''Adventures in Babysitting'' (also known as ''A Night on the Town'' in certain countries) is a 1987 American teen

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

written by David Simkins and directed by Chris Columbus in his

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many filmmakers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

. It stars

Elisabeth Shue Elisabeth Shue (born October 6, 1963) is an American actress. She has starred in films such as '' The Karate Kid'' (1984), '' Adventures in Babysitting'' (1987), ''Cocktail'' (1988), ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989), '' Back to the Future P ...

Keith Coogan Keith Coogan (born Keith Eric Mitchell; January 13, 1970) is an American actor. He is the grandson of actor Jackie Coogan. Early life Keith Eric Mitchell was born on January 13, 1970, in Palm Springs, California, the son of Leslie Diane Coogan ...

, Anthony Rapp, and Maia Brewton, and features cameos by

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

singer/guitarist Albert Collins and singer-songwriter Southside Johnny Lyon.

Plot

After her boyfriend Mike Todwell cancels their anniversary date, 17-year-old Chris Parker invites her friend Brenda over to her

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, adjacent to Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, 26th-most populous municipality in Illinois, with a population of 54,318 as of the 2020 census. Oak Park was first se ...

house to cheer her up, but is convinced by her mother to babysit their neighbors' daughter, eight-year-old Sara Anderson, while the parents attend a party in downtown

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. After receiving a frantic call from Brenda, who ran away to a downtown bus station, Chris plans to pick her up, but is coerced by Sara, Sara's 15-year-old brother Brad, and Brad's friend Daryl Coopersmith to take them with her. On the freeway, their station wagon suffers a flat tire and they are picked up by a tow truck driver, "Handsome" John Pruitt, who offers to pay for the tire when Chris realizes that she left her purse at the Andersons'. En route, Pruitt receives a call from his boss Dawson with evidence that his wife is cheating on him. Pruitt rushes to his house to confront the infidelity; the car of Chris's mother is damaged when he accidentally shoots out the windshield while trying to kill his wife's lover. Chris and the kids hide in the adulterer's Cadillac, which car thief Joe Gipp then steals. Reaching their hideout in the South Side, the kids realize that they have stumbled upon a multi-state stolen car operation. They are detained in an upstairs office but escape. They enter a blues club where the band on stage refuses to let them leave until they perform a blues number. The group recounts their events while the band plays, causing the audience to sing along and applaud. They leave when Joe, Graydon (the operation's second-in-command), and their boss Bleak arrive in the club, whose owners stall them. After separating Daryl from a

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

who is a runaway, Chris is reminded of Brenda. They are found and chased again by Graydon and Bleak but escape on the

Chicago "L" The Chicago "L" (short for "elevated railway, elevated") is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs in the U.S. state of Illinois. Operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), it is the four ...

train and wind up in the middle of a gang fight. Brad is injured when one of the gang leaders throws a

switchblade A switchblade (also known as switch knife, automatic knife, pushbutton knife, ejector knife, flick knife, gravity knife, flick blade, or spring knife) is a pocketknife with a sliding or pivoting blade contained in the handle which is extended ...

onto his foot. They take Brad to the university hospital, where he receives a stitch. They run into Pruitt, who is now on the run from his earlier attacks; he says that he replaced the windshield, but Dawson wants $50 for the tire. The kids come across a fraternity house party. There, a gentleman named Dan Lynch learns of Chris's problem and donates $45. He takes them to Dawson's Garage and drops them off. When they find Dawson, his blond hair and sledgehammer lead Sara to believe that he is

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

. He denies them their car because of the $5 shortage, but when Sara offers him her toy Thor helmet, he changes his mind and lets them go. Meanwhile, Joe Gipp tells Bleak about their troubles; the three are waiting to follow them. The kids find the restaurant where Mike was supposed to take Chris and discover that he is with another girl. Sara slips away to look at a toy store while Chris confronts Mike. Brad stands up for Chris, but is reluctant to hit Mike, so Daryl kicks Mike into a table, ruining his dinner and causing a commotion. Bleak spots Sara, and Graydon chases her to an office building where she hides; the others note her disappearance and follow, accidentally coming across the Andersons' party. After Sara climbs out an open window and slides down the building, Chris spots her and they run upstairs to help. After the group pulls Sara from outside the window, Bleak intervenes on them. Joe knocks his boss unconscious, before giving him a ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' magazine that Daryl had stolen, which contained important notes that the criminals wanted. The kids retrieve Brenda from the bus station and rush home, avoiding the Andersons on Interstate 290. Once home, Chris cleans up the mess left earlier, settling into place just as the Andersons enter. Just as Chris is leaving, Dan arrives with one of Sara's missing skates. With Sara's encouragement, Chris and Dan reconcile and kiss.

Cast

as Christina "Chris" Parker *

as Brad Anderson * Anthony Rapp as Daryl Coopersmith * Maia Brewton as Sara Anderson *

Penelope Ann Miller Penelope Ann Miller (born Penelope Andrea Miller; January 13, 1964), sometimes credited as Penelope Miller, is an American actress. She began her career on Broadway in the original run of '' Biloxi Blues'' (1985–1986), later appearing in the ...

as Brenda *

Bradley Whitford Bradley Whitford (born October 10, 1959) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman in the NBC television political drama ''The West Wing'' (1999–2006), for which he ...

as Mike Todwell * Calvin Levels as Joe Gipp * George Newbern as Dan Lynch, a college student * John Chandler as Bleak, a mob boss * Ron Canada as Graydon, Bleak's second in command * John Ford Noonan as "Handsome" John Pruitt * Albert Collins as himself; a player in a Chicago Blues club * Vincent D'Onofrio as Dawson * Southside Johnny as band leader at frat party *

Lolita Davidovich Lolita Davidovich (born Lolita Davidović; July 15, 1961) is a Canadian film and television actress, best known for portraying Blaze Starr in the 1989 film '' Blaze'', for which she received a Chicago Film Critics Association Award nomination. ...

as Sue Ann * Clark Johnson as gang leader * Andrew Shue as guy at frat party

Production

Writer David Simkins was working for New World Pictures when he read a copy of the script for ''

Ferris Bueller's Day Off ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' is a 1986 American Teen film, teen comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by John Hughes (filmmaker), John Hughes. The film stars Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara, and Alan Ruck, with supporting roles from Jenn ...

''. Simkins said he wanted to do a teen film in the vein of that film and ''After Hours'', a story which told the series of misadventures over a limited time period. He pitched the idea to New World who did not want to make it. Simkins wrote the script and sold it to Paramount. It was assigned to producers Lyda Obst and Debra Hill and Simkins credits them with being of great assistance on the script. For his directorial debut, Columbus said he reviewed 100 scripts. He chose ''Adventures in Babysitting'' because he felt comfortable with its scale.

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

had a

right of first refusal Right of first refusal (ROFR or RFR) is a contractual right that gives its holder the option to enter a business transaction with the owner of something, according to specified terms, before the owner is entitled to enter into that transactio ...

but demanded Molly Ringwald be cast in the lead.

Touchstone Pictures Touchstone Pictures was an American film distribution label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featured ...

agreed to make the film after

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

received $300 million in financing from

Silver Screen Partners Silver Screen Partners refers to four limited partnerships organized as an alternative funding source for film production originally formed by American investor Roland W. Betts as a collaboration with cable television network HBO in 1983. The ma ...

. Over 150 actresses auditioned for the lead role in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, including

Valerie Bertinelli Valerie Anne Bertinelli (born April 23, 1960) is an American actress and television personality. She began acting as a child actor, child and made her screen debut in a 1974 episode of Apple's Way, ''Apple's Way''. She gained wide recognition f ...

. Columbus cast

, who was a student at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

at the time. Simkins says when the project was at Paramount they wanted Molly Ringwald who turned down the film. He says the studio then proposed Cher and Bette Midler as possible stars. He says when they saw Elisabeth Shue they knew she was the actress they wanted but they still saw a lot of alternatives before offering her the role. Simkins says the idea of the singing scene at the Blues House came from Chris Columbus. Principal photography began in

on January 5, 1987. Many of the scenes shot there doubled for the film's setting of Chicago. Production designer Todd Hallowell simulated Chicago streets by adding trash, and reconstructed two stories of the Associates Center skyscraper in the city for the film's iconic shot of the characters dangling out of it. However, there would also be some location shots in Chicago at landmarks such as the

, Fitzgerald's Nightclub, Lower Wacker Drive, the Chicago Expressway, Wolf Point. Some special effects shots also took place in Los Angeles. Ric Waite later confirmed that he shot the film using techniques similar to a drama rather than a comedy in order to highlight the film's unpredictable tone.

Release

The film earned $34.4 million in the United States, which the ''Los Angeles Times'' attributed to a new ad campaign.

Home media

''Adventures in Babysitting'' was the first Walt Disney movie to have a PG-13 rating. The film has been released on VHS and Betamax, LaserDisc, DVD and Blu-ray formats. In the United States, it received a VHS release by Touchstone Home Video on July 14, 1988. It was released on DVD for the first time on January 18, 2000, by Touchstone Home Video. A 25th anniversary edition Blu-ray was released on August 7, 2012. Although it may still be referred to as ''A Night on the Town'' on television airings in the United Kingdom, the film was released on rental VHS in the UK under its original title. The VHS was re-released on October 21, 2002, in the United Kingdom by Cinema Club and it received a 15 certificate by the BBFC for strong language and sexual references. It was previously released in an edited PG certificate for family viewing. It was released on DVD in the United Kingdom on May 31, 2004, again uncut like the 15 certificate VHS. It has since been reduced to a 12 certificate. The PG version currently streams on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

, where a notice advises it has been edited for content, primarily removing strong and offensive language.

Soundtrack album

In 2015, Intrada Records released an album from the film, featuring the score by

Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, record producer and musician. Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was born in ...

, including unused music and several of the songs heard in the film. It features " Then He Kissed Me" by the Crystals, "Babysitting Blues" by Albert Collins, " Twenty-Five Miles" by

Edwin Starr Charles Edwin Hatcher (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003), known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. He is best remembered for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the num ...

, and "Just Can't Stop" by

Percy Sledge Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song " When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 19 ...

"Babysitting Blues" song

In a 2021 interview in ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Clay Felker and Milton Glaser in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'' a ...

'', Elisabeth Shue said performing the "iconic ''Babysitting Blues'' song," written by pop songwriter Mark Mueller and

Robert Kraft Robert Kenneth Kraft (born June 5, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Kraft Group, a diversified holding company with assets in paper and packaging, sports and entertainmen ...

, was one of her "favorite experiences of all time."

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 72% based on 46 reviews, with an average rating of 6.60 out of 10. The site's consensus states: "Sweet and spry, ''Adventures in Babysitting'' gets by on its amiable tone." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' gave ''Adventures in Babysitting'' two-and-a-half out of four stars. He cited the blues club sequence as the movie's best scene, but criticized the film for not doing more with its black characters. He said the movie had "good raw material," but too many "unrealized possibilities."

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune'' who co-hosted a movie review television series alongside colleague Roger Ebert. Siskel started writing for the '' ...

of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' rated the film three out of four stars, calling it "a genial, warm-hearted romp." He praised the performances of the young cast and called Elisabeth Shue "earnestly appealing," but criticized the movie for a lack of "social awareness." Both critics compared the film to '' Risky Business'' and ''

''.

Unsold television pilot

The film was adapted into an unsold television pilot of the same name for CBS in 1989. The pilot was broadcast on Friday night, July 7 in the 8 p.m. timeslot. It starred Jennifer Guthrie (who would later co-star on '' Parker Lewis Can't Lose'' with Maia Brewton) as Chris,

Joey Lawrence Joseph Lawrence Mignogna III (born April 20, 1976) is an American actor, musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, podcaster, and game show host. He was a child actor in the early 1980s and portrayed Joey Russo in '' Blossom'' and Joe Longo ...

as Brad, Courtney Peldon as Sara, Brian Austin Green as Daryl, and Ariana Mohit as Brenda. The pilot garnered CBS a 6.9

rating A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of a metric (e.g. quality, quantity, a combination of both,...). Rating or rating system may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness ...

and was watched by 9.7 million viewers.

Cast

* Jennifer Guthrie as Christina "Chris" Parker *

as Brad Anderson * Brian Austin Green as Daryl Coopersmith * Courtney Peldon as Sara Anderson * Ariana Mohit as Brenda * Susan Blanchard as Joanna Anderson * Dennis Howard as Robert Anderson * Art Evans as Mr. Dukeman * Rocky Giordani as Vince * Jason Tomlins as Rick

Remake

In 2016, a loose remake of the film, also titled '' Adventures in Babysitting,'' premiered on the

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

in the United States. The film stars

Sabrina Carpenter Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter (born May 11, 1999) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She first gained prominence starring on the Disney Channel series ''Girl Meets World'' (2014–2017). She signed with the Disney Music Group, Disney ...

and Sofia Carson as competing babysitters.

References

External links

* * (unsold TV pilot) {{Chris Columbus 1987 films 1987 comedy films 1987 directorial debut films 1980s chase films 1980s teen comedy films American chase films American teen comedy films Fiction about child care occupations 1980s English-language films Films directed by Chris Columbus (filmmaker) Films produced by Debra Hill Films produced by Lynda Obst Films scored by Michael Kamen Films set in Chicago Films shot in Chicago Films shot in Los Angeles Films shot in Toronto Touchstone Pictures films Television pilots not picked up as a series CBS television specials 1989 television specials 1980s American sitcoms Television series by ABC Signature Studios American English-language television shows Live action television shows based on films Television shows set in Chicago American television series about teenagers 1980s American films English-language action thriller films English-language teen comedy films