Vacation (1983)

The Griswold family's cross-country drive to the Walley World theme park proves to be much more arduous than they ever anticipated.

Director:

Harold Ramis

Writers:

John Hughes (screenplay), John Hughes (short story "Vacation '58")

Stars:

Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Imogene Coca

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chevy Chase	...	Clark Griswold
Beverly D'Angelo	...	Ellen Griswold
Imogene Coca	...	Aunt Edna
Randy Quaid	...	Cousin Eddie
Anthony Michael Hall	...	Rusty Griswold
Dana Barron	...	Audrey Griswold
Eddie Bracken	...	Roy Walley
Brian Doyle-Murray	...	Kamp Komfort Clerk
Miriam Flynn	...	Cousin Catherine
James Keach	...	Motorcycle Cop
Eugene Levy	...	Car Salesman
Frank McRae	...	Grover
John Candy	...	Lasky, Guard at Walleyworld
Christie Brinkley	...	The Girl in the Ferrari
Jane Krakowski	...	Cousin Vicki

Storyline

The Griswold family are on a quest. A quest to a Walley World theme park for a family vacation, but things aren't going to go exactly as planned, especially when Clark Griswold is losing all thought towards a mysterious blonde in a red Ferrari.

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Plot Keywords:

vacation | arizona | death | picnic | kansas | 

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Taglines:

Every summer Chevy Chase takes his family on a little trip. This year he went too far.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 July 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

National Lampoon's Vacation

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$61,400,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The childhood pictures of Audrey on the living room wall were actual portfolio shots of Dana Barron when she was making commercials as a child actress.

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Goofs

As Clark and Ellen enter the office, Clark opens the door for Ellen using his right arm. As the view switches to an interior shot of them coming in, Clark is holding the door open with his left hand, with his left arm over Ellen's head.

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Quotes

Marty Moose: Sorry, folks! We're closed for two weeks to clean and repair America's favorite family fun park. Sorry, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh!

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Crazy Credits

During the credits, you see snapshots of group photos of where and who the Griswalds met on the vacation. The last photo shows you how they got home, on a plane.

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Connections

Featured in I Love the '80s (2002)

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Soundtracks

"I'm So Excited"
Written by Anita Pointer, June Pointer, Ruth Pointer and Trevor Lawrence
Performed by The Pointer Sisters
Produced by Richard Perry
Courtesy of Planet Records

User Reviews

'Excuse me, I'm looking for directions back to the expressway'

Clark Griswold ignores his family's pleas to go to Hawaii for their summer vacation and opts for the Walley World resort in California instead. His long-suffering wife Ellen wants to fly, but Clark would rather drive and spend time with the kids he hardly ever sees.

Sounds like a simple journey from A to B right? Wrong! The Griswolds are a gene pool of absolute disaster and nothing...NOTHING goes right...ever. The fun begins with Clark being forced to accept a disgusting metallic pea-green family truckster instead of a cool-blue sports model with CB and optional fun pack. It's literally the most hideous car in the history of automobiles (and that includes the car that Homer Simpson made for his brother Herb).

As the lengthy days on the road pass, Clark is ripped-off by street hustlers, guilt-tripped out of $500 from his hick cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid in what is, begrudgingly, his most popular role), ripped-off by a hick sheriff/mechanic, and tempted by gorgeous blonde in a Ferrari. Though Ellen doesn't take kindly to anyone with an eye on her Sparky (actually D'Angelo's pet name for Chevy Chase and not something that was scripted).

Based on John Hughes' ill-fated trip to Disneyworld when he was five-years-old, Vacation brought us Chevy Chase's most famous character (sorry Fletch) and most successful series. He has absolutely perfect chemistry with Beverly D'Angelo, who, with her large eyeballs and perfect timing, is an under-rated comic actress in her own right.

While I absolutely love the first and third movies in the Vacation series, and both definitely score 10/10, I have to say the original is the best as it has a really dark edge that none of the others have. There's virtually nothing in Vacation that isn't funny. Harold Ramis, fresh off the absolute anarchy of Caddyshack, keeps a tight, sadistic reign on the disastrous road trip. If you have a dark sense of humor and enjoy evil comedy then you'll love Vacation. It was one of the first movies I ever saw and it helped turn me into the misanthropic, dysfunctional, ghoulish misfit that I am today.

Thank you, Vacation! Thank you!