Surprisingly enough, there are some unusual connections between Christmas Vacation and the venerable classic It's a Wonderful Life (1946). Not only is the newel post that Clark ends up sawing off a reference to the loose one in Wonderful Life, but you can see the Frank Capra film playing on the television during the grandparents' arrival scene. Behind the scenes there was another connection: the assistant director was Frank Capra III, the grandson of Wonderful Life's legendary director. And it was the television premiere of Christmas Vacation that secured higher ratings than the first network telecast of It's a Wonderful Life in 1994!
Fans who enjoyed the first Vacation film were delighted to see the return of dreadful Cousin Eddie, gleefully played by Randy Quaid. In another reference to Vacation, Eddie and Clark toast their eggnog in glass moose head mugs, a wink to Marty Moose and Walley World. Ed-heads should also know that one of his most memorable outfits, a black dickie visible under a white sweater, was actually Quaid's wife's idea. The character's popularity spawned a sequel of its own, the imminently forgettable Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure (2003).
Producer: William S. Beasley, Mauri Syd Gayton, John Hughes, Tom Jacobson, Matty Simmons, Ramey E. Ward
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik
Screenplay: John Hughes
Cinematography: Thomas Ackerman
Film Editing: Gerald Greenberg, Michael Stevenson
Art Direction: Beala Neel
Music: Angelo Badalamenti
Cast: Chevy Chase (Clark Griswold), Beverly D'Angelo (Ellen Griswold), Juliette Lewis (Audrey Griswold), Johnny Galecki (Rusty Griswold), John Randolph (Clark Griswold, Sr.), Diane Ladd (Nora Griswold).
C-97m. Letterboxed.
by Eleanor Quin
