National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Other mistake: Another note about Clark's falling through the ceiling and onto his son's bed: Take note of the shot of him in the attic after falling through the ceiling. He's standing on the upper bunk of the bed now, but from the shot in the attic, he's only down to his knees or so. Assuming his home's ceiling joists are 8 inches or so, then the mattress of the upper bunk would have to be no more than, say, 10 inches from the ceiling for that much of him to still be in the attic while standing on the bed. I've never seen a bunk bed whose upper bed gave you less than a foot of space between mattress and ceiling! (00:33:05)

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Suggested correction: The bunk bed is not normally used by two people - there is a scene in the kitchen where Audrey talks about having to share with her brother. It is possible that this bunk bed used to be in a different location, but has been shifted to this lower ceiling at some point in the past.

Continuity mistake: In the department store as Clark is talking with Mary, the lingerie sales lady, his left arm is supporting him on the glass counter as he is standing. The next shot when Rusty approaches, Clark is now bent down with his left arm resting on the counter.

Scott215

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Suggested correction: You actually see Clark go from sitting on the counter to bending down as the saleslady is modelling the undergarment.

That's not the part the mistake is talking about. The mistake is valid. Clark is sitting in the counter but is off screen when he changes position (so you don't actually see it). When Rusty enters the shot, Clark's hand is in the counter. In the next shot, his elbow is on the counter, with no time elapsing.

Bishop73

Continuity mistake: At the end of the movie, when Clark is outside of the house with Eddie's dog, all the police cars have disappeared. (01:34:10 - 01:35:00)

Dr Wilson

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Suggested correction: It's the end of the movie with credits rolling, I would think the people behind the movie wanted it that way with Clark looking proudly of his Christmas night. his last line in the movie, he said "I did it" and the lights went off on the "THE END" sign. So, that's what I think about the ending. It's not a mistake. It would be if the sign wasn't shut off and started rolling credits after he said his line and nothing's there.

movielove

Other mistake: Up in the attic when Clark finds the videos, the video he watches is labelled Christmas '59 but while watching it, the sign being held up says "XMAS 1955"

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Suggested correction: It may be a 2nd film he watched after the 1959 film. This may not be in real time, just like we only see Clark in the attic for a few min but in reality the family was gone assumingly much longer than we saw on film and Clark was there longer than we see.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Clark is outside hanging the lights, he staples the sleeve of his shirt, under his wrist, to the eaves of the house. In the next shot, as he is pulling, the shirt is stapled over his wrist. (00:21:50)

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Suggested correction: The position looks the same if you consider hand movement. Look at the opening of the sleeve and the hand position for comparison. I don't think this is an error.

Factual error: In the scene where Clark is working on the lights the full moon is shown. This is December 14th according to the advent calendar. On December 24th when Santa's sleigh goes sailing over the moon, it is still full.

David Schaal

More mistakes in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Clark: Worse? How could things get any worse? Take a look around you, Ellen. We're at the threshold of Hell.

More quotes from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Trivia: Clark Griswold in the attic watching old movies dressed in a woman's turban and gloves to keep warm is not only funny but a reference to the Norma Desmond character from "Sunset Boulevard", who watches her old films to remember her Hollywood glory days.

Scott215

More trivia for National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Question: Was there a deleted scene where Cathrine and Ellen were talking while making the turkey in the kitchen and/or doing something resulting in the bird being "overdone" totally and showing up in the scene at dinner causing the turkey to literally explode in a cloud of dust when carved by Clark? It just seems there was a scene missing there!

Answer: YES! You are 100% correct about the deleted turkey-cooking scene! Both my husband and I remember this scene. It was Catherine and Eddie that cooked the turkey to thank Clark and his family for being hospitable. They had never cooked a turkey before and they thought cooking it at a low temperature for a LONG time would be ideal. It looked great, but completely dehydrated. THIS is why Catherine is so upset when the turkey pops open and steams - she ruined the turkey for everyone.

Answer: I have a DVD with the exploding turkey scene It's a classic.

Answer: There was never a scene as described in the film, nor was there anything in any of the special features. Also, there is no mention of it in any of the commentary.

Answer: I also remember vividly the scene where Catherine is cooking the turkey and have been trying to get a copy of the film where that scene is not deleted. Also checked with my wife, she recalls it too. I think we might have seen it on a very early VHS or LaserDisc version.

More questions & answers from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

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