Visible crew/equipment: Just as Clark begins his explosive argument, there is a shot of the family watching in horror, and the top of the set is visible at the top of the frame.
Continuity mistake: When Clark falls off the roof, the staple gun goes down before him. In the next shot, it's not heading down from his point of view.
Factual error: When Clark is sliding on the saucer, he shoots out a shower of sparks when he crosses the street. Those old saucers were made of aluminum, and aluminum can't create sparks like other metal does.
Visible crew/equipment: When Ellen opens the door after Clark falls from the tree, there's a strange white thing visible for a few frames at the upper left of the door. Might be the hand of a crew member opening the door.
Continuity mistake: When they first step up to the tree in the forest, Audrey is still moving. In the overhead shot, she stops, and we can see tracks in the snow where all four have been standing. The problem is, there are a lot of tracks. We're lead to believe they just walked up to the tree.
Revealing mistake: When Clark and Eddie push the chair to see what happened, the burned cat is only visible in closeups. There's also a blue object next to the couch that look like an iron that is creating the smoke effect.
Continuity mistake: When Clark's neighbours return home, the man says to Clark, "Where do you think you're going to put a tree that big?" The trunk is very large, bigger then Clark's feet. Clark replies, "Bend over and I'll show you." Then Clark cuts the tree trunk - it is very thin and easy for him to cut.
Audio problem: During dinner on Christmas Eve there is a shot of the cat chewing on Christmas lights. The sound of the cat chewing is a fraction of a second off.
Other mistake: When Clark and Ellen are in bed talking, the People magazine cover Clark is holding does not have a date printed anywhere on it.
Continuity mistake: Todd and Margo are nearly two feet apart from each other as Margo suggests Todd slug Clark, but then they are much closer in the next shot when Margo leaves to perform the deed.
Continuity mistake: While Clark is having his difficult conversation with Mary, the department store counter girl, the knot on his tie alternates between being cinched tight to loose around his collar.
Continuity mistake: When Clark begins his rant about Mr. Shirley, Grandma Frances is directly behind Grandpa Art, with Rusty. The next shot of her and Rusty is almost standing next to Art.
Continuity mistake: Before Clark goes off on his rant about his boss, Grandma Frances places her hand on Rusty's shoulder, but the next shot has her hand on the side of Rusty's head.
Plot hole: When Bill and Clark are discussing the bonus delivery situation, it is December 21st, and Bill says his son received a delivery at his home via company courier. The bonus checks were to arrive to the employees before Christmas Eve, which would have given them plenty of time to contact each other that none of them got the bonus checks but did get enrollment in the Jelly of the Month Club.
Continuity mistake: The RV of Eddie is parked near the end of Clark's driveway by the large tree in the yard when Clark illuminates his house. When the family disperses and heads into the house, the overhead shot now shows the RV is parked up against the Griswold's garage door, far away from the edge of the driveway.
Continuity mistake: In the road rage scene with the redneck's pickup truck, the logging truck's trailer is passing the Griswolds' car with plenty of room for their car to fit underneath. However, the next shot before Clark steers under the truck's trailer shows the semi truck's cab just coming abreast of the Griswolds' car.
Plot hole: When cousin Eddie kidnaps Mr. Shirley, Shirley's wife immediately calls the police. She describes Eddie as 'brutish and huge' or something similar, and wearing a 'blue leisure suit'. She also mentions that she got the license plate number of the vehicle. But how did the SWAT Team know to go to the Griswold's house to find Mr. Shirley? Eddie's RV is not registered in the Griswold's name so the plate numbers would not be much help in finding the culprit.
Continuity mistake: During Clark's rant, the shot goes from seeing him from behind the whole family to a frontal view of the family looking at him in shock. In the first, they are standing in line with the entrance to the room. You can even see Eddie's shadow on the wall as he's very close and slightly behind it. Also, on the other side, Audrey's arms are going down to her side and she's a little behind Art. In the next shot, there is no wall and Audrey is in front of Art. Her arms are also crossed.
Factual error: Even though this movie takes place at Christmas and there is lots of snow around the outside of the house, you can tell this was filmed during the summertime due to the short shadows in some outside scenes. At Christmas time, shadows are longer all day long.
Continuity mistake: When Clark is stapling the lights to the roof, his leg is tangled in the sting of lights causing him to lose his balance and slide of the roof. As he slides/falls grabbing the gutter the string of lights around his leg disappears.
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.