John Hughes, Dropout?

The driving force behind four movies on our list (including No. 1, The Breakfast Club), John Hughes pretty much owns the high school movie genre. After defining '80s adolescent angst, he scored even greater success writing and producing the blockbuster Home Alone franchise in the '90s. But the soft-spoken guy from Grosse Pointe, Mich., never much cared for Hollywood, preferring life on his farm outside Chicago. The reclusive filmmaker has not given an interview since 2000 (his reps declined to comment for this story), and earlier this year, he even pulled his director's commentary from the new Ferris Bueller's Day OffDVD. The good news is that Hughes, 56, is still turning out scripts. Under his cheeky Count of Monte Cristo nom de plume, Edmond Dantes, he wrote an early draft of the 2002 J. Lo rom-com Maid in Manhattan and, sans pseudonym, a treatment for next year's Judd Apatow comedy Drillbit Taylor. ''I'm sure he's got 10, 20 scripts that are better than anything around right now,'' says Howard Deutch, director of Pretty in Pink and Some Kind of Wonderful (Hughes wrote and produced both). Even if those screenplays remain in some dusty farmhouse drawer, Hughes still has his legacy. ''He understands how beloved his [older] movies are,'' says Deutch. ''That's the thing that means the most to him.''

MAKING THE GRADE
We offer a yearbook dedication to some of our favorite big-screen high schoolers

Favorite Teachers
Tina Fey as Ms. Norbury MEAN GIRLS
Michelle Pfeiffer as LouAnne Johnson DANGEROUS MINDS
Ben Stein as economics drone FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF
Michael Vartan as Sam Coulson NEVER BEEN KISSED
Ray Walston as Mr. Hand FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH

Most Likely to Succeed
Tom Cruise as Joel Goodsen RISKY BUSINESS
Kirsten Dunst as Torrance Shipman BRING IT ON
Cuba Gooding Jr. as Tre Styles BOYZ N THE HOOD
Jason Schwartzman as Max Fischer RUSHMORE
Reese Witherspoon as Tracy Flick ELECTION

Most Endearing Nerds
Corey Haim as Lucas LUCAS
Anthony Michael Hall as Brian Ralph Johnson THE BREAKFAST CLUB
Alyson Hannigan as Michelle Flaherty AMERICAN PIE
Jon Heder as Napoleon Dynamite NAPOLEON DYNAMITE
Gedde Watanabe as Long Duk Dong SIXTEEN CANDLES

Scariest Bullies
Ben Affleck as Fred O'Bannion DAZED AND CONFUSED
Matt Dillon as Melvin Moody MY BODYGUARD
Rachel McAdams as Regina George MEAN GIRLS
Thomas F. Wilson as Biff Tannen BACK TO THE FUTURE
William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence THE KARATE KID

Most Loyal Sidekicks
Jon Cryer as Phillip ''Duckie'' Dale PRETTY IN PINK
Stacey Dash as Dionne Davenport CLUELESS
Sal Mineo as John ''Plato'' Crawford REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE
Efren Ramirez as Pedro Sanchez NAPOLEON DYNAMITE
Lili Taylor as Corey Flood SAY ANYTHING

Least Likely to Get Carded
Stockard Channing age 34 as Betty Rizzo GREASE
Michael J. Fox age 28 as Marty McFly BACK TO THE FUTURE PART III
Matthew Lillard age 29 as Brock Hudson SHE'S ALL THAT
Alan Ruck age 29 as Cameron Frye FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF
Kathleen Turner age 32 as Peggy Sue Kelcher PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED