A Chicago family sets out for a two-week road trip to California and encounters every conceivable mishap along the way.
National Lampoon‘s first outing – 1978’s Animal House – is still the funniest by far, but this decent effort is miles better than subsequent movies in the series.
Chevy Chase plays accident-prone inventor Clark Griswold who sets off to take his family across America from Chicago to the Walley World amusement park in California and runs into numerous mishaps and disasters along the way.
Director Harold Ramis, who went on to make Groundhog Day (1993), keeps the silliness coming at a fast and furious pace, and he has the benefit of a supporting cast that includes Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid, Christie Brinkley and John Candy.
Clark Griswold
Chevy Chase
Ellen Griswold
Beverly D’Angelo
Aunt Edna
Imogene Coca
Cousin Eddie
Randy Quaid
Rusty Griswold
Anthony Michael Hall
Audrey Griswold
Dana Barron
Roy Walley
Eddie Bracken
Kamp Komfort clerk
Brian Doyle-Murray
Cousin Catherine
Miriam Flynn
Motorcycle cop
James Keach
Lasky
John Candy
Girl in red Ferrari
Christie Brinkley
Director
Harold Ramis
