After an argument with Ellen, Clark eventually meets the Ferrari-driving blonde at a hotel bar. Overwhelmed by the mishaps they have encountered during the road trip, Ellen and the children want to go back home, but Clark has become obsessed with reaching Walley World and they continue on. Ellen becomes annoyed at Clark's hasty, halfhearted attempt at a eulogy. Discovering that Norman is out of town when they arrive at his home, they attach a note to the corpse and leave it in his backyard.

They tie her corpse to the roof of the car, wrapped in a tarpaulin. Leaving, they find that Aunt Edna has died in her sleep. When Clark is unable to convince a hotel clerk to cash a personal check because his credit cards have mistakenly been reported lost, he raids the cash register behind the clerk's back and leaves the check. Frustrated, they stop at the Grand Canyon. The mechanic extorts Clark's remaining cash only to render the car barely operational. After setting off alone in the desert to look for help, Clark eventually reunites with his family, who have been rescued and taken to a local mechanic. Clark and Rusty have a bonding experience explaining why Clark wants to take this vacation. While Ellen and Clark argue during a drive between Utah and Arizona, they crash and become stranded in the desert near Monument Valley. Exiting Colorado, Ellen loses her bag which had her credit cards and Clark reports them as lost.

Edna learns of her dog's death and becomes more irate with Clark. A motorcycle cop pulls the Griswolds over and angrily lectures Clark over animal cruelty, but accepts Clark's apology. They stop in Coolidge, Kansas, to visit Ellen's cousin Catherine and her husband Eddie, who foist cranky Aunt Edna and her mean dog Dinky on the Griswolds, asking them to drop her off at her son Norman's home in Phoenix.Īfter stopping at a decrepit and dirty campground in South Fork, Colorado, for the night, Clark forgets to untie Dinky's leash from the rear bumper before driving off the next morning, killing the dog. Clark aggravates a bartender in Dodge City, Kansas, and is tantalized on numerous occasions by a beautiful young woman driving a flashy red Ferrari 308 GTS. Clark is forced to buy the 'Wagon Queen Family Truckster', an ugly, oversized station wagon, after the car he brought to trade in has been hauled away and crushed.ĭuring the family's travels, they experience numerous mishaps, such as being tagged by vandals in St. He has ordered a new car in preparation for the trip, but the dealer claims that it will not be ready for six weeks. Ellen wants to fly, but Clark insists on driving, so he can bond with his family. Plot Ĭlark Griswold, wanting to spend more time with his wife Ellen and children Rusty and Audrey, decides to lead the family on a cross-country expedition from the Chicago suburbs to the southern California amusement park Walley World, billed as 'America's Favorite Family Fun Park'. In 2000, readers of Total Film voted it the 46th greatest comedy film of all time. alone with an estimated budget of $15 million, and received positive reviews from critics.Īs a result of its success, five sequels have been produced: European Vacation (1985), Christmas Vacation (1989), Vegas Vacation (1997), Christmas Vacation 2 (2003) and Vacation (2015). The film was a box-office hit, earning more than $60 million in the U.S. The screenplay was written by John Hughes on the basis of his short story 'Vacation '58,' which appeared in National Lampoon. It tells the fictitious story of the Griswold family on a cross-country trip to an amusement park and various locations as hilarious hijinks occur along the way. National Lampoon's Vacation, sometimes referred to as simply Vacation, is a 1983 American road trip comedy film directed by Harold Ramis starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Imogene Coca, Randy Quaid, John Candy, and Christie Brinkley in her acting debut with special appearances by Eddie Bracken, Brian Doyle-Murray, Miriam Flynn, James Keach, Eugene Levy and Frank McRae.

Cousin eddie trailer