Home Alone: Macaulay Culkin Wins The Day

Macaulay Culkin's performance in this 1990 comedy film made him a star and it helped to propel the movie into a huge box office success, earning the film many, many times its cost; and, that doesn't even count the money it earned from various video editions, television airings and such.

 

Many of the movie critics and the Sheldon Cooper crowd didn't give the movie high marks, but as has been said of some other movies, television shows and music, the only group of people who liked it was the public, and the film took in hundreds of millions of dollars. Sheldon Coopers, even before Sheldon Cooper was known, have a hard time laughing at things that don't always make sense, and that's a shame, because they miss so much fun, and "Home Alone" is something of a cartoon in movie form, especially during 8 year old Kevin's punishment of the burglars, which seems only to lack a clobbering of one of the burglars with a pan that leaves his head temportaily in the shape of the pan. 

 

Main Cast:

 

Macaulay Culkin as 8 year old Kevin McCallister

Joe Pesci as Harry

Daniel Stern as Marv

John Heard as Kevin's father, Peter McCallister

Catherine O'Hara as Kevin's mother, Kate McCallister

Roberts Blossom as McCallister neighbor Marley

John Candy as Gus Polinski

Ralph Foody as the gangster in movie Kevin watches and then uses as a scare tactic

 

The movie opens with lots of activity at the McCallister home in suburban Chicago, as members of the family prepare to leave the next morning for a trip to Paris. A man in a police uniform with a sparkling gold tooth struggles to get information about what's going on, but he finally finds out about the family vacation and about the security measures they have in place for the safety of their soon to be unoccupied home. The man with the gold tooth assures Peter McCallister, the owner of the home, that his very nice house, equipped and stocked with lots of appliances, televisions and VCRs (the then main means of recording and playing videos), will be safe from burglars. Peter's 8 year old son, Kevin, loses his cool by going after other young family members who actually torment him, but only Kevin's outburst is witnessed by the adults, prompting his mother, Kate, to send him to bed in the attic for the night. As she escorts him up the stairs, Kevin tells her he hopes he'll never see any of his family again. (Comment: Kevin is not a responsible kid and he often wants others to do things for him. Much of the teasing of him by the others has to do with his "helplessness." Keep this in mind.)

 

It's winter in Chicago and that means windy conditions and during the night the high winds break a branch from a tree, which knocks out the power and telephone service (landline in those times) to the house. The family oversleeps and this brings the family to a chaotic departure to make it to the airport for their plane. One of the teenagers is given the job of counting the young people to account for everyone, and she mistakes a neighbor boy for Kevin, who is still asleep in the attic. The repairman for the power company restores power to the house, but he tells the departing family the telephone service is likely to be out for days. The family gets to the airport and runs to board the plane. Off they go ... PARIS HERE WE COME! At the house, Kevin awakens to an empty home and once he confirms this fact, he believes his wish to never see his family again has come true. Kevin alternates between being a responsible "adult," going shopping (even using a coupon he's clipped from the newspaper to save on orange juice) and doing laundry, and being the 8 year old he really is, jumping on the bed, eating junk food and sledding in the house (Typing this line made me spill my potato chips all over the place!). This back and forth is all sort of crystallized by what became one of the most famous scenes in the movie, where Kevin acts the adult in the bathroom and applies after shave lotion to his face, bringing the actual 8 year old to scream, "ahhhhhhhhhh," from the sting of the lotion. Kevin is resourceful and he gets into his older brother's belongings and he finds some firecrackers and later he finds his brother's money stash, but only after having to climb up some shelving to get it. This brings the shelves crashing down, which releases his brother's tarantula into the house (keep this in mind). Kevin watches a gangster type movie, complete with a man who uses a machine gun to kill a man who says the guy owes him money. This scene gives Kevin a scare, and he calls out for his mom. Meanwhile on the plane, Kate is nagged by the feeling of having forgotten something and she finally realizes what is is ... "KEVIN," she yells. 

 

Come evening, an old van sits in the neighborhood. Inside are Marv and Harry, two crooks looking to make a big haul while so many people are gone for the holidays in the well to do neighborhood. Harry is the man with the golden tooth who impersonated a policeman to get information about which houses would have no one at home and what security devices they have installed. He even knows the exact time the lights will automatically come on at each house, a trick using a timing device to make burglars think someone is home. Harry likes what he saw at the McCallister home and he and Marv head there to break in and rob the place, but Kevin hears the van pull in and he then sees the silhouettes of the two burglars through the curtains. As the two men prepare to pry the back door open, Kevin flips on the switches to many of the downstairs lights near the backdoor. This makes the two crooks flee, but Kevin reverts to 8 year old and he runs and hides under the bed, until he convinces himself, "I'm the man of the house." (Comment: My late dog would often run and hide under the bed; that is, until I told him to go find his own hiding place.) Kevin goes outside screaming how he's not afraid anymore, but then the McCallister's bearded scary old neighbor and "rumored killer," Mr. Marley, comes along, and Kevin decides that being 8 years old is the better part of valor and he runs into the house and up the steps, this time jumping into bed and pulling the covers over his head. (Comment: Why do people pull the covers over their head? If an intruder has a gun, knife or other weapon, how will pulling the covers over one's head save them? Ah... asking for a friend.)   

 

Meanwhile, the McCallister family has landed in Paris and they find their home telephone is still out of order, so they try to contact neighbors, but they're all out of town. Kate calls the police, but she does a poor job of explaining the situation, and the police transfer her call to the department for children who are living in threatening conditions, like with abusive or drunken parents or other family members. The man who takes the call is totally unenthusiastic and he transfers the call back to the police department. This lady is not terribly concerned either, but she sends a police officer to the home. He knocks at the door, but Kevin is still hiding under the covers, and the officer doesn't see any signs of a break in, so he leaves. Back in Paris, the earliest opening on the airlines to return to Chicago is two days off because of heavy holiday travel, but the airline suggests that someone stay at the airport to take an opening that may occur. Kate stays. Back in Chicago, the crooks have broken into one of the neighbor's homes and as they clear out anything valuable, the telephone rings and a message is left on the answering machine by Peter McCallister about being in Paris; so now, the crooks know the McCallisters are gone, although they don't know about Kevin as yet. As Kevin is on his way home from another scary encounter with Mr. Marley at a neighborhood store, the crooks are cleaning out one of the other homes in Kevin's neighborhood and they almost hit Kevin with their van. Kevin recognizes Harry's shiny gold tooth bringing a surprised look to the boy's face, which in turn alarms Harry. The two crooks follow Kevin to see where he goes, but Kevin eludes them by hiding in a manger display outside of a church. Kevin now knows who the potential burglars are and he vows to be ready for them if they come back to his house. Sure enough, Harry and Marv drive up to the house that night, but there appears to be lots of activity inside the house, so they drive away with the plan of returning the next day. Actually Kevin has rigged up a life-sized cut out of Michael Jordan (the most popular athlete in the country in those times) and various Christmas displays to make it look as if the house has lots of people moving around inside. 

 

Kevin orders a pizza for delivery and a young man pulls up with the pizza and goes to the back door as instructed in a note. Kevin has the video of the gangster movie ready to go in the video player and the scenes he wants he has programmed into the remote control. The young man knocks at the door and the gangster can be heard asking who it is, followed by some brief comments by the deliveryman and the movie character. The pizza is $11.80 and Kevin drops $12 out through the mail slot then he uses the remote control to hit the appropriate comment (appropriate to Kevin) from the gangster, which is, "Keep the change, you filthy animal." The meager 20 cent tip prompts the young deliveryman to say, "Cheapskate!" Kevin presses another button on the remote control and the gangster's line comes out loud and clear: "I'm going to give you to the count of 10 to get your ugly, yellow, no good keister off my property, before I pump your guts full of lead." The young man is naturally startled and he begins to flee, but the gangster continues, "One, two, TEN!" The sound of the machine gun erupts and the terrified young man slips and slides through the snow on the way to his car. (Comment: The scene is funny, but Sheldon Cooper would ask, "So a deliveryman thinks he's been fired upon, but he never calls the police to report it?" The obvious answer is, the guy sped home, jumped in bed and pulled the covers over his head. The hell with calling the police!) 

 

Meanwhile Kate is able to make a deal with an older couple for a seat on a plane to get back to the U.S., although not to Chicago, rather to Dallas and then to Scranton, Pennsylvania. At the McCallister house in Chicago, Harry and Marv show up the next day and Marv goes to the back door to see if he sees or hears anyone, after what seemed to have been a party the night before. Kevin hears Marv try to open the door, and he grabs the remote and starts playing the gangster video again; after all, it scared the hell out of the pizza guy. Marv listens as the movie lines are uttered, all the while convinced this is a real conversation. Kevin breaks out the firecrackers he found in his brother's belongings and he lights the fuse just as the machine gun in the movie starts to fire. Like the pizza deliveryman the night before, Marv stumbles and slides as he runs back to Harry and the van. The two crooks decide to wait to see who did the shooting, but as they wait, Kevin comes out with a saw to cut down a small pine tree for his own Christmas tree. They now know who he is and that he's home alone. They decide to come back around nine that evening, but Kevin hears their plan when he opens an upstairs window. Kevin is scared and he asks, "Mom, where are you?" Harry and Marv leave and Kevin goes out in the early evening. First he gives a Santa Claus helper a message to give to the real Santa; that is, to just get his family back, he doesn't need any toys or other presents. As he walks along, Kevin sees families gathered together for the holiday and he feels sad that he's without his own family, especially given his wish not to ever see them again. 

 

Well, Mom, I mean Kate, can't get a flight to Chicago from Scranton, but a polka band and its leader, Gus Polinski, hear Kate tell how she has to get home to her 8 year old son and that she'll even make a pact with the devil to achieve that. Gus tells her he and his group are also unable to get a flight to Milwaukee, which is a little less than 100 miles north of Chicago, but that they are going to rent a truck and drive home and that they could take her with them and drop her off in Chicago first. So off they go, polka music and all. 

 

Back in Chicago, Kevin walks to the church with the manger display where he hid from the crooks before. There is singing coming from the service inside. Kevin thinks for a moment and then he goes in. Kevin sits down in a pew all by himself, but when he looks over, across the aisle sits Mr. Marley. He stands and comes over to Kevin and says, "Merry Christmas. May I sit down?" Kevin nods and Marley sits down next to Kevin. Marley tells Kevin that his granddaughter is in the choir. He also tells him that he doesn't have to be afraid of him, that the stories going around are not true. As the two neighbors talk, we find out that Marley is troubled by an argument he had with his son a few years before. The two haven't spoken since. Kevin tells Marley that he said some things about his family that he shouldn't have; so, they both have similar problems. Kevin tells Marley he should call his son, but Marley says he's afraid his son won't talk with him. Kevin wisely tells him that he should still call his son and that at least he'll know the answer. Kevin gets up to leave, but not before the two shake hands, the little kid and the old man, who looks about my age ... which makes him middle aged (hey, I crossed my fingers to type that). Kevin hurries home to prepare the defense of his home against the crooks. 

 

Kevin prepares lots of traps for Harry and Marv, and as his brother's tarantula calls through the house, Kevin fixes a frozen macaroni and cheese dinner in the microwave. Harry and Marv pull up in their van and they decide to go to the back door. They even hope that the boy will let them in. They knock at the back door and yell in that they know the boy is there and that he's alone. Kevin has his brother's BB gun and he sticks it out the dog door and fires, hitting Harry in the ... ah, well there's only one thing that can make a guy hurt like that, and it's not getting hit between the toes. Marv, who always thinks he's pretty clever, sticks his head through the dog door, only to get a BB between the eyes, which still left him nowhere near as bad off as Harry. Finally Harry goes to the front of the house, but he slips on the front steps, which are covered with ice since Kevin cleverly threw water on them so it would freeze solidly. Marv finds the same problem with the basement steps and he too slips and falls before he finally gets to the door and pries it open. Once inside, Marv pulls the string to turn on the basement light, but Kevin has connected the string to the family iron, which sits at the top of the laundry chute. Down comes the iron as Marv looks up in reaction to the noise of the iron falling through the chute. BAM! Out front, Harry gets to the door and grabs the doorknob only to have his hand cooked medium rare, complete with the impression of the "M" on the McCallister's doorknob, as Kevin has heated the knob from the inside with the heating element from the family barbecue grill. Harry buries his scorched hand into the snow to get relief. The thing is, the more the two misfits are punished, the more they can't stop pursuing Kevin; and indeed, that is now much more their motive than the valuables in the house. 

 

Marv tries going up the basement steps that lead into the house, but Kevin has coated the steps with tar and a strategically placed nail. As Marv proceeds, his shoes are pulled off by the sticky tar, then his socks. Now comes the nail, and Marv steps right on it ... YEOW!!! He tumbles backwards down the steps grasping his foot. Harry finally opens the door, but Kevin has tied a rope to a blowtorch so that when the door opens it ignites the torch which spews fire at the person entering, and that person is Harry, whose head is scorched after his knit hat has the top incinerated. This time Harry sticks his head into the snow for relief. After this Harry kicks open the door and Marv goes back outside and sees a window open. Harry screams how he's going to get the boy, but Kevin answers by tauntingly saying, "I'm really scared," followed moments later with, "Come and get me." Harry goes through a door into another room, but Kevin has plastic wrap with an adhesive on it stretched across the doorway and it clings to Harry's face, and though Harry pulls the plastic off, the substance remains. All this diverts Harry from seeing a rope tied low across the floor and rigged to cause a burst of air from a fan into a pile of feathers. Harry walks into the rope and "poof," he's covered with feathers. Meanwhile, Marv climbs through the open window, but when he steps down from the window into the house, his feet land on a bunch of Christmas tree ornaments Kevin has spread across the floor. More pain for Marv's feet, but he hobbles into the room and sees Harry looking like a bird that forgot to fly south for the winter. Kevin sits at the top of the stairs to the home's upstairs and he mockingly calls to the beleaguered crooks, "I'm up here you morons, come and get me!" The two dash for the stairway, only to fall on their behinds again after they step on a bunch of miniature cars Kevin has placed at the foot of the stairs. This prompts the boy to ask, "You guys give up, or (are) you thirsty for more?"

 

The two crooks get up and they start up the stairs, led by Harry. Kevin tosses a can of paint suspended on a rope above the stairway. The paint can swings down and Harry ducks, but Marv doesn't duck and he's smashed in the head with the can and he falls down the stairs. Harry looks down at Marv, but then turns to look up the stairway, but Kevin has unleashed a second can of paint which swings down and clobbers Harry, bringing him to fall down the steps on top of Marv. This paint can in the face has knocked out Harry's gold tooth. Kevin calls the police using a false voice and tells them he's been robbed. He gives the neighbor's address, as he plans to run there eventually. (Comment: There is no explanation as to the phone service having been restored, including from when Kevin ordered pizza, but hey, what do you expect him to do, send smoke signals?) The two crooks regain their composure and head up the steps. Kevin has a wire stretched just above the floor in the upstairs to trip them, and sure enough, Harry falls for the wire ... ah, over the wire, but Marv hops over the wire as Kevin tries to run off, and Marv dives at Kevin and grabs him by the foot. As Marv lies on the floor, Kevin's foot in hand, the tarantula shows up, and Kevin strains to reach it, but he finally does. He picks up the spider and places it right on Marv's face, eliciting a scream of terror from the crook, who should be known as the "wet pants bandit" from now on. (Explanation: I left this out earlier, but anyway, when Harry and Marv rob one of the neighboring houses of the McCallister home, Marv stuffs cloths into the kitchen sink drains and then lets the water run, flooding the kitchen, with water also running down into the basement. We learn he's done the same before and that he wants the two to be seen as big time thieves with their own calling card, the name "The Wet Bandits." Harry's not impressed, but the name will come into play again near the end of the picture.) Marv tosses the spider away, but it lands right on the outstretched Harry, who is still knocked out on the floor after tripping over the wire. Harry begins to come to and Marv takes his crowbar and prepares to whack the tarantula. He tells Harry not to move and he smacks Harry across the torso, but the spider crawls away. Harry grabs the crowbar and starts hitting Marv, saying, "How do you like it?" 

 

Kevin uses a handlebars equipped zip line stretched from the attic window to his brother's tree house to get to the tree house. Harry and Marv stand at the attic window wondering where Kevin went, but he again taunts them by saying, "Down here, you big horse's ass. Come and get me before I call the police." (Comment: "Down here," because the tree house is slightly lower than the house attic.) Harry and Marv begin to try climbing along the rope to get to Kevin in the tree house. After they are out more than a little way, Kevin yells out, "Hey guys, check this out," and he displays a large pair of hedge-cutters as he prepares to cut the rope. Harry and Marv try to go back, but Kevin cuts the rope and the two crooks slam into the wall of the house, leaving us with the definite opinion that neither man will ever get a role swinging on a vine playing Tarzan. Kevin uses a ladder to climb down from the tree house and he runs to the neighbor's house and enters through the basement door. This is one of the houses already robbed by the "Wet Bandits," and Kevin has to slog through the flooded basement. When he goes up the steps to enter the kitchen, here are Harry and Marv waiting for him. They hang Kevin by his sweatshirt on a hook on the door and they start telling him how they're going to get even with him, with Harry saying that he's going to bite off Kevin's fingers. A pair of boots are seen elsewhere in the kitchen, and now we see Mr. Marley with his shovel creeping up behind Harry and Marv. WHAM! He smacks Marv over the head, and then as Harry turns toward him, he knocks him to the floor with a healthy (for Marley) hit to the head and face. Marley takes Kevin from the hooks and carries him out of the house and back home. The police come and Kevin watches from the window as the police bring out Harry and Marv, with one of the officers telling them how the police now know each house the two have robbed because of them leaving the water running. As the police car with the two bungling crooks in the back pulls away, Harry looks out the window and up at Kevin, who gives him a little wave bye-bye. 

 

Kevin goes to sleep and he awakens on Christmas morning to see snow falling and he calls for his mom, but when he goes downstairs, the house is still empty. Kevin goes back upstairs, but then Gus and company pull up and Kate is home. She enters and she sees the Christmas tree and decorations that Kevin has put up. (Comment: Kevin has obviously done a lot of clean up, because there's no sign of all the ruckus from the night before in this part of the house.) Kevin appears, and mother and son stand quietly looking at each other for a few moments. Kevin is solemn, and his mother apologizes for forgetting him. After a short pause, Kevin breaks into a big smile and goes to hug his mother and to be hugged by her. He asks about the others, and his mother tells him they couldn't get back, but just then they open the door and come in. Buzz, Kevin's older brother remarks how amazing it is that Kevin hasn't burned down the house, but instead of getting mad, Kevin smiles and the brothers high five each other. Kevin's dad finds Harry's gold tooth on floor, but he's not quite sure what it is. Kevin looks out the window and sees Mr. Marley hugging his son, then his daughter-in-law, and he then picks up his granddaughter to hug her. He's facing the McCallister house now and as he hugs his granddaughter, he sees Kevin and he waves to him, and Kevin smiles and waves back. Now we hear Kevin's brother, Buzz, yell, "KEVIN! What did you do to my room?" Kevin runs, normal has returned. 

 

  

 

If you haven't seen the picture, let me tell you, Santa's reindeer at the North Pole have seen this picture. Penguins in Antarctica have seen this picture. Camels at an oasis in the Sahara Desert have seen this picture. What are you waiting for, a blowtorch to scorch your head?   

                

   

 

 

 

Photo is isolated from the DVD Home Alone Collection by Fox Home Entertainment 2013

WORD HISTORY:

Podium-This word is distantly related to "foot," a word from the Germanic roots of English, and to words like "podiatry" (compound of Greek derived words), "centipede" (Latin derived), "octopus" (Greek word, borrowed by Latin), "pedestrian" (Latin derived). It goes back to Indo European "ped," which meant "foot," with extended meanings like "support, base." This gave transliterated Ancient Greek "pous," which meant "foot" and this produced the transliterated noun "pódion," a diminutive form meaning "(small) base" (seemingly initially used in regards to statues and vases). Latin borrowed the word as "podium," meaning, "an elevated area, platform or balcony in an amphitheater or an arena." English borrowed the word from Latin in the mid 1700s. The word eventually became more specifically defined as "a platform on a stage or in hall that allows a clearer view of a music conductor, a speaker, or a featured person."