# Adventures in Babysitting

Adventures in Babysitting (also known as A Night on the Town in certain countries) is a 1987 American teen comedy film written by David Simkins and directed by Chris Columbus in his directorial debut. It stars Elisabeth Shue, Keith Coogan, Anthony Rapp, and Maia Brewton, and features cameos by blues 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 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. Sara's 15-year-old brother Brad is supposed to spend the night at his friend Daryl Coopersmith's house, but changes his plans to be with Chris. 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 Brad, Sara, and Daryl 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 aiming to kill his wife's lover with a revolver. Chris and the kids hide in the adulterer's Cadillac, which is then stolen by Joe Gipp, a car thief.
Reaching their hideout in the South Side, the kids realize that they have stumbled upon a multi-state stolen car operation, and Joe is chided by Graydon, the operation's second-in-command, for bringing witnesses. 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, and their boss Bleak arrive in the club, whose owners stall them.
Brad comes clean about his feelings toward Chris and is disappointed to learn that he is too young for her. After separating Daryl from a prostitute 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" train and wind up in the middle of a gang fight. Brad is injured when one of the gang leaders throws a switchblade 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, and Chris becomes attracted to Dan Lynch, a gentleman who learns of her 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. 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 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.
A post credits scene shows Bleak still waiting to be rescued from the side of the building.

## Cast

* Elisabeth Shue as Christina "Chris" Parker
* Keith Coogan as Brad Anderson
* Anthony Rapp as Daryl Coopersmith
* Maia Brewton as Sara Anderson
* Penelope Ann Miller as Brenda
* Bradley Whitford 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 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. 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 had a right of first refusal but demanded Molly Ringwald be cast in the lead. Touchstone Pictures agreed to make the film after The Walt Disney Company received $300 million in financing from Silver Screen Partners. Over 150 actresses auditioned for the lead role in Dallas, Florida, New York City, Toronto, Chicago, and Los Angeles, including Valerie Bertinelli. Columbus cast Elisabeth Shue, who was a student at Harvard University 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 Toronto 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 Chicago "L", 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+, 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, 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, and "Just Can't Stop" by Percy Sledge.

#### "Babysitting Blues" song

In a 2021 interview in New York Magazine, Elisabeth Shue said performing the "iconic Babysitting Blues song," written by pop songwriter Mark Mueller and Robert Kraft, was one of her "favorite experiences of all time."

## Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, 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, the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times 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 of the Chicago Tribune 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 Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

## 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 as Brad, Courtney Peldon as Sara, Brian Austin Green as Daryl, and Ariana Mohit as Brenda. The pilot garnered CBS a 6.9 rating and was watched by 9.7 million viewers.

### Cast

* Jennifer Guthrie as Christina "Chris" Parker
* Joey Lawrence 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

Disney reportedly planned a remake for release in 2010. Raven-Symoné was to star in the remake, tentatively titled Further Adventures in Babysitting, but withdrew due to other projects. Miley Cyrus was also rumored to be attached to the project, but later denied involvement.
According to Variety, Tiffany Paulsen was writing the script. It was presumed that the remake was scrapped due to years of inactivity. However, on January 9, 2015, Disney Channel announced that the remake would go forward, with Sabrina Carpenter and Sofia Carson starring as competing babysitters. The film premiered on Disney Channel in the United States and Canada on June 24, 2016.