For almost 40 years, Beverly D’Angelo and Chevy Chase have played the roles of Clark and Ellen Griswold, with one of their biggest hit being 1989’s Christmas Vacation. The screwball comedy was a box office hit upon its relese, but its reputation has only grown over the years, becoming a Christmas classic for many viewers and taking its place on store shelves alongside Elf and A Christmas Story. And to celebrate its annual rise, Chase and D’Angelo got together and took a reunion photo to share with fans on social media.
The image doesn’t feature the Griswold kids, but hey! At this point they’re all grown up and moved out anyway. Besides, they have been recast so many times it would be difficult to fit them all in the shot.
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You can see the photo below.
The Vacation franchise started in 1983. The first film was written by John Hughes and directed by Harold Ramis, based on Vacation ’58, a short story Hughes wrote in the National Lampoon magazine. There have been six total installments in the franchise, with the latest being a 2015 quasi-reboot starring Ed Helms as Rusty Griswold, Clark and Ellen’s son. Chase and D’Angelo have appeared in five of the films, including the reboot, with their only absence being in the made-for-TV Christmas Vacation 2, which centered on Randy Quaid’s oddball Cousin Eddie character.
Of the six films, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation has an odd distinction: it’s the only one that does not actually center on the main character leaving home to go on vacation. In Christmas Vacation, the family comes to Clark and Ellen, and the film takes place in their home. Rather than being a road-trip comedy, the movie is transformed into a Christmas situational comedy, centering on Clark’s desire to deliver the grandest, most perfect “traditional Christmas” he possibly can.
Christmas Vacation is also the last installment of the franchise written by John Hughes. The screenwriter behind movies like The Breakfast Club and Home Alone passed away in 2009, when the franchise was sleeping off the back-to-back embarrassments of Vegas Vacation and Christmas Vacation 2.
Is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation part of our holiday traditions? Sound off in the comments, or hit up @russburlingame@c.im on Mastodon to talk all things John Hughes.
