- 4/22/2025
Legendary actor and comedian, Chevy Chase, reminisces on the magic of making "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation."
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00:01We're very excited to welcome once again Mr. Chevy Chase.
00:05Chevy, thank you for coming on.
00:07Chevy Chase. I've never heard a voice that low in my life.
00:10Thank you, sir. I appreciate the compliment.
00:13Yes, who is this, please?
00:14That's Preston, who has the low voice, and I'm the bald guy, if you can see us.
00:18So I'm Steve.
00:19Oh, wait a minute. Are you the guy with the voice?
00:22No, Preston.
00:23I think I'm the guy with the voice.
00:26That was very good. I loved it.
00:28Hey, Chevy.
00:29Hi, guys. Nice to see you.
00:30Nice to see you.
00:31It's wonderful to have you on.
00:32I needed to ask, you know, 39 years ago, you guys made the film National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
00:40And when you think back to that time when you were filming it,
00:44did you know that you had something extra special in that film
00:49and that people would still be loving it today?
00:52Because I've already watched it three times in the past couple of weeks.
00:55Hmm. No, I didn't like it.
00:59But no, of course, let me just say this.
01:04When I make movies, I hope that people will like it, but you don't know, really.
01:10In fact, I've been doing recently some appearances, such as the one I'll be doing in Atlantic City at Tropicana,
01:21where I'm with an actual audience of, you know, I don't know, a few thousand people or whatever.
01:26And until that time, you know, I've never seen my audience.
01:32Basically, you make a movie and you never know anything.
01:36You could, oh, once I snuck into a theater with Dustin Hoffman when we did a movie,
01:41I just snuck in and stayed in the back to see if they'd laugh.
01:44Right.
01:44But, I mean, really, it's the same thing with Dustin or anybody.
01:48It's just we don't know.
01:50Well, you know what?
01:50It's become a holiday classic and it is it deserves that.
01:56But I also think in a way it might National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation might get short shrift on the emotional level
02:03because it resonates on so many of those levels as well.
02:07I remember years ago when I was a kid, my dad was sweating at a Christmas bonus check.
02:13And so that that all of that and I think it's captured beautifully in the movie in the attic scene where I well up at that scene.
02:22That is a beautiful scene.
02:24How did that come together?
02:26Oh, that's funny.
02:27You should ask that.
02:28Well, it's not that funny, but we were in Breckenridge, Colorado,
02:33on a ski slope of shooting the very first scene in the movie where I'm going down the hill and which you'll you'll notice and see if you watch it.
02:44But and it suddenly a blizzard hit us and we were supposed to go back to L.A. and start shooting.
02:52And we ended up having to stay there.
02:55So the bed and breakfast that we were in had an attic.
02:59And we thought, well, let's let's try out their attic, which we did.
03:02That's where we shot it.
03:03Wow.
03:04And they're at it.
03:05And I was happy to find, you know, a couple of boards I could stand on that would hit me in the back of the head and in the front of the head and whatnot.
03:13Yeah.
03:14So that's how we did it.
03:15And then at the end of that scene, this is might be interesting for those who watch it.
03:21And I look out a window outside and see my family either arriving or driving away or something that was shot in L.A.
03:30because if I looked out that window in Breckenridge, I would just see other houses and naked people.
03:37No, I lied.
03:39No, but Steve's right.
03:40And I watched this movie the first time I was a teenager and now I'm a father and I have three kids.
03:45And so the movie kind of, you know, a few different times hits differently now as a father and, you know, somebody who prepares to make sure that, you know, Christmas morning is as magical for my kids as it was for me.
03:58So, yeah, that that one scene in particular is it's great, but I'm I always get surprised that when I can laugh at the same joke over and over again.
04:08And Chevy, the scene with you and the lady at the lingerie counter, it does not every single time I watch.
04:18I'm like, I cannot believe that I'm like legit laughing out loud at the same joke over and over again.
04:24And when she says, can I take something something out for you and you just start laughing, I laugh along with you.
04:30And I know I'm not going to say it on the air here.
04:33No, I love that part.
04:35And you can't can't see the line, can you, Russ?
04:40Is it lost on you at all that?
04:42And I don't you have to be aware of this, that that people quote you all the time.
04:47Like, I can't go play around the golf without using one of your lines from Caddyshack.
04:52Fletch, everything.
04:53Yeah, Christmas time.
04:54There's always, you know, Fletch there.
04:56You know, I actually, yeah, I have two Fletch sound clips that I play.
04:59You can hear these.
05:00And this one, I use those clips all the time.
05:03And it's just these little subtle things.
05:05Is it lost on you that that that you're part of people's everyday vernacular?
05:11No.
05:12Well, it's lost on me and that nobody tells me this except a sad guy like you.
05:19Now I'm happy.
05:20Honestly, you know, I suppose I make those movies just for that reason.
05:28I'm different than other people who are, quote, comedians.
05:32And I say what maybe my dad would have thought was funny, you know, that kind of thing.
05:37So I, it's, I'm amazed at people's reactions and I love it because he made me laugh a lot.
05:45So there you are.
05:45No, that makes sense.
05:46There's a wonderful, and I just, in research for talking to you, I checked out, you know,
05:50did some reading and did watch the video.
05:51There was a video of you with your, your daughter and your, your wife watching.
05:56This is a couple of years ago.
05:56You're watching the movie and it was phenomenal because it's your daughter and you looking at each other,
06:04especially in the lingerie scene.
06:05And, and, and, and she's like, oh, dad, you could just see it on her face and you give her this loving look.
06:12And it's, it was just beautiful.
06:14Yeah.
06:14Well, I also have three children and they're my daughters.
06:19Of course, they're, they're now in their thirties, but, but yeah, we're a very close family.
06:27This is where I live.
06:28This is what I do.
06:29I live with my wife and three daughters and God, do I love them all.
06:32They're just the best.
06:33And I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for them.
06:36Not to say that I was dying or something, but I just, you know, that's it.
06:41I mean, I was looking at my wife this morning.
06:43I was in bed, um, on top of her.
06:46No, I was in bed.
06:49No, I just look over, you know, I peek over to what her side of the bed and she's out like, or something.
06:55And I just love her.
06:56Yeah, no, I absolutely understand that.
06:59But I also love, Jeremy, you, you, you, um, you love the, the actual, uh, describing the movie and people are going to go see you.
07:06Uh, you're going to get your, your, uh, your, your money's worth because you have tons of stories.
07:10And I did not know that the house featured in the vacation, uh, Christmas vacation was actually the same house used in the lethal weapon movies.
07:19Well, that's right.
07:20Once we went to LA after getting out of that place, uh, we, we had a place called the Warner ranch.
07:26It was right across from Warner brothers studios.
07:29And, uh, there, there must've been 12 or so houses that they would use over the years.
07:34And, uh, we picked one that had a, um, uh, a great lawn and on the lawn, by the way, there was a toilet, just a toilet.
07:42So you, you mentioned lethal weapon, uh, that I believe there was a toilet scene at the very end of the Don or Danny, uh, uh, uh, uh, Danny, um, Glover, Danny Thomas, Danny Thomas, Danny Glover, Danny Glover's on the, uh, on the toilet.
08:00Yeah.
08:01Like the toilet explodes or something.
08:03Yeah.
08:03So I said, that's gotta be the house for us.
08:05And, and, uh, they, the, the property people have clearly forgotten to remove the toilet or just said that I had with it and they got another house.
08:14And, uh, uh, so I had our property people, please remove the toilet from the lawn.
08:20And then there's this scene, it's like one of the first scenes in the movie in which I fall off the roof, you know, setting the lights up.
08:27Right.
08:28And I land in behind this bush and I landed on the toilet.
08:31Nobody saw that.
08:32That's where the property people this time put it.
08:34Oh my God.
08:35That's hilarious.
08:36Wow.
08:38Hey, um, we are going to have, there's a, one of the stars of, of Christmas Vacation actually still lives in this area.
08:44And we're going to have her in studio on Monday.
08:46Uh, the, the young girl who played Ruby Sue, Ellen Latson's going to be here on Monday.
08:50God, yeah.
08:50Yeah.
08:51So what a little kitty.
08:52Yeah.
08:53Well, she's, she's a grownup now.
08:54Do you have any memories of, of, you know, shooting any scenes with her?
08:58Cause you guys did have that really touching scene when you were, um, uh, yeah.
09:03Yeah.
09:03Yeah.
09:04Yeah.
09:04Yeah.
09:05Uh, we went out together after that.
09:07That would have been illegal at the time.
09:12I'll say she was a lovely girl.
09:14I, I can't remember exactly, uh, what Ruby Sue ended up doing because,
09:19uh, I, I never really, I've sort of lost track of her, but, uh, her name is Ellen.
09:23Yeah.
09:24And, uh, I, I hope for the best for her.
09:27She was terrific fun.
09:28Yeah.
09:29Uh, talking about, speaking of the, of, of the cast, when, when the entire family's in,
09:34as at the Griswolds, look at the lineup of people that were in that living room.
09:38John Randolph, Diane Ladd, EG Marshall, Doris Roberts, Randy Quaid, of course, uh, uh,
09:44William Hickley, uh, the great May Kestel.
09:47What a group of actors.
09:50Um, that just must've been.
09:51Don't forget Beverly DeAndre.
09:53Beverly DeAndre.
09:54Of course.
09:54Yeah.
09:55You're in trouble.
09:55And, yeah, no, you're right.
09:57May Kestel and, uh, John, John Randolph was my, uh, dad.
10:01May Kestel.
10:02Yeah.
10:02A great group of really good actors.
10:04William Hickley was a teacher, uh, uh, and, and some of the greatest actors went to, went
10:10to his school.
10:11I think he, at that point he just won the Oscar for, was it Princey's Honor?
10:15No, I didn't win it for that one, but I won it for the, uh.
10:19No, he did.
10:20Oh, that's correct.
10:22I'm so sorry.
10:22Yes, he did.
10:23Yeah.
10:23Well, and that, having that cast at that level of, uh, capability.
10:28Yeah.
10:29Where, you know, in supporting roles just made everything that much better.
10:32Now, the legend has it that you also incurred a, uh, an injury during the tirade sequence
10:38with the front lawn decorations that were not working with you.
10:41Is that true?
10:42Well, that's right.
10:43It was a rant.
10:43When I was ranting about how I couldn't get the, you know, things together and all that.
10:49And, uh, uh, I just, uh, from out of nowhere decided to kick these reindeer that were on
10:55the lawn, you know, to punch them.
10:57Right.
10:57Because, uh, I was angry at everything.
10:59And that wasn't supposed to be in the movie.
11:01I just did it and the camera followed me and I came back with a broken finger after
11:05doing it.
11:05I thought it was like made of mud or something.
11:07I didn't know what it was made of, but it certainly didn't absorb anything except my
11:11bones.
11:13Um, speaking, speaking of rants, when you, when you finally, you know, when, when the
11:17dam breaks and you realize, you know, uh, Clark is not going to get the, the, uh, uh,
11:21the bonus and you go on that, you know, a bug eyed, fish eyed, blah, blah, blah, that
11:25whole thing was that, had you written all that out yourself and rehearsed all of that?
11:30Or was some of that just coming off the cuff while you were going through that?
11:34No, uh, we wrote it.
11:37Um, actually I wrote it, come to think of it.
11:40And, uh, uh, each one of those.
11:43Uh, adults looking at watching me do it, uh, had a little card on the front of it.
11:48Uh, that is great.
11:50You can't see, you can look for it, but you can't see it.
11:53And so that's where I put all those words.
11:55Cause I couldn't remember them all.
11:57It was just too many.
11:58And that's, isn't that a great thing to know?
12:00That's what I was wondering because it is a lengthy string of, of like, you know, pseudo
12:06profanities that were just all over the place.
12:09They were bizarre.
12:10You know, that's Brando had, that was the thing Brando did during the Godfather.
12:14He had the actors he was facing, they had cue cards on them.
12:17Uh, yeah, cause that's a, that's a, that's a string of things to remember, but it's one
12:21of the seminal scenes and correct me if I'm wrong, Beverly D'Angelo has an improv physically
12:27when the SWAT agents come through the windows, correct?
12:30Oh, you're right.
12:31Did you say you're wrecked?
12:33Yeah.
12:33It pertains to that.
12:35Oh, you said correct.
12:36Yeah.
12:36Uh, no, you're right.
12:39Uh, that just sort of happened.
12:41Um, I did not feel a thing, uh, just for those who might watch the movie.
12:47Uh, uh, but, and, which made me cry inside.
12:51Oh.
12:52I did not feel a thing, but that's just Bev, you know, she just happened to do that.
12:58And so, you know, yeah, you'll see it in the movie.
13:01That's beautiful.
13:01You guys have such a, uh, such a chemistry.
13:03And she, we, we talked to her just recently.
13:05Um, and, and that's, uh, and there's obviously a, a real, a friendship there.
13:10And in that moment, when you first met her and you were doing the first movie, did, did
13:17you, did you, uh, try, uh, with anyone else?
13:20Was it just, were you kind of just paired with Beverly D'Angelo right from the get-go
13:23and, and realized you had that chemistry?
13:25We were not paired.
13:26I paired.
13:27You paired.
13:28I, I, I interviewed, uh, quite a few, uh, girls for that role.
13:33I see.
13:34And Bev just seemed right, right away.
13:36So.
13:36Yeah.
13:37Yeah.
13:37I chose that girl.
13:38Um, and I saw that you and her and Christy Brinkley were at, was it Comic-Con recently
13:44or it was a convention?
13:45Oh, that's a few days ago.
13:47Yeah.
13:47Does that, does, uh, um, does that happen from time to time?
13:52You know, some of the, the national, the, the, the vacation family kind of run into each
13:57other here and there.
13:58Not really.
13:59I've got just happened to be, um, I know why did that happen to be just, well, it did
14:04anyway.
14:05Yeah.
14:05Um, and, uh, uh, uh, Christy and Bev are quite a couple.
14:10I, I don't want, I won't even get into it.
14:12It's too funny.
14:13That's awesome.
14:14I have, I said, Randy Crate is of course amazing in it.
14:16And we're Andy's, Randy's taken some, some turns since, uh, since the movie, but that,
14:22uh, he comedically for a guy who's also a tremendous actor, a dramatic actor.
14:28Um, he just ate that roll up.
14:30Was some of your dialogue improv with, uh, with him as well?
14:35I, uh, I, I backed off a little bit and let's turn your volume off.
14:40Are you there?
14:41Yeah, we're here.
14:42Yeah.
14:42We lost it for just a second.
14:43Uh, you were saying Randy, I was about to say that Randy, if it weren't for Randy, I
14:49wouldn't make those movies.
14:50Uh, you know, as you said, he's a, he's a brilliant actor period.
14:54Um, and he just came out and, uh, you, you serious Clark, you know, that guy, and, uh,
15:00like I do a good, I do a good impression of Randy and, um, uh, I just think it, he's such
15:08a solid guy.
15:09I, I spoke to him on the phone relatively recently and, uh, uh, he was home with his
15:15wife and, uh, uh, uh, and the child, who unfortunately is, is a puppy, a dog.
15:22No, I'm kidding.
15:23Anyway, but no, Randy and his, uh, you know, he just a regular guy.
15:28I mean, I can't tell you, you know, when, when we're walking through that grocery store
15:34and he keeps piling the dog food on the, on the thing, I, you know, I'm not going to
15:39give it all away, but like, uh, I, I, that's the guy I wanted and he did that by the way
15:45out of nowhere, he just, he just started piling those things on.
15:48It's hilarious.
15:49I picked up, I picked up some light bulbs and put that there to see what would happen.
15:54Jimmy, do you have a favorite of any of the vacation movies?
15:57I mean, each one of them means something different to each one of us.
15:59Is there one that stands out to you?
16:03Uh, well, I like the Godfather.
16:09The Godfather is an American masterpiece.
16:12I know, I know.
16:14So is one of mine, I'm sure.
16:16Yeah.
16:17I'm just going to keep fighting for it.
16:20No, I, I don't think, I think the first vacation and Christmas vacation, uh, probably my favorites.
16:28But then I, you know, then I think about European vacation.
16:31That was very funny.
16:33Yeah.
16:33I had Eric Idle in that.
16:34And, uh, and then, uh, Vegas vacation wasn't my favorite was, uh, it was rough to do, uh,
16:42but otherwise, I mean, I enjoyed it very much, obviously.
16:45But, uh, yeah, I think my first, the first one in the last one.
16:49Well, there, there are tons of stories associated with the movies and, and, and just, I'll just
16:52bring up one that you got a lot of tidbits that you've given us today.
16:55But as the legend goes, Chris Columbus was offered the directing role for, uh, National
17:03Lampoon's, Chris's Vacation first, and then passed on it.
17:07And he went on to direct Home Alone from that.
17:09Was that, is that correct?
17:11No, actually, he discovered the country in 1492.
17:15Oh, it was that one.
17:17Wow.
17:18Anyway, I have no idea if that's really true.
17:20Uh, I don't know Chris Columbus.
17:22Uh, I always wanted Harold Ramis and, uh, that's, is that who I got?
17:28No, you got, you got Jeremiah Chekchik.
17:31Oh, I got Jeremiah.
17:32Yeah, that's right.
17:33Yes.
17:33So there you have it.
17:34My knowledge of that is really shaky.
17:37What you've given us is worth it though.
17:39The conversation has been great.
17:40And this is some of what you'll get if you attend the, uh, the screening and the, uh,
17:44the conversation afterwards.
17:45Yeah, this is going to be Saturday night at, uh, Tropicana Casino Resort in AC.
17:50Tickets available at Ticketmaster.
17:51I'm actually going to give away some here in just a little bit.
17:53Eight o'clock.
17:54Eight o'clock.
17:54It'll be great fun.
17:56I, I hope the place fills up and, and it's packed, uh, with young girls.
18:02As a fan.
18:03Wonderful people.
18:05As a fan, we're, we, uh, we are thrilled you're doing this with your, your, uh, movie,
18:10uh, catalog because we are massive fans.
18:13Absolutely.
18:14Yeah.
18:14Well, that's very nice.
18:16I thank you for that.
18:17Thank you so much.
18:18Chevy, have, have a great holiday.
18:19Enjoy the weekend and take care of yourself.
18:21Okay.
18:22Well, you too, guys.
18:23All right.
18:23Chevy Chase.
18:24Yeah.
18:25I mean, come on, man.
18:26Let's go.
18:27Let's go.
18:28Let's go.
18:29Let's go.
18:30Let's go.
18:31Let's go.
18:32Let's go.
18:33Let's go.
18:34Let's go.
18:35Let's go.
18:36Let's go.
18:37Let's go.
18:38Let's go.
18:39Let's go.
18:40Let's go.
18:41Let's go.
18:42Let's go.
18:43Let's go.
18:44Let's go.
18:45Let's go.
18:46Let's go.
18:47Let's go.
18:48Let's go.
18:49Let's go.
18:50Let's go.
18:51Let's go.
18:52Let's go.
18:53Let's go.
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