John Hughes' films are set in the familiar mid-American landscape of well-lit shopping malls, neat two-story houses, and--most especially--locker-lined high school corridors. Peopled by the denizens of middle- and upper-middle-class suburbia, they focus on the discontented teenage children of baby boomers.

A writer and editor for National Lampoon magazine, Hughes started in films by writing scripts for two forgettable movies, "National Lampoon's Class Reunion" (1982) and "Nate and Hayes" (1983). These were followed by two family comedy hits of 1983: "National Lampoon's Vacation", which