National Lampoon's Vacation





"National Lampoon's Vacation", or simply just "Vacation" is a 1983 comedy film about the Griswold Family trying to get to Walley World, an amusement park in California. They face quite a few obstacles that make them loose time and money throughout the trip.

Cast

 * Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold
 * Beverly D'Angelo as Ellen Griswold
 * Imogene Coca as Aunt Edna
 * Anthony Michael Hall as Russell "Rusty" Griswold
 * Dana Barron as Audrey Griswold
 * Randy Quaid as Cousin Eddie
 * Christie Brinkley as Girl in Red Ferrari
 * John Candy as Officer Russ Lasky
 * Eddie Bracken as Roy Walley
 * Brian Doyle-Murray as Kamp Komfort Clerk
 * Miriam Flynn as Cousin Catherine
 * James Keach as Motorcycle Cop
 * Eugene Levy as Ed the Car Salesman
 * Gerry Black as Davenport
 * Frank McRae as Officer Grover
 * Jane Krakowski as Cousin Vicki
 * John P. Navin Jr. as Cousin Dale
 * Nathan Cook as Man Giving Directions
 * Mickey Jones as Mechanic
 * John Diehl as Assistant Mechanic
 * Michael Talbott as Cowboy
 * Randy Lowell as Wyatt Earp (as Randolph Dreyfuss)
 * James Staley as El Tovar Desk Clerk

Plot
Clark Griswold (Chase), wanting to spend more time with his wife Ellen (D'Angelo) and children Rusty and Audrey (Hall and Barron), decides to lead the family on a cross-country expedition from Chicago to the Los Angeles amusement park "Walley World", billed as "America's Favorite Family Fun Park". Although Ellen wants to fly, Clark insists on driving, so he can bond with his family. In preparation, he has ordered a new "sports wagon" for the trip, but the dealer (Eugene Levy) pulls a bait-and-switch, claiming the sports wagon won't be ready for six weeks. Clark is forced to accept a Wagon Queen Family Truckster, a hideously unstylish, poorly made, outsized station wagon.

As the family travels, they run into numerous mishaps, such as being tagged by vandals in a rundown area of St. Louis, while Clark is tempted numerous times by an attractive young woman (Brinkley) driving a flashy red Ferrari 308 GTS. They stop in Coolidge, Kansas to visit Ellen's cousin Catherine (Miriam Flynn) and her husband Eddie (Quaid), but this creates more tension for the Griswolds. Catherine and Eddie foist crotchety old Aunt Edna (Coca) and her dog Dinky on the Griswolds, asking them to drop her off at her son Normy's home in Phoenix. After stopping at a campground in South Fork, Colorado for the night, Clark forgets to untie Dinky from the car's bumper before leaving, accidentally killing the dog.

While Ellen and Clark argue, they become stranded in the desert, and Clark eventually finds a mechanic that scams him out of the rest of his cash to fix the car. Frustrated, they stop at the Grand Canyon; when Clark cannot convince a hotel clerk to take a check, he takes cash from the hotel's cash register but leaves behind the check. Leaving the Canyon, they find that Aunt Edna died in her sleep. When they reach Normy's home, they discover he is out of town, and leave Edna's rigor mortised body in the backyard.

Despite all the events and the begging of Ellen and the kids, Clark is more determined to get to Walley World. They finally arrive the next day to find the park closed for repairs. Clark, slipping into madness realizing that all his efforts have been for nothing, buys a realistic-looking BB gun pistol and demands a park security guard named Russ Lasky (John Candy) to take them through the park at gunpoint; Ellen and kids follow him, attempting to placate their husband and father. Eventually the SWAT team arrives along with park owner Roy Walley (Eddie Bracken). Roy understands Clark's impassioned epitome of the American Vacation, bringing back memories of his own childhood years ago. Roy does not file charges against the Griswolds and lets the family enjoy the park as his guests. The credits show numerous photographs of the Griswolds enjoying the rest of their vacation, including returning to Chicago via plane.