Grease [Rockin' Rydell Edition]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

"Grease," said the poster and the Barry Gibb song, "is the word." Transferring its setting from Chicago to sunny California, and adding a dash of disco to the ersatz '50s score, producer Allan Carr and director Randal Kleiser turned this long-running Jim Jacobs-Warren Casey Broadway smash into the biggest blockbuster of 1978. 1950s teens Danny (John Travolta) and Australian transfer Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) spend their "Summer Nights" falling in love, but once fall comes, it's back to Rydell High and its cliques. As one of the bad-boy T-Birds, Danny has to act cool for best pal Kenickie (Jeff Conaway) and their leather-clad mates Sonny (Michael Tucci) and Doody (Barry Pearl, in the role Travolta played on-stage). Despite befriending Frenchy (Didi Conn), one of the rebel Pink Ladies, virginal Sandy is "too pure to be Pink," as the Ladies' leader, Rizzo (Stockard Channing), acidly observes. Declaring their devotion in such ballads as "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Sandy," Sandy and Danny split, reconcile, and split again amidst a pep rally, dances, drive-ins, and a drag race, before deciding "You're the One That I Want" at the climactic carnival. With Travolta white-hot from Saturday Night Fever (1977), Grease soundtrack singles climbed the charts and summer movie crowds poured in. With the presence of Joan Blondell, Eve Arden, Sid Caesar, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes, and Frankie Avalon appealing to grown-up memories, Grease became the highest-grossing film of 1978, the highest-grossing movie musical ever, and the third most popular film of the new blockbuster '70s after Star Wars (1977) and Jaws (1975). Its sequel, Grease 2, did not exactly set the world on fire in 1982. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Nominated Best Song - 1978 (John Farrar)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Nominated Best Original Song - 1978 (Barry Gibb, John Farrar)
•     Nominated Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comed - 1978 (John Travolta)
•     Nominated Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Com - 1978 (Olivia Newton-John)
•     Nominated Best Picture - Musical or Comedy - 1978

• People's Choice Awards

•     Won Best Picture - 1979

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       John Travolta - Danny Zuko
       Olivia Newton - John - Sandy Olsson
       Stockard Channing - Rizzo
       Jeff Conaway - Kenickie
       Didi Conn - Frenchy
       Eve Arden - Principal McGee
       Joan Blondell - Vi
       Dinah Manoff - Marty
       Barry Pearl - Doody
       Kelly Ward - Putzie
       Susan Buckner - Patty Simcox
       Eddie Deezen - Eugene
       Lorenzo Lamas - Tom Chisum
       Dennis Stewart - Leo
       Annette Charles - Cha Cha
       Dick Patterson - Mr. Rudie
       Fannie Flagg - Nurse Wilkin
       Darrell Zwerling - Mr. Lynch
       Ellen Travolta - Waitress
       Frankie Avalon - Teen Angel
       Edward Byrnes - Vince Fontaine
       Sid Caesar - Coach Calhoun
       Alice Ghostley - Mrs. Murdock
       Dody Goodman - Blanche
       Sha Na Na - Johnny Casino and the Gamblers
       Andy Tennant - Dancer

• Director:

  Randal Kleiser

• Producer:

  Allan Carr, Robert Stigwood

• Screenwriter:

  Allan Carr, Bronte Woodard

• Cinematographer:

  Bill Butler

• Songwriter:

  John Farrar, Barry Gibb

• Featured Music:

  Ritchie Valens

• From Musical by:

  Jim Jacobs

• Songwriter:

  Louis St. Louis

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Bill Oakes

• From Musical by:

  Warren Casey

• Songwriter:

  J. Scott Simon

• Editor:

  John F. Burnett

• Production Designer:

  Philip M. Jefferies

• Set Designer:

  James I. Berkey

• Costume Designer:

  Albert Wolsky

• Choreography:

  Patricia Birch

REVIEW:

• One of the last of the big movie musicals, Grease succeeds in spite of itself, with singers who can't act, actors who can't sing, and a plot so corny it should have a husk. But this tale of true love and teen angst circa 1955 is sure to leave one's toes a-tapping, thanks to a dynamite soundtrack of golden oldies, plus original music by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, with key contributions by John Farrar (the Oscar-nominated "Hopelessly Devoted to You") and Barry Gibb (the snappy title tune). Danny Zuko (John Travolta) is the leader of the T-Birds, a goofball gang who approach a possible "rumble" with a water gun and a switchblade comb. They are matched in their mischief (and romantic entanglements) with the Pink Ladies: Rizzo (Stockard Channing), Frenchy (Didi Conn), Marty (Dinah Manoff), and Jan (Jamie Donnelly). It's all about being cool, cutting class, and getting a date for the big dance -- except that Danny's still stuck on his summer love, Sandy (Olivia Newton-John), a "good girl" that his greaser cronies would be hard-pressed to accept. Fortunately, neither Danny nor the audience has to think too hard to find a happy ending. Along the way there are terrific dance sequences (choreographed by Patricia Birch), appearances by a variety of old pros (Eve Arden, Sid Caesar, Dody Goodman, Edd Byrnes, Alice Ghostley, and Fannie Flagg) and a winning performance by Channing -- ironically, the oldest of these high-school wannabes. ~ David Abolafia, Rovi