''National Lampoon's European Vacation'' is a 1985 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Amy Heckerling Amy Heckerling (born May 7, 1954) is an American filmmaker. An alumna of both New York University and the American Film Institute, she directed the commercially successful films ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' (1982), ''National Lampoon's Europ ...

and written by

Robert Klane Robert Klane (born 1941) is an American screenwriter, novelist and filmmaker, best known for early iconoclastic novels and for his screenplays for dark comedies such as '' Where's Poppa?'' (1970) and ''Weekend at Bernie's'' (1989). Career A 1963 ...

. The second film in National Lampoon's ''Vacation'' film series, it stars

Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...

, Beverly D'Angelo,

Dana Hill Dana Hill (born Dana Lynne Goetz; May 6, 1964 – July 15, 1996) was an American actress. She was known for playing Audrey Griswold in '' National Lampoon's European Vacation'', and also known for her roles in ''Shoot the Moon'' and '' Cross Cre ...

Jason Lively Ronald Jason Lively (born March 12, 1968) is an American actor. He is best known for ''European Vacation'' (1985), ''Night of the Creeps'' (1986), and ''Ghost Chase'' (1987). Early life Ronald Jason Lively was born on March 12, 1968 in Carroll ...

, Victor Lanoux, and Eric Idle with special appearances by

John Astin John Allen Astin (born March 30, 1930) is an American actor and director who has appeared in numerous stage, television and film roles. He is best known for starring in '' The Addams Family'' (1964–1966), as patriarch Gomez Addams, reprising ...

Paul Bartel Paul Bartel (August 6, 1938 – May 13, 2000) was an American actor, writer and director. He was perhaps most known for his 1982 hit black comedy '' Eating Raoul'', which he wrote, starred in and directed. Bartel appeared in over 90 movies and ...

Maureen Lipman Dame Maureen Diane Lipman (born 10 May 1946) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and her stage work has included appearances with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespea ...

Willy Millowitsch Willy Millowitsch (, ; 8 January 1909 – 20 September 1999) was a German stage and TV actor and the director of the ''Volkstheater Millowitsch'' in Cologne. Early life Millowitsch was born in Cologne, Rhine Province. His parents were Peter ...

Mel Smith Melvyn Kenneth Smith (3 December 1952 – 19 July 2013) was an English comedian, actor and director. Smith worked on the sketch comedy shows ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' and ''Alas Smith and Jones'' with his comedy partner, Griff Rhys Jones. ...

, and

Moon Zappa Moon Unit Zappa (born September 28, 1967) is an American actress, singer, and author. She is the daughter of musician Frank Zappa. Early life Moon Zappa was born in New York City, the eldest child of Gail (née Sloatman) and musician Frank Zapp ...

. It tells the story of the Griswold family when they win an all-expense-paid trip to Europe as chaos of all sorts occur. The film received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

The Griswold family competes in a game show called ''Pig in a Poke'' and wins an all-expenses-paid trip to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. In a whirlwind tour of

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

, chaos of all sorts ensues. They stay in a fleabag

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

hotel with a sloppy, tattooed

Cockney Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or ...

desk clerk. While in their English rental car, a yellow Austin Maxi, Clark's tendency to drive on the wrong side of the road causes frequent accidents, including knocking over a bicyclist they have many run-ins with. Later, Clark drives the family around the busy

Lambeth Bridge Lambeth Bridge is a road traffic and footbridge crossing the River Thames in an east–west direction in central London. The river flows north at the crossing point. Downstream, the next bridge is Westminster Bridge; upstream, the next bridge i ...

roundabout for hours, unable to maneuver his way out of the chaotic traffic. At Stonehenge, Clark accidentally backs the car into an ancient stone monolith, toppling all the stones like dominoes, which they do not even notice as they happily leave the scene. In

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, the family wears stenciled

berets A beret ( or ; ; eu, txapela, ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap, usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in 19th century France and Spain, and the beret rema ...

, causing Rusty to be teased by young women at the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed "' ...

observation deck. Clark offers to get rid of the beret for Rusty, but when he throws it away, another visitor's dachshund mistakes it for a Frisbee and jumps off the tower after it, landing safely in a nearby pond. The family's video camera is stolen by a passerby whom Clark had asked to take a picture of the family. Clark is also mocked by a French waiter for his terrible French, though he does not realize it. Later, Clark and Ellen visit a bawdy Paris can-can dance show, finding Rusty already there with a prostitute. Next in a

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

village, the Griswolds burst in on a bewildered elderly couple, who they mistakenly think are relatives but the couple ends up providing them dinner and lodging anyway, each family not being able to understand the other's language. Clark turns a lively Bavarian folk dance stage performance into an all-out street brawl, after which, while fleeing, he hastily knocks down several street vendors' stands and gets their

Citroën DS The Citroën DS () is a front mid-engined, front-wheel drive executive car manufactured and marketed by Citroën from 1955 to 1975, in fastback/sedan, wagon/estate, and convertible body configurations, across three series of one generation. ...

stuck in a narrow medieval archway. In

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, the Griswolds rent a car at a travel office, but unknown to them, the men in charge are thieves, holding the real manager captive. The lead thief gives them a car with the manager in the trunk, claiming he lost the trunk keys. The next day, Ellen is shocked to discover that private, sexy videos of her from the family's stolen video camera have been used in a billboard advertising porn, leaving her completely humiliated. After screaming angrily at Clark (who had told her he had erased the video), Ellen storms off to their hotel where she encounters the thief who rented them the car. She confesses her recent troubles, still unaware that he is a criminal. The man then tries to get the car keys, which are in her purse, but fails. When the police arrive at the hotel, he kidnaps Ellen, prompting Clark to rescue her. On the flight home, Clark falls into the pilot's cockpit and accidentally causes the plane to knock the Statue of Liberty's torch upside down as Russell says "The Griswolds are back".

Cast

The Griswolds: *

as Clark Griswold, the patriarch of the Griswald family * Beverly D'Angelo as Ellen Griswold, the wife of Clark *

as Audrey Griswold, the daughter of Clark and Ellen; She was portrayed by Dana Barron in the previous film *

as Russell "Rusty" Griswold, the son of Clark and Ellen; He was portrayed by

Anthony Michael Hall Michael Anthony Hall (born April 14, 1968), known professionally as Anthony Michael Hall, is an American actor best known for his leading role as Johnny Smith in '' The Dead Zone'' from 2002 to 2007. He also rose to fame starring in films with ...

in the previous film Characters in America: *

as Kent Winkdale, the host of ''Pig in a Poke'' *

as Mr. Froeger, the patriarch of the Froeger family that competed against the Griswalds on ''Pig in a Poke'' * Cynthia Szigeti as Mrs. Froeger, the wife of Mr. Froeger *

Malcolm Danare Malcolm Danare (born June 15, 1962) is an American actor, known for his role of Caesar in the 1985 film ''Heaven Help Us'' and Dr. Mendel Craven in the 1998 film ''Godzilla (1998 film), Godzilla'' and its Godzilla: The Series, animated series fo ...

as Moe Froeger, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Froeger * Kevi Kendall as Ruth Froeger, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Froeger *

William Zabka William Michael Zabka (; born October 20, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Johnny Lawrence in ''The Karate Kid'' (1984), ''The Karate Kid Part II'' (1986) and the TV series ''Cobra Kai'' (2018–present). In 2004, h ...

as Jack, Audrey's boyfriend * Sheila Kennedy as the Game Show Hostess #1. *

Gary Owens Gary Owens (born Gary Bernard Altman; May 10, 1934 – February 12, 2015) was an American radio announcer, personality, disc jockey and voice actor. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offered deadpan recitations of total nonsense, wh ...

as the voice of Johnny (uncredited), the announcer of ''Pig in a Poke'' Characters in England: * Jeannette Charles as Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen of The United Kingdom who appears in Ellen's dream sequence. * Peter Hugo as Prince Charles, the son of Queen Elizabeth II who appears in Ellen's dream sequence. * Julie Wooldridge as Princess Diana, the wife of Prince Charles who appears in Ellen's dream sequence. *

as a London hotel manager *

Robbie Coltrane Anthony Robert McMillan (30 March 195014 October 2022), known professionally as Robbie Coltrane, was a Scottish actor and comedian. He gained worldwide recognition in the 2000s for playing Rubeus Hagrid in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. H ...

as a man in the bathroom *

as a lady in the bed * Paul McDowell as First English motorist * Ballard Berkeley as Second English motorist * Eric Idle as The Bike Rider, an unnamed bike rider whom the Griswalds have several encounters with all over Europe *

Derek Deadman Derek Deadman (11 March 1940 – 22 November 2014) was an English character actor who appeared in numerous British films and television series for 38 years. Family Born in Fulham, Derek Deadman was one of the three sons of George and Edith Dead ...

as Taxi Driver Characters in France: *

Jacques Herlin Jacques Herlin (17 August 1927 – 7 June 2014) was a French character actor. Born in Paris as Jacques de Jouette, he appeared in an impressive number of films from the early sixties. He was also active on stage and on television. He died i ...

as a French hotel desk clerk * Sylvie Badalati as Rusty's French girl Characters in Germany: *

as Fritz Spritz, the supposed relative of Clark * Erika Wackernagel as Helga Spritz, the wife of Fritz and a supposed relative of Clark * Claudia Neidig as Claudia, Rusty's German girl Characters in Italy: * Victor Lanoux as The Thief, an unnamed criminal who took over a travel office * Massimo Sarchielli as The Other Thief, the unnamed accomplice of the unnamed thief * Moon Unit Zappa as Rusty's California girl

Production

John Hughes received nominal credit for writing and story, due to the use of characters and ideas from the first ''Vacation'' film, but was not directly involved with ''European Vacation''. Hughes would later state that Warner Bros had begged him for a sequel to ''Vacation'' but he declined at the time. He would eventually agree to return to the franchise by adapting one of his other National Lampoon stories, "Christmas '59," into '' National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'' in 1989.

Casting

Producer Matty Simmons initially told Dana Barron she would be returning to the role of Audrey. But after Hall declined to reprise his role and was opting to star in '' Weird Science'', Heckerling requested both children be recast.

Locations

Famous landmarks and sights appearing as the family tours

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

include: *

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel. It crosses the River Thames clos ...

* Lambeth Bridge Roundabout (Clark drives the car into the inner ring and can't get out of the traffic) * Buckingham Palace * Heathrow Airport,

Hounslow Hounslow () is a large suburban district of West London, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 12 metropolitan centres in ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

* Big Ben (Clark repeatedly announces to the kids on every loop around the Lambeth Bridge roundabout) * Palace of Westminster * Stonehenge (a scale model of the monument was constructed and

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

was not visited by the crew) *

Left Bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terra ...

Fontaine des Innocents The Fontaine des Innocents is a monumental public fountain located on the place Joachim-du-Bellay in the Les Halles district in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. Originally called the ''Fountain of the Nymphs'', it was constructed be ...

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

museum *

Notre Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...

cathedral *

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world t ...

Spanish Steps The Spanish Steps ( it, Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti) in Rome, Italy, climb a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church, at the top. The monumental stairwa ...

Piazza Navona Piazza Navona () is a public open space in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in the 1st century AD, and follows the form of the open space of the stadium. The ancient Romans went there to watch the '' agones' ...

Other locations used in the film include: * Statue of Liberty (the torch of which their plane crashes into and knocks over) *

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road Ma ...

, West London (Clark runs over Eric Idle's character here) Scenes supposedly taking place in West Germany were actually shot in a German-speaking part of Italy (

Brixen Brixen (, ; it, Bressanone ; lld, Porsenù or ) is a town in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about north of Bolzano. Geography First mentioned in 901, Brixen is the third largest city and oldest town in the province, and the artistic an ...

Music

The musical score for ''National Lampoon's European Vacation'' was composed by Charles Fox, who replaced Ralph Burns of the first film.

Lindsey Buckingham Lindsey Adams Buckingham (born October 3, 1949) is an American musician and record producer, best known as the lead guitarist and male lead vocalist of the band Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to 1987 and 1997 to 2018. In addition to his tenure with Fl ...

's "

Holiday Road "Holiday Road" is a 1983 single composed and recorded by American guitarist/singer Lindsey Buckingham. Written for the 1983 film '' National Lampoon's Vacation'', it was also used in the film's sequels National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985 ...

" was once again featured as the film's theme song, with many other contemporary songs included throughout the film. # "

" by

# " Some Like It Hot" by

Power Station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

# " Town Called Malice" by

The Jam The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1 ...

# "Problèmes d'amour" by Alexander Robotnick # " Ça plane pour moi" by

Plastic Bertrand Roger François Jouret (born 24 February 1954), better known as Plastic Bertrand, is a Belgian musician, songwriter, producer, editor and television presenter, best known for the 1977 international hit single " Ça plane pour moi". Biography ...

# "Pig In a Poke" by Danny Gould # "Baby It's You, Yes I Am" by Danger Zone # "New Looks" by Dr. John # "Back in America" by Network

Reception

Box office

''National Lampoon's European Vacation'' opened July 26, 1985 in 1,546 North American theaters and grossed $12,329,627 its opening weekend, ranking number one at the box office. After its initial run, the film grossed a total of $49,364,621 domestically.

Critical response

Review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

gives ''National Lampoon's European Vacation'' a score of 34% based on reviews from 29 critics, with an average of 5 out of 10. The critical consensus reads; "''European Vacation'' charts a course through a succession of pretty destinations, but the journey itself lacks the laughs that made the original outing so memorable." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, it has a score of 47 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' thought positively of the film stating, "While it's very much a retread, it succeeds in following up the first film's humor with more in a similar vein." She added, "The film's best visual humor arises from the mere juxtaposition of European settings with the funny hats, T-shirts and soda cans with which the Griswalds announce their presence." Entertainment magazine ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' gave the film a negative review explaining, "As the family of characters cartwheel through London, Paris, Italy and Germany - with the French deliciously taking it on the chin for their arrogance and rudeness - director Amy Heckerling gets carried away with physical humor while letting her American tourists grow tiresome and predictable. Structurally, the film unfolds like a series of travel brochures."

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1985 films 1980s adventure comedy films American adventure comedy films American sequel films 1980s English-language films Films about vacationing Films directed by Amy Heckerling Films scored by Charles Fox Films set in Chicago Films set in London Films set in England Films set in Paris Films set in West Germany Films set in Rome Films shot in London Films shot in England Films shot in Paris Films shot in Rome Films shot in Italy National Lampoon's Vacation (film series) Films about quizzes and game shows Films with screenplays by John Hughes (filmmaker) Warner Bros. films Brooksfilms films 1985 comedy films 1980s American films