Summary
“Keep the change, you filthy animal”, is an iconic movie quote, and hilariously, it’s one that doesn’t even come from a real film. When Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) gets left behind for Christmas vacation inHome Alone, the tiny young man does what every kid would when given free rein: whatever they want. He eats junk food, jumps on the bed, goes through his siblings' things, and, of course, watches the movies his parents would never let him see.Kevin lives the life,eating junk and watching rubbish, and no one comes out to stop him.
His parents may have had a point about the movies though, because Kevin watchesAngels with Filthy Souls,a fictional movie within the movie, and it only takes a few minutes before the violence and mayhem causes the petrified Kevin to scream for his mom.Angels with Filthy Soulsonly plays for about a minute and a half before Kevin turns it off, but that was enough time for the black-and-white gangster flick to burn into the memories of everyone who watched it. The making ofAngels with Filthy Soulsis itself an interesting bit of movie magic.
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Angels With Filthy Souls Was Shot In One Day
The Script For The Fake Home Alone Film Came At The Last Second Too
Vanity Fairinterviewed the crew who worked to bringthe fictionalAngels with Filthy Soulsto life and learned all about the filming. Shooting for the fake movie was allotted only one day, so everything had to come together perfectly to get the brief sequence. With so little time to actually shoot, director Chris Columbus and his crew threw everything they had at the wall, hoping something would stick. Even the script for the movie arrived late, and didn’t even have a name. It was simply titled, “the gangster film”.
The Home Alone Fake Movie Was Filmed In An Abandoned High School Gym
The Prop Masters Designed The Set To Emulate Old Movies
Like theother interior shots ofHome Alone,Angels with Filthy Soulswas filmed on a sound stage in the New Trier West High School gymnasium, an abandoned facility in Winnetka, Illinois, and the set was only a couple of walls. Simple looking at first glance, set decorators Eve Cauley and Dan Clancy worked hard to make sure the fake movie felt real, like anactual set from the Golden Age of Hollywood. They added an old typewriter, a pair of binoculars at the window, a grabaphone, and they even added steam rising from a “coffee” cup on Johnny’s desk.
It’s also notable that the windows behind Johnny are fake, there’s nothing in the panes, which likely made the scene easier to light and build.
The mock-up sketch of the sequence shows just how much the cast and crew thought about the fake movie. There are side and overhead angles that match almost exactly what ended up being filmed. The Venetian blinds, pebbled glass, and the shape of Johnny’s alcove and desk appear in the sketch just as they do in the movie. It’s also notable that the windows behind Johnny are fake, there’s nothing in the panes, which likely made the scene easier to light and build.
Chris Columbus Shot Angels With Filthy Souls To Look Like A Classic Movie
Columbus And His Crew Shot On Black-And-White Negative Film Stock
The look ofAngels with Filthy Soulsis a big reason why it’s so memorable. Despite being a modern-made movie,numerous clever techniques were used by Columbus and his crew to achieve a look that replicated the noir filmsof the 30s and 40s. Director of Photography Julio Macat convinced Columbus to use the techniques and black-and-white negative film stock of 40s movies. He believed that high-key lighting with a high-contrast aesthetic would evoke just the type of film they were trying to replicate.
The pebbly textured glass of the front of the office and the large (and empty) Palladium window behind Johnny provided maximal dramatic lighting in the scene. And there was a lot of lighting.
The pebbly textured glass of the front of the office and the large (and empty) Palladium window behind Johnny provided maximal dramatic lighting in the scene. And there was a lot of lighting. The old black-and-white film stock required a much greater amount of light to expose than normal film, which meant many more lightbulbs. Despite it being a Chicago winter during filming, Macat said of the cast and crew,
“[we] were sweating up a storm.”
To enhance that noir-ish, grimy ambiance, mist was pumped onto the set. There are some analogous techniques between the real movie andAngels with Filthy Soul. LikeHome Alone, the fake movie wasshot with low, wide angles to capture the viewpoint of a child. In that way, Columbus and Macat made the adult movie seem even more threatening to a young kid like Kevin.
The Home Alone Fake Movie Was Inspired By Angels With Dirty Faces
Other Classic Hollywood Movies Informed The Fake Film
The title of the movie was taken from the 1938 movieAngels with Dirty Faces. Art director Dan Webster says,
“I believe the title was decided upon only because we needed to create a label for the tape Kevin puts in the VHS player.”
Angels with Dirty Faceslooks a lot likeAngels with Filthy Souls. They’re both black and white and have that similar misty ambiancethe best noir moves are known for. Both Johnny and Snakes are doing similar James Cagney impressions, who stars inAngels with Dirty Faces. There are some other older movie references, including a Colt 1921AC Thompson submachine gun that Cagney used in his 1935 crime filmG Men.Production designer John Muto specifically called out the ’50s TV showsPlayhouse 90andOne Step Beyondas inspirations for the look of the movie.
Actors Ralph Foody And Michael Guido Switched Roles At The Last Minute
An Injury Prevented Foody From Playing Snakes
The stars ofAngels with Filthy Soulsare Johnny, played by Ralph Foody, and Snakes, played by Michael Guido. Guido and Foody were both relatively unknown actors at the time of filming and their careers after were respectable though not particularly remarkable. Guido’s most notable performance came inAll My Childrenas Lt. Neil Berniker from 1990-1993. Foody’s was in the TV showLady Blueas the recurring character Captain Flynn. Guido tried out for the film within a film and nailed the audition. He said,
“I was definitely channeling Cagney. Chris was laughing when I finished the scene and encouraged me to go a little further with it. It felt good and he must have liked it, because he gave me the part.”
Guido was actually supposed to play Johnny, but Foody had undergone knee surgery before the shoot and was unable to collapse to the ground as Snakesafter he gets shot, so they switched roles. Guido did not have a problem with that, save for one small issue, saying,
“That was perfectly fine with me since they were both fun roles. But a few years later I realized that I was just about the only actor from the original film who was not invited to be in the sequel because my character was ‘dead.’ Oh well.”
Ralph Foody ended up passing away a few years later, on June 20, 2025, at the age of 71.
Ralph Foody’s final acting role was inHome Alone 2: Escape From New York, where he reprised the role of Johnny in the fictional sequel movie,Angels with Even Filthier Souls.
The Fake Home Alone Movie Was A Welcome Respite From The Hectic Real Shoot
The single day of filmingAngels with Filthy Soulsturned out to be a great experience for everyone involved, even with a rushed schedule.Muto said the mood on set was very jocularand easygoing,
“Think about what a unique sequence it was within the film. No children, a very simple shot plan, the exaggerated style of acting, the crazy action. . . . Given the rest of the film, it was kind of a party!”
Macat had similar feelings, saying,
“The vignette turned out to be the fun set piece in the film. The actors’ energy was contagious to the crew, who bonded with laughter. After that, we were ready to go shoot our film.”
After filming complicated Ruby Goldberg-esque sequences with moving cardboard cutouts, thinking up creative pranks, and directing crowded scenes with lots of children, this simple, “back-to-basics” shoot must have been a real joy for everyone.
Home Alonegrossed $477 million at the box office, putting it in the top 120 highest-grossing movies of all time (viaBox Office Mojo).
Michael Guido Still Gets Recognized As Snake
John Muto Kept Snake’s Trenchcoat
When Guido was offered the role inAngels with Filthy Souls, he didn’t have much of an idea of how it would fit inHome Alone. Guido said,
“Chris simply mentioned that it was a film played by the kid to scare the bad guys, which at the time didn’t mean much to me.”
Guido went to go seeHome Alonewith his wife and afterward thought it was a nice movie. It was fun that he was in it for a moment, but neither thought much more than that. However, within days,Guido said he was suddenly getting recognized everywhere, with fans coming up to him and calling him, “Snakes!".These callouts went on for several years. Even now, people still remember him for his role inHome AloneandAngels with Filthy Souls,
“Even more recently, I met young agents and casting people who rhapsodize about how significant Home Alone, and that scene in particular, is to their childhood. Even though I’m pretty much retired from the business, every year at this time I get to enjoy my 15 minutes of fame thanks to my little scene.”
Those adoring fans aren’t the only ones infatuated with Snakes. Muto liked theHome Alonecharacter’s trench coat so much, the costume designer gave it to him, and he still has it. It fits perfectly, he says.
Home Alone
Cast
Home Alone tells the story of Kevin McAllister, an eight-year-old who is left behind in his Chicago home when his family flies to Paris for the holidays. Not only must Kevin keep himself safe while his mother flies back across the world, but he must protect his home from the Wet Bandits - serial burglars who are targeting the McAllister House. Kevin must use every trick in the book to keep the Wet Bandits from stealing Christmas before his mother returns.
