in the advertisement, he appears as just a virtually identical, just older version, of Kevin.
44. The boy who played Kevin’s cousin Fuller is Macaulay Culkin’s brother Kieran Culkin in his feature film debut.
45. Chris Columbus’ previous movie had not done well at the box office, and he was worried he would never direct again, but then John Hughes sent him the script for this movie. Columbus said it was one of the best he had ever read.
46. Chris Columbus wanted the booby trap with Marv getting hit in the face with a household object sent down the laundry chute, but he couldn’t think of one to use. His brother-in-law suggested a clothes iron, and it was used in the movie.
47. Robert De Niro turned down the role of Harry. Joe Pesci, who worked with De Niro in other movie took the part instead.
48. Old Man Marley was not in the original screenplay.
49. Chris Columbus cast Joe Pesci because he was one of his heroes, although he didn’t think he’d get him for such a broadly comedic role.
50. Chris Farley auditioned for Santa Claus.
51. Jeffrey Wiseman, who played the inquisitive neighbor Mitch Murphy, auditioned for the role of Kevin McCallister.
52. There is a legend that Elvis Presley (who died in 1977) made a cameo in this movie. Many of those who believe that Elvis is still alive maintained that the heavily bearded man standing in the background of the scene where Mrs. McCallister is shouting at the desk clerk (just before she meets John Candy) is Elvis. They asserted for years that the man is in the correct age range (Elvis would have been around 55 at the time), makes a head movement that Elvis frequently made during concerts, and that no record has ever been found about this particular actor’s participation in the movie. The theory was finally debunked in 2018, when investigative journalists identified the extra as a man called Gary Richard Grott, who had passed away from a heart attack in February 2016. Grott’s family was able to confirm that it was Grott in the movie, and also revealed that he had been working regularly as an extra on several Chris Columbus’ movies, although Home Alone was the first one that he actually appeared in.
53. The highest-grossing movie of 1990 domestically. Ghost (1990) was the year’s highest-grossing movie worldwide.
54. The police station was actually a high school office.
55. Old Man Marley is a nod to Jacob Marley, Scrooge’s dead partner in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
56. The novelization, written by Todd Strasser, gives away some details not revealed in this movie, notably the name of Buzz’s pet tarantula as “Axl”, while Peter’s job is given as a successful businessman, and Kate is a fashion designer, somewhat explaining mannequins in the basement, the two sewing machines, and the money that is used to pay for pizza in this movie and used to order room service by Kevin in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992).
57. Director Chris Columbus revealed in a November 2020 interview that John Candy, who was a huge star at that point, did his airport cameo as a favor to the movie’s producer and screenwriter, John Hughes, and improvised almost all of his lines. Although he agreed to be paid to scale, he wasn’t happy with the fact that they only paid him $414 for his efforts; even the guy who played the pizza delivery boy earned more.
58. According to director Chris Columbus, Kevin Nordine did all of the effects for this movie in his parents’ basement in Chicago by drawing all of the effects onto the film. He also did the effects for only a few hundred dollars at a time.
59. Ralph Foody and Michael Guido were originally cast in the opposite roles of Snakes and Johnny respectively, but Foody was recovering from knee surgery at the time of the shoot and was unable to perform the fall to the floor, so the roles were swapped. Guido often joked that this swap meant he was one of the few actors who was unable to return for the sequel due to his character being dead.
60. The exterior of the McAllister residence was filmed in front of a house in the outskirts of Chicago. Because it was too small for filming inside and Chicago didn’t have large movie studios, the interior was completely built inside an abandoned high school. The crew also set up their offices in there.
61. Several of Chris Columbus’ family members made cameos in this movie: His mother-in-law and his daughter Eleanor Columbus were passengers on the plane. His wife Monica Devereux-Columbus was a stewardess, and his father-in-law played the police officer who gives the line “tell them to count their kids again.”
62. This movie was put into turnaround by Warner Bros. because of the budget, so 20th Century Fox snatched up the rights, and it went on to make $477 million worldwide, a colossal amount for such an inexpensive movie.
63. The fake movie “Angels with Filthy Souls” was the first thing to be filmed, when the budget wasn’t very big, so everyone liked starting out on something with cardboard sets.
64. In 2015, Macaulay Culkin reprised his iconic role of Kevin McCallister in the first episode of the Internet comedy series “DRYVRS”. In that show, Kevin has grown up and become a long-haired, messed-up, foul-mouthed, bitter, and mentally unstable psychopath, who tells Jack (Jack Dishel) about the events of “Home Alone”, and then kidnaps the carjacker who tries to steal his car, ties him up, and tortures him. The episode ends with a bloody-faced Kevin making his signature scream at the carjacker.
65. John Williams’ score for this movie is a song called “Somewhere In My Memory”. It is used mainly on the soundtrack for the first two “Home Alone” movies. However, he did a couple of different recordings of the song. The full song, done with vocals, is on the Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) music track with Bette Midler.
66. Originally, Danny DeVito was considered for the role of Harry.
67. Joe Pesci’s character, Harry Lime, was named after Orson Welles’ character from The Third Man (1949).
68. Little Nero’s Pizza is a parody of Little Caesar’s Pizza. Caesar and Nero are famous names in Roman history.
69. Sandra Macat, who played Santa’s Elf, played a Flight Attendant in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992).
70. Foreshadowing: when Kevin attacks Buzz and spills milk all over the counter, Peter tries to clean up the spill to save the passports and tickets. As he throws a wad of wet napkins away, he also throws a plane ticket away by mistake. The ticket can be seen in the garbage with Kevin’s name written in black marker. The next morning, also by mistake, he was left home alone.