The film's origins trace back to a short story by Hughes originally published in National Lampoon Magazine. Titled Vacation 58, it is loosely based on a road tip from Hughes' childhood. Hughes produced a screenplay based on the tremendous amount of favorable reader mail to the tale. As the film's producer (and National Lampoon CEO) Matty Simmons put it, "It's a story that audiences can relate to. Filmgoers put themselves in that car and drive right across country with the Griswolds." Ramis concurred: "I identify with Clark. In 1977, I bought a brand-new nine passenger station wagon and set out on a cross-country trip." In a case of art imitating life, Clark Griswold does this same thing when he buys the Wagon Queen Family Truckster, quite possibly the ugliest car ever created. In a past life, the car used was actually a Ford Country Squire station wagon, but after the addition of another set of headlights, an additional grille, and green walled tires (just for starters!), the Truckster was born.
Along for the ride is Clark's long-suffering wife Ellen, played by Beverly D'Angelo. The actress first gained notice portraying Patsy Cline in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), a role in which she did all her own singing. Anthony Michael Hall and Dana Barron play the Griswold children. Hall would become a John Hughes protégé, playing geeky characters in Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club, and Weird Science (both 1985).
Vacation's supporting cast is as impressive as it is varied, with classic comedic talent from Imogene Coca and Eddie Bracken, more SNL and SCTV performers, and a supermodel for good measure. Vaudevillian performer Coca, who had her greatest success with Sid Caesar in Your Show of Shows (1950-4), plays the dreadful Aunt Edna with aplomb. Bracken, as amusement park owner Walley, began his career in Hal Roach's Our Gang shorts, and graduated on to such hits as Too Many Girls (1940), The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944), and Hail the Conquering Hero (1944). Randy Quaid, brother of Dennis, plays creepy country Cousin Eddie almost too well. Discovered by director Peter Bogdanovich, Quaid appeared in The Last Picture Show (1971), What's Up, Doc? (1972), and Paper Moon before earning an Oscar® nomination for The Last Detail (both 1973). He and Hall would go on to appear in SNL during the 85/86 season. Eugene Levy, known for his roles in Splash (1984) and American Pie (1999)--as well as an ex-SCTV member--turns in a memorable cameo as a sleazy car salesman. Christie Brinkley, a.k.a. the ex-Mrs. Billy Joel, took time off from Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue covers to play Clark's dream woman. Sharp-eyed viewers will notice a young Jane Krakowski as Cousin Vicki¿fourteen years later, she would star in TV's Ally McBeal (1997-2002).
Walley World was originally based on Disneyworld; due to the unfavorable image in the film, Disney execs objected to its likeness being used, so a fictional park was created. Six Flags Magic Mountain was the actual facility used. The original ending to the film involved Clark, upon finding the park closed, taking his family to Walley's house and forcing him to entertain them at gunpoint. Not funny. As Ramis describes it, the ending ". . . bombed so badly that the audience was laughing for eighty minutes and then just stopped cold." Rewrite! The revised ending also provided for a great cameo by John Candy, who¿you guessed it¿was also an SCTV alumnus. His nervy security guard character was actually based on an old creation of Candy's named Wally Wypyzypychwk from the Canadian TV series Coming Up Rosie (1975). Since the reshoot took place six months after the production ended, a pubescent Hall was now three inches taller than his height at principal photography.
Vacation received mixed reviews from the critics but was a hit with audiences. Typical of the more positive notices is this comment from Newsday critic Alex Keneas: "a send-up of the kind of good, clean, coyly sincere Disney fluff that general audiences outgrew by the late '60s - a Fred MacMurray family outing run amok in the permissive '80s." Reviewer David Ansen of Newsweek also noted that "The most striking thing about...National Lampoon's Vacation, is that the gross-out factor, usually the 'Poonies' calling card, is surprisingly low...Vacation is more like a sardonic update of the old Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz The Long, Long Trailer [1954] than Animal House [1978]." The film proved to be so popular at the box office that it spawned a series of sequels, European Vacation (1985), Christmas Vacation (1989), and Vegas Vacation (1997). While all have their moments, the original Vacation remains the most beloved Griswold saga.
Producer: Robert Grand, Matty Simmons
Director: Harold Ramis
Screenplay: John Hughes
Cinematography: Victor J. Kemper
Film Editing: Pembroke J. Herring
Art Direction: Jack T. Collis
Music: Lindsey Buckingham, Ralph Burns, Franne Golde
Cast: 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).
C-98m. Letterboxed.
by Eleanor Quin
