How David Lean’s ‘Great Expectations’ Helped Inspire ‘Home Alone,’ and More from Chris Columbus’ TCM Picks

Christian Blauvelt
·4 min read
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There’s nothing IndieWire loves more than directors talking about their favorite movies. So, of course, we took notice when, in late 2023, Turner Classic Movies started looping in directors to share their favorites from TCM’s lineup each month: Steven Spielberg’s TCM picks kicked things off, then Martin Scorsese waxed rhapsodic about “Madonna of the Seven Moons,” and Guillermo del Toro gushed about the greatness of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Suspicion.”

Now Chris Columbus is sharing his own TCM picks, along with some especially insightful anecdotes. Watch the video above.

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Columbus starts off sharing his love of “Singin’ in the Rain”: “An amazing, almost flawless movie. You can say that about very few movies. I showed ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ to my 16-month-old granddaughter who was absolutely absorbed in the musical numbers. Moreso than any Disney animated films. I go back to it once or twice a year.

Particularly interesting are Columbus’s comments about David Lean’s “Great Expectations,” which he says proved an influence on his “Home Alone.” “The black and white photography alone is some of the most stunning I’ve ever seen. The performance from Alec Guinness is one of his best,” the director said. “The interesting thing about ‘Great Expectations’ is that I didn’t see it until about 1989 when I was prepping to shoot ‘Home Alone,’ and the first 20 minutes of that film, ‘Great Expectations,’ inspired me. It actually taught me how to direct a film from the point of view of a child, which essentially was the entire ‘Home Alone’ film. So I thank David Lean for that.”

Billy Wilder’s “The Apartment” has also long cast its spell on Columbus, as it has for so many: “Features two of my favorite performances in film history: Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. But the real revelation to me … now remember, I was a kid who grew up with ‘My Three Sons’ with Fred MacMurray, and to see Fred MacMurray’s darkly complex role in ‘The Apartment’ was absolutely stunning. It’s a companion piece to Billy Wilder’s ‘Double Indemnity’ as well,” he said.

For “The Quiet Man,” Columbus shared an anecdote Maureen O’Hara told him when he was directing her in her final film role, 1991’s “Only the Lonely”: “One of the things I love about [‘The Quiet Man’] is that, again, it’s a great comedy but there’s this underlying sense of darkness, particularly in John Wayne’s character who killed a guy in the ring and he’s carrying that with him throughout the entire picture. Interesting thing: I worked with Maureen O’Hara back in 1990 and she told me a great story about being on the set of ‘The Quiet Man.’ She said that the cinematographer hated the way the film was being shot, so every day he would write on the slate ‘S.U.P.’ And all of the dailies had that on the slate. And, I said ‘Well, what does that mean?’ And she said, ‘Shot Under Protest.’ And ironically he won the Oscar for Best Cinematography that year.”

In this era of blurred lines between TV and film, Columbus’s last two picks are particularly interesting. “These weren’t technically theatrical films. These were television movies of the week,” he said. “But back in the day we really looked forward to Tuesday night, because we didn’t know what genre we were going to get. With Steven Spielberg’s ‘Duel,’ literally still one of the most exciting, thrilling rides. I remember running to school the next day and all my friends, all we could talk about was ‘Duel,’ it was like the greatest movie we had ever seen to that point.

He continued, “On the opposite side of the spectrum, while not a great technical achievement in lighting and cinematography, is ‘Brian’s Song,’ one of the most emotional experiences I’d had watching a film up until that point.”

All six of Chris Columbus’s movies will be airing on TCM in March. Watch the video of the filmmaker talking about his picks above.

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