Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold and his wife Ellen ( Beverly D'Angelo ) — and their two generally repulsive children Rusty ( Jason Lively ) and Audrey ( Dana Hill ) — are off on a European vacation thanks to a winning stint on a quiz show. As the movie unfolds in brochures featuring London, Paris, and regions in Italy and Germany, the family undergoes a series of slap-schtick misadventures that include thinking an overwhelmed German husband and wife are long-lost relatives and getting into a funk in their train compartment. Not on a par with the first National Lampoon vacation, for many viewers the end of this European vacation is something that cannot come too soon. — Eleanor Mannikka