The Beatles in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ – Classic Rock at the Movies
'Ferris Bueller's Day Off,' one of writer-director John Hughes' many classic coming-of-age teen comedies, featured a lot of recognizable music -- but it took the Beatles' 'Twist and Shout' to get everyone on their feet.
The 1986 movie starred Matthew Broderick as the devil-may-care title character, who spends most of the film subverting authority while playing hooky from school with his best friend Cameron and girlfriend Sloane. After convincing the neurotic Cameron that nothing bad can come of "borrowing" his dad's prized Ferrari, the trio drive it into downtown Chicago, where Ferris inserts himself into the city's annual Von Steuben Day Parade.
As Cameron and Sloane look on in shock and disbelief, Ferris first hops a float to lip-sync Wayne Newton's toe-tapper 'Danke Schoen' before launching into 'Twist and Shout,' with many of the parade-spectators joining in to sing and dance along to the iconic Beatles tune that everyone seems to know.
'Twist and Shout' originally charted for 16 weeks in 1964, but after appearing in ‘Ferris Bueller's Day Off’ (and in Rodney Dangerfield's 'Back to School,' released two days after 'Ferris' premiered), it re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 for another seven weeks in 1986, giving it a total run of 23 weeks on the charts -- thus making it the Fab Four's longest-running Top 40 hit.
Watch the ‘Ferris Bueller's Day Off’ Scene Featuring the Beatles' ‘Twist and Shout’