Q:

what is "continental" person

I was watching Addams family yesterday. 
During the dinner in the "cave" Gomez said about Uncle Fester, that he is  continental person. 
I understand that English people talking about Europeans as continental. 
But what does that mean, taking into account that this is American movie? 

A:

In the US, they refer to Europe as "the Continent" - as in the continent of Europe.  It is a reference to the fact the the US has one (English-speaking (oh, OK, and French-speaking)) country to the North (Canada), and a Spanish-speaking country (Mexico) to the South - in stark comparison to the melange of languages and cultures in Europe. 
"Continental" is (was?)  used as an adjective to describe a level of higher culture than the plebeian culture of America.