Grease (film)

Grease

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Randal Kleiser
Produced by Robert Stigwood
Allan Carr
Written by Musical:
Jim Jacobs
Warren Casey
Screenplay:
Bronte Woodard,
Allan Carr
Starring John Travolta
Olivia Newton-John
Stockard Channing
Jeff Conaway
Music by Jim Jacobs
Warren Casey
Michael Gibson
Cinematography Bill Butler
Editing by John F. Burnett
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s) June 16, 1978 (1978-06-16)
Running time 110 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $6,000,000
Gross revenue $394,589,888
Followed by Grease 2

Grease is a 1978 American musical film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Warren Casey's and Jim Jacobs's musical, of the same name about two lovers in a 1959 high school. The film stars John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, and Jeff Conaway. It was successful both critically and at the box office. The soundtrack album became one of the best-selling in pop movie history, and provided several chart hits for the original artists and others.

Contents

Plot

In the 1950s, during their summer vacation, local boy Danny Zuko (John Travolta) and Australian holiday-maker Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John), meet at the beach and begin to fall in love. When the summer comes to an end, Sandy, who is returning home, frets that they may never meet again. Danny tells her that their love is "only the beginning."

This is followed by opening animated credits which introduce the primary cast, followed by the first day at Rydell High. Danny a greaser, is reunited with his friends, the T-Birds — his bad-boy best friend Kenickie (Jeff Conaway), and their three bumbling sidekicks Doody (Barry Pearl), Putzie (Kelly Ward), and Sonny (Michael Tucci) — while the Pink Ladies, the T-Birds' female counterparts, arrive and claim that they're going to "rule the school" in their final year. We meet three of the four Pink Ladies to start with - their raunchy leader Betty Rizzo (Stockard Channing), the sophisticated Marty (Dinah Manoff), and the juvenile Jan (Jamie Donnelly). Sandy, whose family had unexpectedly cancelled their plans to return to Australia, also enters Rydell as a foreign exchange student. She is being shown around the school by another Pink Lady, a cheerful airhead named Frenchy (Didi Conn). At lunchtime, Danny and Sandy share memories of their summer romance with their friends, though neither is aware of the other's presence at the school, (Summer Nights). It soon becomes clear that Danny is exaggerating. Rizzo is surprised when Sandy reveals Danny's name on the way back to class, but the Pink Ladies keep quiet about Danny's presence at the school.

After a Bonfire, the Pink Ladies decide to reunite Danny and Sandy. The stage looks set for a fairytale reunion, until Danny mixes-up his priorities. At first ecstatic, he decides to maintain his cool image in front of Sandy. This abrupt change in behavior upsets Sandy who runs off. Frenchy decides to cheer Sandy up by inviting her to a slumber party at her house, with the other Pink Ladies. But things go wrong when Sandy's naîve behaviour begins to irriate the other girls. After Sandy leaves the room, Rizzo leads the girls in the teasing Look at Me I'm Sandra Dee, and even Frenchy participates. Things get more awkward when Sandy walks-in on them. The T-Birds turn-up outside the house, and Rizzo decides to impulsively sneak out with Kenickie. After viewing Marty's extensive collection of pen-pals she borrows some papers and wanders outside, where she confronts her feelings about Danny - she is still in love with him, in spite of everything, Hopelessly Devoted to You.

Rizzo and Kenickie have parked in a rundown part of town, and are making out passionately in the back seat of his car. They decide to take things a step further, even after Kenickie's condom breaks. They are soon interrupted by Leo (Dennis Cleveland), leader of the T-Birds' rival gang, the Scorpions, and his girlfriend, Cha Cha (Annette Charles). Leo damages Kenickie's car.

The following school day, Kenickie's car is pulled into the school's work shop for a tune-up, and despite the fact that it is a "hunk o' junk" according to Danny, the latter manages to convince the boys that it could become a top-of-the-range sports car called Greased Lightning and they start to work on the vehicle. Soon afterwards, Danny sees Sandy having a milkshake with a jock named Tom Chisum (Lorenzo Lamas). Danny regrets his unkind behavior, and decides to win Sandy back by taking up sport. He is hopeless at everything in terms of basketball, wrestling, and baseball, mainly due to his penchant for hitting fellow competitors when things don't go his way. Eventually the school P.E. teacher, Coach Calhoun (Sid Caesar), suggests he try his hand at track, and Danny discovers he has a natural ability for it. He injures himself while Sandy is present. Sandy is worried in spite of herself, and goes to see if he is all right. She is so relieved he is not badly hurt that she consents to date him again, and even considers letting him take her to the school dance. Unfortunately, their date at the Frosty Palace is interrupted when the whole gang joins them. Frenchy, who left Rydell to pursue her dream of being a beautician, has had difficulty in all her classes at beauty school, eventually dying her hair bubblegum pink. She is at odds with what to do until her guardian, Teen Angel (Frankie Avalon) appears, and tells her to return to Rydell, ("Beauty School Dropout").

The school dance - broadcast live on national television - is an eventful occasion. Rizzo and Kenickie have broken-up, and Rizzo attempts to get at Kenickie by going to the dance with none other than Leo. Two can play at that game, however - Kenickie retaliates by going with Cha Cha. Marty gets flirty with the DJ, Vince Fontaine (Edd Byrnes). Danny and Sandy are the last couple left in the competition, but Cha Cha, who, it transpires, is an old girlfriend of Danny's, pulls him away and Sandy leaves. Meanwhile, Sonny, Putzie and Doody take advantage of the song Blue Moon and moon the audience.

In an attempt to make things up to Sandy, Danny takes her to the drive-in movie. Things are awkward between them until Danny gives Sandy his ring, to show how much he cares about her - at least, that's how Sandy interprets it. His real intentions become clear when Danny starts trying to fondle Sandy. Horrified, Sandy runs off. Faced with losing Sandy yet again, Danny realises how much she means to him, ("Sandy"). Rizzo tells Marty that she missed a period and believes she might be pregnant, but makes Marty promise not to tell anyone. Marty promises to "take it to the grave," but lets it slip almost immediately. She tells Sonny, who makes sure everyone finds out. When Kenickie offers to help, Rizzo rebuffs him, claiming that he isn't the father. Kenickie's hurt reaction reveals that she is lying. A couple of days later, Kenickie and the T-Birds meet the Scorpions for a car race at Thunder Road. Everyone comes to watch except Rizzo, who can't face seeing Kenickie. Patty Simcox (Susan Buckner) and her friends joke about Rizzo's reputation, inciting Rizzo to denounce her bad-girl image, ("There Are Worse Things I Could Do"). Sandy is missing Danny dreadfully, and decides to try and patch things up between them at the race. Kenickie is injured by a swinging door, meaning Danny has to race in his stead. Danny wins the race. Sandy is delighted, but realises she and Danny are a world apart - unless she takes drastic action, ("Look At Me I'm Sandra Dee (Reprise").

As the year comes to a close, the group enjoys a carnival at the school. Rizzo reveals that she is not pregnant after all, and she and Kenickie are finally reunited. Danny has earned a letter in track, but the T-Birds resent his new image, viewing it as desertion. Sandy suddenly appears in a tight black outfit. Her hair is curled and she has a cigarette in her mouth. She looks more like Rizzo than herself, and is the center of attention at the carnival. She tells Danny that she has done it all for him, and he reciprocates, ("You're The One That I Want"). As they climb into Danny's car, it takes-off. As the pair of them wave back to the cast who has turned out onto the school lawn ("We Go Together"), still singing as Danny and Sandy fly off into the sky. The whole class and faculty wave goodbye and then the credits start rolling in the style of a yearbook signifying the end of the movie.

Cast

Starring
The T-Birds
The Pink Ladies
Special guest appearances
Other characters

Production

Casting

Singer Olivia Newton-John had done little acting before this film. She appeared in the 1970 film Toomorrow, a science fiction musical that pre-dated her initial chart success with 1971's If Not For You. Cast with Newton-John and three male leads in an attempt by Don Kirshner to create another Monkees, the film failed miserably; this led Newton-John to demand a screen test for Grease to avoid another career setback. The screen test was done with the drive-in movie scene.

Randal Kleiser directed John Travolta in The Boy in the Plastic Bubble two years prior to Grease.

Two actors who were seen for the film were Henry Winkler and Marie Osmond. Winkler, who was playing Fonzie on Happy Days, was originally chosen to play Danny, but, having twice already played similarly leather-clad 1950s hoods in 1974's The Lords of Flatbush as well as Happy Days, turned down the role for fear of being typecast. Osmond turned down the role of Sandy because she did not like the fact that Sandy had to "turn bad" to get the boy. Adult film star Harry Reems was originally signed to play Coach Calhoun; however, producers got cold feet weeks before filming and replaced him with Sid Caesar.

Dinah Manoff was only 19 years old during the filming of Grease making her the youngest of all actresses in the film. She passed her audition without being given a singing or dancing tryout.

Randal Kleiser had worked as an extra for Fireball 500, which starred Frankie Avalon. 12 years later, he had Avalon play the Teen Angel who sings Beauty School Dropout. Later in his career, every time he performs the most requested song is "Beauty School Dropout."

Frosty Palace scenes

Scenes inside the Frosty Palace contain obvious 'blurring' of various Coca-Cola signage.[1] Prior to the film's release, the producer Allan Carr had made a product-placement deal with Coca-Cola's main competitor Pepsi (for example, a Pepsi logo can be seen in the animated opening sequence). The film's set decorator, unaware of the deal, had placed Coca-Cola products and signage in the scene. When Carr saw the footage, he ordered director Randal Kleiser to either reshoot the scene with Pepsi products, or remove the Coca-Cola logos from the scene. As reshoots were deemed too expensive and time-consuming, optical mattes were used to cover up or blur out the Coca-Cola references. The 'blurring' covered up trademarked menu signage and a large wall poster, but a red cooler with the logo could not be sufficiently altered, so was left unchanged. According to Kleiser, "We just had to hope that Pepsi wouldn't complain. They didn't."[2][3]

Release and reception

Grease was originally released to theaters on June 16, 1978. It was released in the US on VHS during the 1980s; the latest VHS release was June 23, 1998 as 20th Anniversary Edition following a theatrical re-release that March. On September 24, 2002, it was released on DVD for the first time. On September 19, 2006, it was re-released on DVD as the Rockin' Rydell Edition, which includes a black Rydell High T-Bird jacket cover or the Target-exclusive Pink Ladies cover. It was released on Blu-ray Disc on May 5, 2009.

Critical reception

Grease received generally favorable reviews[4] and is considered by many as one of the best films of 1978.[5][6][7][8] It currently holds an 83% "Certified Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes with a consensus that reads "Grease is a pleasing, energetic musical with infectiously catchy songs and an ode to young love that never gets old".[9] It holds a score of 70/100 on a similar website Metacritic.[4]

Although Travolta was already famous from Saturday Night Fever and Welcome Back Kotter, Grease reaffirmed his status as a superstar. Newton-John's fame also reached new heights after the movie released. The movie received five Golden Globe Award nominations in 1979 and the highest grossing movie of 1978 and the highest-grossing movie musical at the time, surpassing 1965's The Sound of Music.

The movie's soundtrack was a number one album in many different countries. The song "You're The One That I Want" was released as a single prior to the film's release and became an immediate chart-topper, despite not being in the stage show or having been seen in the film at that time.[10] In the United Kingdom, the two Travolta–Newton-John duets, "You're the One That I Want" and "Summer Nights", were both number one hits and appear 6th and 21st respectively in the official all-time UK best-selling singles list issued in 2002. The song "Hopelessly Devoted to You" was nominated for an Academy Award (1979) for Best Music - Original Song. The movie's title song was also a number-one smash hit single for Frankie Valli.

Sequels and spin-offs

Grease 2 (1982) was a sequel to Grease. The only cast members from the original movie were Blanche, Coach Calhoun, Eugene, Frenchy, Leo (the Scorpions' gang leader) and Principal McGee. It was much less successful. Patricia Birch, the original movie's choreographer, directed the ill-fated sequel. It would be the only movie that she would direct. After the success of the original, Paramount intended to turn Grease into a multi-picture franchise with at least three sequels planned and a TV series in the pipeline. When Grease 2 flopped at the box office, all the plans were scrapped.[11]

In 2008, it was revealed that Paramount are currently planning a new sequel to Grease that will debut straight to DVD.[12]

Grease was re-released to theaters in 1998 to mark the 20th anniversary. It also ranked number 21 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies.[13][14]

On July 8, 2010, a sing-a-long version of Grease was released to select theaters around the U.S.[15] A trailer was released in May 2010 with cigarettes digitally removed from certain scenes, implying heavy editing; however, Paramount confirmed these changes were done only for the film's advertising,[16] and the rating for the film itself downgraded from its original PG to that of PG-13 for "sexual content including references, teen smoking and drinking, and language."[17] The movie was shown for two weekends only; additional cities lobbied by fans from the Paramount official movie website started a week later and screen for one weekend.[18]

Lists

Voted the best musical ever on Channel 4's 100 greatest musicals.[19]

In 2008, Grease was selected by Empire magazine as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.[20]

Soundtrack

The song "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" references Sal Mineo in the original stage version. Mineo was stabbed to death a year before filming, so the line was changed to refer to Elvis Presley instead. The Troy Donahue reference is in the original stage version. Coincidentally, this scene, and the bonfire and leo car destroying scenes were filmed on August 16, 1977 - the date of Elvis Presley's death.

The song order on the soundtrack album does not match the order in the film (common practice in those days for soundtrack records, where balancing the length of each program - each side of an LP or cassette, or each program of an 8-track tape, was important for effective cost management). The number in brackets below indicates the order from the film. Some of the songs were not present in the film.

  1. [02] Grease — Frankie Valli
  2. [03] Summer Nights — Danny, Sandy, Pink Ladies and the T-Birds
  3. [05] Hopelessly Devoted to You — Sandy
  4. [04] Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee - Rizzo and the Pink Ladies
  5. [06] Greased Lightning — Danny and the T-Birds
  6. [22] You're the One That I Want — Danny and Sandy
  7. [18] Sandy (Music by Louis St. Louis, Lyrics by Scott J. Simon) — Danny
  8. [09] Beauty School Dropout — Frankie Avalon / Angels
  9. [07] It's Raining on Prom Night — Radio
  10. [08] Alone at the Drive-in Movie (instrumental)
  11. [17] Blue Moon (Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart) — Johnny
  12. [11] Rock n' Roll is Here to Stay (D. White) — Johnny
  13. [12] Those Magic Changes — Johnny and Danny
  14. [14] Hound Dog (Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller) — Johnny
  15. [15] Born to Hand Jive — Johnny and Cast
  16. [13] Tears on My Pillow (S. Bradford and A. Lewis) — Johnny
  17. [16] Mooning — Jan and Roger
  18. [19] Freddy, My Love — Marty
  19. [10] Rock n' Roll Party Queen — Radio
  20. [20] There Are Worse Things I Could Do — Rizzo
  21. [21] Look at Me I'm Sandra Dee (reprise) — Sandy
  22. [23] We Go Together — Danny, Sandy, Rizzo, Kenickie, Marty, Sonny, Jan, Putzie, Doody, Frenchy, Eugene, Patty, Miss Mcgee, Mr. Lynch, and Coach
  23. [01] Love is a Many Splendored Thing (instrumental)
  24. [24] Grease (Reprise) — Frankie Valli

Other songs that appear in the film but not in the soundtrack are Richie Valens' "La Bamba", "Whole Lotta Shaking Going On" by Jerry Lee Lewis and Alma Mater (it was played during the first day announcements, the bonfire, the T-Birds sang the version with funny lyrics, the announcements late in the film, and finally at the carnival).

References

  1. ↑ "Grease". Scenesteal.com. http://scenesteal.com/html/grease. Retrieved 2010-08-16. 
  2. ↑ "Stupid Question ™". Archives.stupidquestion.net. 2000-10-26. http://archives.stupidquestion.net/sq102600.html. Retrieved 2010-08-16. 
  3. ↑ "DVD Savant: GREASE and the Curse of Product Placement". Dvdtalk.com. 1998-08-18. http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s70grease.html. Retrieved 2010-08-16. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Grease Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/grease. Retrieved 2010-08-16. 
  5. ↑ "Greatest Films of 1978". Filmsite.org. http://www.filmsite.org/1978.html. Retrieved 2010-08-16. 
  6. ↑ "The 10 Best Movies of 1978". Film.com. 2007-06-01. http://www.film.com/features/story/10-best-movies-of-1978/14955431. Retrieved 2010-08-16. 
  7. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/year/1978
  8. ↑ "The Best Movies of 1978 by Rank". Films101.com. http://www.films101.com/y1978r.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-16. 
  9. ↑ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/grease/
  10. ↑ VH1's "Behind the Music: Grease"
  11. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084021/trivia
  12. ↑ "Mean Girls 2? Naked Gun 4? Road Trip 2? Grease 3? | /Film". Slashfilm.com. 2008-08-21. http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/08/21/mean-girls-2-naked-gun-4-road-trip-2-grease-3/. Retrieved 2010-08-16. 
  13. ↑ "Entertainment Weekly's The 50 Best High School Movies". AMC Filmsite.org. http://www.filmsite.org/50besthsfilms2.html. Retrieved July 27, 2010. 
  14. ↑ "Entertainment Weekly's 50 Best High School Movies (25-1)". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Entertainment-Weeklys-Best-School-Movies/lm/R301DE1BM2HTIQ. Retrieved July 27, 2010. 
  15. ↑ "Wanna Sing-A-Long with Grease? With Lyrics?!?". Screencrave.com. 2010-05-21. http://screencrave.com/2010-05-21/wanna-sing-a-long-with-grease-with-lyrics/. Retrieved 2010-08-16. 
  16. ↑ "'Grease Sing-A-Long' trailer cuts cigarette from iconic scene: Smoking was not removed from the film itself, Ocala.com, 04 June 2010.
  17. ↑ "Grease Sing-A-Long - Trailers, Videos, and Reviews ComingSoon.net Movie Database". Comingsoon.net. 2010-07-08. http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=66254. Retrieved 2010-08-16. 
  18. ↑ "Grease Sing-A-Long (2010) | Trailer & Official Movie Site". Greasemovie.com. http://www.greasemovie.com. Retrieved 2010-08-16. 
  19. ↑ "100 Greatest Musicals: Channel 4 Film". Channel4.com. http://www.channel4.com/film/newsfeatures/microsites/M/musicals/results_5to1.html. Retrieved 2010-08-16. 
  20. ↑ "Empire Features". Empireonline.com. http://www.empireonline.com/500/31.asp. Retrieved 2010-08-16. 

External links

Films directed by Randal Kleiser
1970s
Peege (1972) · The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976) · Grease (1978)
1980s
The Blue Lagoon (1980) · Summer Lovers (1982) · Grandview, U.S.A. (1984) · Flight of the Navigator (1986) · Big Top Pee-wee (1988) · Getting It Right (1989)
1990s
White Fang (1991) · Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992) · It's My Party (1996) · Shadow of Doubt (1998)
2000s
Red Riding Hood (2004) · Love Wrecked (2005)