National Lampoon's Vacation (Exclusive Series) (HBO Max)

FUN FACT!!! NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION IS 39 YEARS OLD!!!!

Initial release date: July 29, 1983

Studio: Warner Bros.

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

Plot: Accompanied by their children, Clark Griswold and his wife, Ellen, are driving from Illinois to a California amusement park. As Clark increasingly fixates on a beautiful woman driving a sports car, the Griswold's deal with car problems and the death of a family member. They reach LA, but when Clark worries that the trip is being derailed again, he acts impulsively to get his family to the park.

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

Eddie Bracken - Roy Walley

Brian Doyle-Murray - Kamp Komfort Clerk

Miriam Flynn - Cousin Catherine

Eugene Levy - Car Salesman

John Candy - Lasky (Wally World Guard)

Christie Brinkley - The Girl in the Ferrari

Writer: John Hughes

Director: Harold Ramis

Rated R (98 minutes)

The 'Vacation' series started up back in 1983 with 'National Lampoon's Vacation.' Sure, the series had its ups and downs. But, the 1983 movie cannot be beaten!

'Vacation' is a timeless, hysterical comedy that is not to be missed. Almost every scene will either make you chuckle or laugh out loud!

This is one of those comedies that have several stand out comedic moments and can't just pick one. Cousin Eddie will always be the stand out character of the movies that he appears in and is extremely hilarious in this movie.

The movie also delivers a lot of humorous cameos scattered throughout, including the late great John Candy towards the end as a security guard for Walley World.

Here are some interesting tidbits for 1983s 'Vacation':

• In the scene where the Griswold's are in the parking lot staring at Walley World, they're actually looking at the Santa Anita Racetrack. Ramis said they cut the racetrack out of the frame, and replaced it with a hand painted picture of Walley World.

• Many bits in the movie were improvised, including Clark's dance with his sandwich, Clark's send-off to Aunt Edna, and Rusty's chugging of the beer.

• Hughes' script was inspired by an equally ill-fated family trip to Disneyland when he was five years old, which was what his National Lampoon Magazine article "Vacation '58" was about.

• Chevy Chase and James Keach stated in interviews that during the "dog tied to the bumper" scene, both he and Chevy were legitimately tearing up, and that Chevy consistently biting his lips and his shortness of breath were genuine. All because they were trying to contain themselves from laughing.

• According to Anthony Michael Hall, the beer can from which he drank out of was empty.

• Exterior filming of the Griswold's "on the road" took the greater part of three months during production, crossing numerous states including California, Arizona, Colorado, Missouri and Illinois, which was filmed by a second unit. While most of the main filming took place in California, the cast did travel on location for scenes in Colorado, Utah and Arizona.

• Premiere voted the movie as one of "The 50 Greatest Comedies Of All Time" in 2006.

• The Wagon Queen Family Truckster is actually a modified 1980 Ford LTD Country Squire station wagon.

• Included among the AFI's 2000 list of the 500 movies nominated for the Top 100 Funniest American Movies.

• Matty Simmons and WB exec Mark Canton wanted John Landis to direct the movie. Simmons talked to him about it, but Landis turned it down because he was working on 'An American Werewolf in London' at the same time.

• It was originally scripted that, after Aunt Edna was tied to the roof of the car, there was a shot of her fingers moving, implying she was in fact still alive. This was considered "cruel" to have a live person on the roof of a car by the ratings board, so it was cut, and she remained dead.

• Filming began on July 5, 1982, in Boone, Colorado, and lasted 55 days. Parts of the movie were shot in Monument Valley, Utah; Flagstaff, Sedona and the Grand Canyon in Arizona; Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia and Magic Mountain in CA; Southern California, and St. Louis, Missouri.

• 'Vacation' opened theatrically in 1,175 venues on July 29, 1983 and earned $8.3 million in its opening weekend, ranking No. 1 at the domestic box office. The movie grossed $61.3 million.

• Five sequels have been produced: 'European Vacation' in 1985, 'Christmas Vacation' in 1989, 'Vegas Vacation' in 1997, 'Christmas Vacation 2' in 2003 and 'Vacation' in 2015

https://youtu.be/FHThGmVfE3A