Gus Polinski, the "Polka King of the Midwest," was the clarinet player and lead musician of a polka band, the Kenosha Kickers.
Biography[]
At Scranton Airport on Christmas Eve, Gus and the Kenosha Kickers waited for a band member to rent a truck to drive them to Milwaukee, Wisconsin after their flight was cancelled. While they were waiting, Gus noticed Kate McCallister arguing with a customer service agent. Upon overhearing that Kate was unable to fly because all flights were fully booked, Gus offered to drive her to Chicago with his band, which she gratefully accepted.[1]
Later, in the back of a Budget truck, Gus and his band played "Deck the Halls" while Kate listened. At one point, Gus stopped playing his clarinet, offered it to her, and asked her if she played, to which she shook her head. When he tried to get her to play, Kate refused to do so. Gus accepted this and continued to play with his band.[1]
Gus later tried to cheer Kate up when she told herself she was a bad parent by giving her examples about his bandmates being bad parents themselves due to them being on the road so much. When Kate asked him if he ever went on vacation and left his child home like she did, Gus thought for a while, then told her that while he had not left his son at home, he had left him at a funeral home once, and explained that while it was terrible and that he and his wife were distraught, his son turned out fine after six or seven weeks in that he came around and began talking again. Gus then remarked to Kate, "They get over it. Kids are resilient like that." When Kate said that maybe they shouldn't talk about that, Gus told her that she had brought it up and that he was just trying to cheer her up, and Kate apologized.[1]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Gus is the only major character in the first two Home Alone films who does not interact with Kevin.
- However, John Candy (Gus' portrayer) and Macaulay Culkin (Kevin's portrayer) appeared together in Uncle Buck, respectively.
- John Candy improvised most of his lines in the movie and all of his scenes were filmed in 23 hours. He was paid $414 for his appearance in the film, which he did as a favor to writer John Hughes.
- Before acting in Home Alone, John Candy played another clarinet player on Second City Television (SCTV), Yosh Schmenge, in a fictional polka band, the Schmenge Brothers. Catherine O'Hara, who played Kate McCallister, was a fellow SCTV cast member.
- In the film, Gus does not actually play his clarinet. The real clarinet player in the band actually plays the instrument while Gus pretends to play it.[2]
- In the original script, he is the accordion player. Kate also wishes him a "Merry Christmas" and gives him a kiss after the band drops her off.
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