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Breakfast Club fakery! All the errors with the iconic high school comedy as the cast reunite for its 40th anniversary - from vanishing lipstick to a hairstyle change you won't be able to unsee Have YOU got a story? Email [email protected] By SAM LAWLEY Published: 13:02 BST, 19 April 2025 | Updated: 13:02 BST, 19 April 2025 e-mail View comments It's been 40 years since the Brat Pack got together for the most raucous detention in film history. Throwing together five students from five relatable tribes of American school life, The Breakfast Club showed that a 'brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal' could all get along - even for just one afternoon.
The cult classic grossed £39million ($51m) from a £760,000 ($1m) budget, but its legacy strengthened in the years after it left cinemas. It slots in at number 38 on Empire's all time movies countdown, features on The New York Times 's list, and has been branded 'the Citizen Kane of the teen film genre'. But as its cast reunite for the first time to celebrate four decades of the high school comedy, we've taken on the task of covering it with red ink, pointing out continuity errors, filming tricks and fakery you won't be able to unsee.
Its main character might have raised a triumphant fist in its final shot, but The Breakfast Club's many mistakes leave it with no chance of earning full marks. How many did you spot? Throwing together five students from five tribes of American school life, The Breakfast Club showed that a 'brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal' could all get along The cult classic grossed £39million ($51m) from a £760,000 ($1m) budget, but its legacy strengthened in the years after it left cinemas Its main character might have raised a triumphant fist in its final shot, but The Breakfast Club's many mistakes leave it with no chance of earning full marks. How many did you spot? Do you come here often? If you recognise the setting for this iconic film, it's not just because it looks like every other American schoolyard.
Many of The Breakfast Club's scenes were shot inside Glenbrook North High School, director John Hughes's old stomping ground. The northern Chicago institution regularly featured in lists of the country's top public schools but received its moment in the sun when its classrooms were used for the immensely popular movie. But it achieved a new level of fame when it was heavily used for John's 1986 project Ferris Bueller's Day Off, a coming of age film which grossed £53m ($70m) in the US alone.
The filmmaker's return to his old school was not all plain sailing, however, with its library clearly occupying a bigger space in John's brain than in reality. Claiming the academic space was far too small to act as the centre of The Breakfast Club's plot, the director ordered a fake library be built in Glenbrook's gym, leaving enough space for Bender, Claire and co to run riot. If you recognise the setting for this iconic film, it's not just because it looks like every other American schoolyard Many of The Breakfast Club's scenes were shot inside Glenbrook North High School, director John Hughes's old stomping ground - one year before it was used for Ferris Bueller's Day Off Hair did she do that? The 80s was known for its array of wild haircuts, from the eye-catching to the downright shocking.
But as far as we can remember, no one quite got round to inventing a hairstyle which could change of its own accord at a second's notice. That's what happened to detention attendee Claire Standish, and you can see why she is held up as one of the most popular girls at the school. While the Breakfast Club are sitting on the library floor for a chat, the skiving student can be seen with her hair in her signature wavy bob.
A moment later, however, she seems to have made a lightning-fast trip to hair and makeup, spotted in another shot sporting a poofed-up do with a flip on the ends. It's the kind of error that goes unnoticed if you're focussing on the witty, slick dialogue between the five members of the Brat Pack - but this is an easy spot for those more interested in finding fakery. While the Breakfast Club are sitting on the library floor for a chat, the skiving student can be seen with her hair in her signature wavy bob but her style changes just moments later Raising the roof Despite being from starkly different cliques, our five heroes soon unite against their common enemy Vice Principal Richard Vernon and start getting on like a house on fire.
At the heart of the rebellion is Bender, a classic teenage delinquent who landed himself in the detention by setting of the school's alarm. In a bid to escape his teacher nemesis, who had him locked in a storage closet Cool Hand Luke-style, the maverick somehow climbs into the library's drop ceiling. But anyone who knows the first thing about the structure of such spaces is aware of the fact that they are made of mineral wool, fiberglass, gypsum, perlite, clay, cellulose or starch and are held up by a grid of aluminum rails and steel wires.
Fairly strong, but nowhere near sturdy enough to support a large teenage boy. Also, as he is escaping through the ceiling, we see Bender's wallet chain hanging on his left-hand side, where it has been throughout the movie. Shortly after, when the schoolkid is crawling along the ceiling - held in place by a mixture of his own ego and some subtle film fakery - the chain is spotted on his right-hand side, thanks to a flipped shot in the editing suite.
In a bid to escape his teacher nemesis, who had him locked in a storage closet Cool Hand Luke-style, Bender climbs into the library's drop ceiling but in reality it would not have supported him Loose lipstick The quirky quintet get up to all sorts over the course of their detention - except for actually answering the essay question set them - as they all start getting along against all odds. After a tense trip to receive Bender's marijuana and a spell sharing their favourite pop tunes, the Brat Pack take front seats to watch Claire's unusual party trick. The cool girl, who received the sanction for skipping school to go shopping, pulls her lipstick from her bag and places it in her bra sticking upwards, much to athlete Andrew and brainiac Brian's delight in particular.
She then leans down and successfully applies the lipstick, showing off the perfect makeup job with a smiley flourish at the end of the trick. But it seems the schoolgirl might not have pulled off her talent at the first time of asking. In the shots that follow the routine, Claire can be seen twice putting away her lipstick, once from the front and another time from the back.
After a tense trip to receive Bender's marijuana and a spell sharing their favourite pop tunes, the Brat Pack take front seats to watch Claire's unusual lipstick-themed party trick Door blimey It's hard to know quite when our motley crew lost all respect for vice principal Vernon, but it can perhaps be traced back to when he makes a hopeless attempt to hold a door open. Keen to move freely in and out of the library, the teacher tries to use a chair to keep the door in place. But he's left cursing after it proves far too weak, much to the amusement of Brian, Claire, Bender, Andrew and Allison.
Vernon then calls Andrew up to assist him in moving a magazine rack in its place, only to have the school's fire safety rules helpfully explained to him by Bender. It proves an embarrassing saga for the hapless teacher and the start of several hours of hell at the hands of the Brat Pack. But there was a simple solution all along.
Each door clearly possesses a nifty built-in stopper on the bottom, a feature that might have spared Vernon's blushes and allowed him to stretch his legs while keeping a close eye on the students. Vernon calls Andrew up to assist him in moving a magazine rack to hold a door open, only to have the school's fire safety rules explained to him by Bender But there was a simple solution all along. Each door clearly possesses a nifty built-in stopper on the bottom Day and night The kids soon get a better understanding of each other's challenging lives, as well as the poor parenting blamed for them, and even complete the essay courtesy of Brian's academic prowess.
Claire risks her polished reputation by having a smooch with lone wolf Bender, before Allison - looking a new person after a mid-detention makeover - shares a kiss with Andrew. It all culminates with Bender's raised fist as he swaggers home across the school's sports field, in an image which became synonymous with the 80s classic. Lots has changed by the time the gang are finally released from their Saturday punishment at 4pm, but many eagle-eyed viewers have questioned whether the timings line up.
In a classic film fakery trope, the clock appears to be showing the wrong time given the sun is already starting to set. The movie is set in late March, a period during which the northeast Illinois sun tends to set at around 5.30pm.
Unless Vernon tampered with the timepiece in a bid to keep the kids back even longer, it seems the production team of this high school classic are the ones due a detention. Lots has changed by the time the gang are finally released from their Saturday punishment at 4pm, but many eagle-eyed viewers think the iconic scene was shot later in the day Reunion The cast of the The Breakfast Club reunited for the first time together to celebrate the film's 40th anniversary at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo on Saturday. Molly Ringwald (Claire), Judd Nelson (Bender), Ally Sheedy (Allison), Emilio Estevez (Andrew) and Anthony Michael Hall (Brian) took on the lead roles in the teen comedy - which was first released in theaters on February 15, 1985.
The stars sat on stage during a panel discussion hosted by Josh Horowitz for a special live taping of his Happy Sad Confused podcast. Some of the cast had previously reunited in 2010 but Emilio had been absent from the milestone . But as he joined his former castmates at the event over the weekend, he explained to the crowd, 'I skipped all my high school reunions, so this was something that finally felt like I needed to do, just for myself,' per Us Weekly.
'But this one felt special because it's here in Chicago where we made the film, it's the 40th anniversary and I just love all of them [cast] so it just made sense.' The cast of The Breakfast Club reunited for the first time together to celebrate the film's 40th anniversary at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo on Saturday; Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez and Anthony Michael Hall seen above The stars sat on stage during a panel discussion which was hosted by Josh Horowitz for a special live taping of his Happy Sad Confused podcast In regards to the movie itself, Emilio said: 'This is one of those movies that stands the test of time. 'It's a cross generational film.
..we were lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time.
' Molly also poked fun at how Emilio hadn't joined other past reunions and humorously added: 'We don't have to use the cardboard cutout anymore. I feel really moved that we're all together.' The five stars also took time to reflect on having the chance to work with director John - died in 2009 at the age of 59.
He was known for other movies such as Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Uncle Buck, Pretty In Pink and Sixteen Candles - with Molly also starring in the latter two. Some of the cast has previously reunited before - such as in 2010 - however Estevez had been absent from the milestone The premise followed: 'Five high school students who meet in Saturday detention and discover how they have a great deal more in common than they thought,' per IMDB Judd was seen flashing a cheerful smile as he helped celebrate the film's 40th anniversary Sheedy played 'basket case' Allison Anthony Michael Hall portrayed a 'brain' named Brian Johnson Judd Nelson explained: 'Hughes meant it when he said to us to participate in the process of making this movie. 'He liked us, I didn't know how rare it was going to be for a director to like actors.
.. He's the first writer who could write a character who was young without them being less.
' Read More Molly Ringwald admits 'peculiar' relationship with iconic 80s director, 33, when she was just 15 The group also recalled the audition process for the film with Anthony saying: 'John just called up and said, "I want you to come in." He didn't have a script. He didn't give me a script.
' The actor then explained that John instead asked him a number of questions including, 'What do you think about this? What do you think about that?' Molly chimed in to add: 'Originally, he was gonna do The Breakfast Club before he did Sixteen Candles. And then he wrote Sixteen Candles..
. and turned it into the studio and they said, "Oh, we wanna do that one first."' The actress continued: 'So they put The Breakfast Club on hold and then, from my understanding, John Cusack was gonna play Bender and Joan Cusack was going to play Allison.
'I don't know who was gonna play the other parts. And then after Sixteen Candles, he gave me the script.' The five stars also took time to reflect on having the chance to work with director John Hughes - who passed away in 2009 at the age of 59 The film was a critical and box office success upon its release in theaters, and raked in $51.
5 million on a budget of $1 million The main cast members later became known as the Brat Pack - which referred to young actors that starred in teen, coming-of-age movies. Molly previously slammed the term at MegaCon Orlando earlier this year, saying: 'It was a play on the Rat Pack. 'Which was a group of, you know - Sinatra and Sammy Junior, those guys - and it was a term that was coined after this New York Magazine piece, and then we all sort of fell under this, this banner.
'And I think it kind of in a way sort of minimised the work that we were doing. I mean that's the way that I felt.' Molly also reflected on being John's teenage muse during an appearance on the Reclaiming podcast hosted by Monica Lewinsky.
Molly commented on how the director reportedly wrote the script to Sixteen Candles after seeing her headshot. Having appeared in multiple John Hughes films, Ringwald also reflected on being his teenage muse during an appearance on the Reclaiming podcast hosted by Monica Lewinsky; seen in February in NYC 'He told me that story, but, you know, when you're that age - I mean, I had nothing really to compare it to. I had done more movies than John at that point, [but] I was still only 15 years old.
'So I didn't have a lot of life experience,' she said, adding that it 'didn't seem that strange to me [at the time]. I mean, now it does.' The actress expressed that it was 'peculiar' yet also 'complimentary.
It's always felt incredibly complimentary, but yeah, looking back on it, there was something peculiar.' Years later, Ringwald said: 'It's complex. It's definitely complex and it's something that I turn over in my head a a lot and try to figure out how that all affected me.
I feel like I'm still processing all of that.' Chicago Share or comment on this article: Breakfast Club fakery! All the errors with the iconic high school comedy as the cast reunite for its 40th anniversary - from vanishing lipstick to a hairstyle change you won't be able to unsee e-mail Comments 0 Share what you think No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.
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