Chevy Chase appears at Comic Con with Vacation co-stars Beverly D’Angelo and Christie Brinkley

Next July will mark the 40th anniversary of the release of National Lampoon’s Vacation, the iconic road trip comedy film starring Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo as lovable buffoon Clark Griswold and wife Ellen.

Over the weekend, Chase had a reunion of sorts when he appeared at Steel City Comic Con near Pittsburgh with D’Angelo and Christie Brinkley, who famously played Clark’s dream woman in the red Ferrari.

And while he was sure to discuss his many roles over the years, including Saturday Night Live, with adoring fans, it was Vacation that was sure to be the topic of conversation, considering they reunited in front the Griswolds’ green wood-panel station wagon.

Reunited: National Lampoon’s Vacation stars Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo and Christie Brinkley reunited at Steel City Comic Con over the weekend

The 1979 Ford LTD Country Squire wagon was parked right behind Chase and company, along with the original movie poster.

Brinkley, 68, documented the occasion with a couple of photos that she shared on her Instagram post showing the leading man with his arms wrapped around his two lovely co-stars.

‘These Three Amigos are going to need a Christmas Vacation after @steelcitycomiccon,’ she joked in the caption, in a reference to the third film in the franchise. 

‘Were back again today and I’m in the mood for some fun!’ she wrote on Sunday, ahead of their second and final appearance at the event. ‘I just love you two @officialbeverlydangelo and @chevychase.’

Walk down memory lane: Brinkley, 68, documented their Vacation reunion near Pittsburgh with some photos and a video on her Instagram page on Sunday

The Instagram post also included a video that initially just showed Chase sitting on a chair in front of the Griswold’s car while he held D’Angelo’s hand

Choice of ride: The Griswolds cruised across country in a 1979 Ford LTD Country Squire wagon

Memorable: Brinkley played Clark’s dream girl in the red Ferrari in her big screen debut

Letting loose: The legendary supermodel also strips down for her swim in the pool scene

The legendary supermodel wore a black and white sweater adorned with reindeer designs and her long blonde locks flowing down over her shoulders.

She had her right arm across D’Angelo’s chest, which made for a perfect head rest for the actress, 71, who opted for a dark blue and white version of the winter wonderland sweater.

Chase, 79, opted to go with a green and white sweater with snowflake designs, as he stood behind them both with one arm around each of the ladies.

The Instagram post also included a video that initially just showed Chase sitting on a chair in front of the Griswold’s car while he held D’Angelo’s hand. As he sat motionless with a big beaming smile, his co-star repeatedly nodded her head up and down.

Sneaky return: In the video, Chase sat motionless with a big beaming smile, while his co-star repeatedly nodded her head up and down; about four seconds later Brinkley arrived in the clip

‘Love you’: Brinkley shared her ‘love’ for Chase and D’Angelo in another post on Instagram 

After about four seconds, just when some viewers might have been thinking there was something wrong with the clip, Brinkley makes her way into the shot and then leans her hands and head on his right shoulder.

It ends with the longtime catwalk queen offering up a seductive stare similar to the ones she used in her role in Vacation four decades ago.

Directed by the late Harold Ramis from a screenplay by the late acclaimed filmmaker John Hughes, the comedy was based on his short story, Vacation 58, which eventually appeared in an issue of National Lampoon in September 1979.

Ramis and Chase rewrote Hughes’s first draft to place the story from the father’s point of view rather than the son’s. 

The couple’s son Rusty was played by Anthony Michael Hall, now 54, when he was 14, and the daughter Audrey was portrayed by Dana Barron, now 56.

The story centers around Clark, who wants to spend more time with his wife and two kids, who decides to lead the family on a cross-country expedition from the Chicago suburbs to the amusement park Walley World, billed as ‘America’s Favorite Family Fun Park.’ Of course there’s plenty of hi-jinks and laugh-out-loud moments along the way.

The cast also included the likes of Imogene Coca (Aunt Edna), Randy Quaid (Cousin Eddie Johnson), John Candy (Russ Lasky, a security guard at Walley World), Eddie Bracken (Roy Walley, the owner of Walley World), Brian Doyle-Murray (the Kamp Komfort clerk), Miriam Flynn (Cousin Catherine Johnson), James Keach (the Motorcycle cop) and Eugene Levy (Ed, the car salesman).

Some of the other stars were Frank McRae (Grover, a security guard at Walley World), Jane Krakowski (Cousin Vicki Johnson), John P. Navin Jr. (Cousin Dale Johnson,), Violet Ramis (Cousin Daisy Mabel Johnson), Mickey Jones (Mechanic), John Diehl (Assistant Mechanic) and James Staley (the hotel clerk).

The film was a box-office hit, earning $61.4 million against an estimated budget of $15 million, and received positive reviews from critics.

The film was a box-office hit, earning $61.4 million  against estimated budget of $15 million, and received positive reviews from critics.

Off the heels of the success of the first film, there were five sequels that followed:  European Vacation (1985), Christmas Vacation (1989), Vegas Vacation (1997),  Christmas Vacation 2 (2003) and Vacation (2015).

Brinkley actually made her big-screen debut in the original Vacation, but she turned down a role in the Christmas sequel six years later.

‘I was asked to be in Christmas Vacation,’ she told Us Weekly, but took the advice of her late father, Don, who warned she might get typecast by the role.

In hindsight, Brinkley regrets not doing the Christmas Vacation sequel: ‘Of course I should’ve [done it] because it’s so much fun to hang around with comedians. I mean, I love nothing more than to make people laugh,’ she explained. 

She would go on to reprise the role of ‘the girl in the red Ferrari’ in the next sequel in the film franchise, Vegas Vacation (1997).

Franchise: Brinkley has said she regrets turning down an opportunity to reprise her role in Christmas Vacation (1989); in all there have been five sequels

Source: | Dailymail.co.uk