Adventures in Babysitting
1987 film directed by Chris Columbus
Adventures in Babysitting (also known as A Night on the Town in certain countries) is a 1987 American teen comedy film written by David Simkins and directed by Chris Columbus in his directorial debut. It stars Elisabeth Shue, Keith Coogan, Anthony Rapp, and Maia Brewton, and features cameos by blues singer/guitarist Albert Collins and singer-songwriter Southside Johnny Lyon.
Adventures in Babysitting was released by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution on July 3, 1987. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics and grossed $34.4 million. It is considered by some to be a cult classic.
Plot
After her boyfriend Mike Todwell cancels their anniversary date, seventeen-year-old Chris Parker invites her friend Brenda over to her Oak Park, Illinois house to cheer her up, but is convinced by her mother to babysit their neighbors' daughter, eight-year-old Sara Anderson, who idolizes the Marvel Comics hero Thor, while the parents attend a party in downtown Chicago. Later that evening, Chris receives a frantic call from Brenda, who ran away to a downtown bus station; Chris plans to pick her up, but is coerced by Sara, Sara's fifteen-year-old brother Brad, and Brad's best friend Daryl Coopersmith to take them with her. On the freeway, their station wagon suffers a flat tire, and they are picked up by a tow truck driver, "Handsome" John Pruitt, who offers to pay for the tire when Chris realizes that she left her purse at the Andersons'. En route, Pruitt receives a call from his boss Dawson with evidence that his wife is cheating on him. Pruitt rushes to his house to confront the infidelity; the car of Chris's mother is damaged when he accidentally shoots out the windshield while trying to kill his wife's lover.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Adventures in Babysitting” is 1987 film directed by Chris Columbus. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Adventures, Babysitting and film, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1987 film directed by Chris Columbus” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1215038. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1987.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Adventures in Babysitting”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Adventures in Babysitting primary sources, Adventures in Babysitting archive and Adventures research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Adventures in Babysitting”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Adventures in Babysitting” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.