Jedi Council Forums - The Movie Musicals Thread: Now Dis. "Mama Mia" (2008)

Jedi Council Forums » JC Community » The Amphitheatre »

Post Reply | Active Topic Notification | Previous Active Topic | Next Active Topic

« 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 » - Previous | Next | Reload

Author	Topic: The Movie Musicals Thread: Now Dis. "Mama Mia" (2008)
The_Jesstar Registered: Feb '03	Date Posted: 3/3 2:25pm Subject: RE: The Movie Musicals Thread: Now Dis. "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975)
	How did I not know this thread existed?! * the thread* However. I'm more of a contemporary musicals girl. Give me some Wicked. Avenue Q. Legally Blonde (don't hurt me, it's good!). Rent. Bare. Yes, none of these are MOVIE musicals... (the exception being Rent.) Great job on the thread anyyway, I'll be sure to keep an eye out here. -----signature----- "So you're saying he's simply a delusional meglomaniac with benign intentions?" ---
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
quiller Registered: Jun '05	Date Posted: 3/3 11:38pm Subject: RE: The Movie Musicals Thread: Now Dis. "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975)
	I can not believe that so few people commented about Rocky Horror Picture Show... back in the day college night life almost revolved around this movie.... and to say there was audience participation does not quite give the proper feel... you think people dressed up for star wars movies... -----signature----- "You didn't think it was gonna be that easy, did you?" "You know, for a second there, yeah, I kinda did." "Silly rabbit."
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Deneveon Registered: Jun '02	Date Posted: 3/12 1:39am Subject: RE: The Movie Musicals Thread: Now Dis. "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975)
	I went to a midnight showing of Rocky Horror for the first time last month...it was amazing. I knew the movie backwards and forwards but had never gone to a screening before. I don't remember the last time I had so much fun. I was lost half the time, since I didn't know what to do/say (except for the Time Warp...yes...) but I'm definitely going again! The movie's so self-consciously campy, it's fantastic. It's a parody of rock musicals, sci fi movies, horror movies, and exploitation movies all in one, but it doesn't make any effort to be logical in any way that you accept it. Love love love it. Plus Tim Curry's just fantastic in it
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Vortigern99 Title: Manager Emeritus Registered: Nov '00	Date Posted: 3/12 10:16am Subject: RE: The Movie Musicals Thread: Now Dis. "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975)
	^ ^ What a great review of Rocky! Deneveon, may I ask what city you saw this electrifying show in? -----signature----- "I knew from the beginning I was not doing science fiction. I was doing a space opera, a fantasy film, a mythological piece, a fairy tale."--George Lucas My "Vader's Origins" thread: http://boards.theforce.net/Classic_Trilogy/b10002/8708417/p1
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
RX_Sith Title: Monopoly host Registered: Mar '06	Date Posted: 3/12 12:19pm Subject: RE: The Movie Musicals Thread: Now Dis. "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975)
	We need to DRAG (yes pun intended) Zaz into this movie and have him sit through the whole thing and be a part of the movie. -----signature----- Chief of Staff - The SWC Rebel Scum
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 3/12 12:23pm Subject: RE: The Movie Musicals Thread: Now Dis. "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975)
	No, no, no! I tried, I really did!
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Obi Anne Title: FanForce RSA Europe Registered: Nov '98	Date Posted: 3/12 3:44pm Subject: RE: The Movie Musicals Thread: Now Dis. "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975)
	I think most people who see it for the first time are stunned with it, I certainly was. Now I'm not a big fan of it, but I do enjoy watching it from time to time. Sometimes I think the funniest thing is to watch the reactions of new viewers though. -----signature----- Tea one, proud member of the Tea Squad, FanForce Meeting 2006, Berlin GSADMINCOACHEMPERORRULERPRESIDENTTSARMINISTERQUEEN liuba
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 3/12 4:51pm Subject: RE: The Movie Musicals Thread: Now Dis. "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975)
	Actually, I was rather bored. I think events have overtaken it.
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
RX_Sith Title: Monopoly host Registered: Mar '06	Date Posted: 3/19 1:54pm Subject: RE: The Movie Musicals Thread: Now Dis. "Saturday Night Fever" (1977)
	Saturday Night Fever (1977). (from wiki) Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 film starring John Travolta as Tony Manero, a troubled Brooklyn youth whose weekend activities are dominated by visits to a local discothèque. While in the disco, Tony is the king, and the visits help him to temporarily forget the reality of his life: a dead-end job, clashes with his unsupportive and squabbling parents, racial tensions in the local community, and his associations with a gang of dead-beat friends. A huge commercial success, the movie significantly helped to popularize disco music around the world and made Travolta a household name. The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, featuring disco songs by the Bee Gees, became the best selling soundtrack ever. The film also showcased aspects of the music, the dancing, and the subculture surrounding the disco era: symphony-orchestrated melodies, haute-couture styles of clothing, sexual promiscuity, and graceful choreography. The story is based upon a 1976 New York magazine article by British writer Nik Cohn, "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night." In the late-1990s, Cohn acknowledged that the article had been fabricated[1]. A newcomer to the United States and a stranger to the disco lifestyle, Cohn was unable to make any sense of the subculture he had been assigned to write about. The characters who were to become Tony Manero and his friends sprang almost completely from his imagination. The film is also notable for being one of the first instances of cross media marketing, with the tie-in soundtrack's single being used to help promote the film before its release and the film popularizing the entire soundtrack after its release. Taglines: Original: Where do you go when the record is over? PG: It is now rated PG... Because we want everyone to see John Travolta's dance performance... Because we want everyone to hear the #1 group in the country, Bee Gees... Because we want everyone to catch Saturday Night Fever. Story The film is about 19-year-old Tony Manero (John Travolta), a young man who works a dead-end job in a small paint store by day, but rules the dance floor at night with his frequent appearances at 2001 Odyssey, a Brooklyn dance club. While at 2001 Odyssey, Tony is seen in the company of his three close friends, Joey (Joseph Cali); Double J (Paul Pape); and the meek Bobby C. (Barry Miller), still in high school. It's presumed Bobby C., though younger, is part of the gang because he is the only one with a car. An informal member of their gang is Annette (Donna Pescow), a plain-looking girl who has more than friendship on her mind when it comes to Tony. Tony, knowing Annette has the right moves to win an upcoming dance competition, recruits her to participate with him in the contest, much to her delight. Her happiness is short-lived, however, when Tony abruptly terminates their partnership after seeing Stephanie Mangano at the dance club. Stephanie is an attractive, talented dancer with what Tony assumes is a more committed attitude. Despite her initial frosty and superior attitude toward Tony, after much urging, Stephanie (Karen Lynn Gorney) agrees to partner with him in the contest. Stephanie works in Manhattan as a secretary for a magazine; she is poised to move there and has more opportunities to work her way up. This awakens in Tony the need to transcend his working-class roots of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. However, Stephanie ultimately reveals her own vulnerabilities to Tony. Also examined in the film is Tony's relationship with his family, including Frank Jr., Tony's older brother and clearly his parents' favorite, who abandons a planned career in the priesthood. Tony's mother dotes on Frank Jr., who shatters his parents' dreams of what he refers to as "pious glory." This may be partly because Frank Jr. no longer wishes to spend his life in celibacy, but mainly, as he tries to explain to Tony, because he has doubts about his faith and is disillusioned with the Church. Bobby C., who looks up to Tony because of his dance talent, asks him for advice for getting out of his relationship with his devoutly-Catholic girlfriend Pauline, who is pregnant with his child. Though Tony tells him to dump her, Bobby C. faces pressure from his family and others to marry her, which he clearly doesn't wish to do. After she refuses to get an abortion, Bobby asks Frank Jr. if Pope Paul VI would grant him dispensation for an abortion. Bobby's feelings of despair deepen when Frank tells him dispensation would be highly unlikely. Double-J and Joey are Tony's more like-minded friends, macho, foul-mouthed, bigoted, chauvinistic, and with hair-trigger tempers. They engage in wild behavior such as balancing themselves along the dangerous railing of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, often while in varying states of drunkenness. Finally, it's the evening of the dance competition at 2001 Odyssey. Tony and Stephanie finish their dance to wild applause. The last couple to compete, however, is a Puerto Rican duo whom Tony realizes has blown him and Stephanie away after seeing their spectacular performance. Nevertheless, Tony and Stephanie take the top prize, which Tony immediately dismisses, claiming the contest was rigged in his favor (because of his popularity at 2001). He grabs the trophy and prize money from Stephanie and presents them to the Puerto Rican couple (who took second) instead, telling them they deserve it. Angry, Tony tells off his friends as phonies who won't be honest with him, dragging Stephanie with him. He attempts to force himself on Stephanie in the car until she fights him off and escapes. He then sullenly takes off with the gang, along with a drunk and high Annette, whom Joey says is going to "give us all a piece." Double-J and Joey both take turns with Annette, but Annette starts to cry after she realizes she actually does not want to have sex with them. They pull the car off the bridge, but this time, Bobby C., who normally stays in the car, joins them, and is attempting more dangerous stunts than Tony, Double-J, and Joey. Realizing that Bobby is acting recklessly, Tony tries to coax him off the railing. Upset at his lonely life, his situation with Pauline, and a broken promise from Tony earlier that he would call him, the needy Bobby rants at Tony's lack of care, and accidentally slips, falling to his death. The friends are shocked and grief-stricken. When a policeman called to investigate the incident asks Tony if he thinks Bobby C. committed suicide, Tony responds, "Sometimes you can kill yourself without killin' yourself...you know?" A distraught Tony spends the rest of the night riding the subway. He finally shows up at Stephanie's apartment, apologizing and saying that he wanted to try and salvage their relationship by being friends first... and see what develops from there. Recognizing Tony's honest wish to change, Stephanie takes his hand in hers, and then him into her arms in this final scene. Versions and sequel There were two theatrically-released versions of the film: the "original" R version and the PG "edited version." The R-rated version is 119 minutes. The PG-rated version was released in 1978 as an attempt to attract a more youthful audience. It is 113 minutes, with profanity replaced by separately-filmed scenes that substituted milder language that were initially filmed for the network television cut of the film (such as a scene where Tony's dad gets his old job back), and with several scenes shortened or cut. Both theatrical versions were released on VHS, but only the R-rated version was released on LaserDisc and later on DVD, and the DVD version is shown in widescreen only. (However, some of the extra scenes from the PG version were included as "deleted scenes" for the DVD release.) In addition, a network television version, based primarily on the PG version, contains several minutes of outtakes deleted from the theatrical releases. However starting in the late 1990s VH1 and Turner Network Television started showing the original R rated version with a TV-14 rating. (Some of the language and nudity had been edited out but including some of the innuendos from the original that had been cut out of the PG version.) The R-rated version contains scenes of profanity, nudity, drug use and a date-rape scene which has been de-emphasised or completely removed from the PG version. A sequel, Staying Alive, was released in 1983. It starred John Travolta and was directed by Sylvester Stallone. The story was also produced as a musical stage production in London, Sydney and on Broadway Cast and roles include * John Travolta - Tony Manero * Karen Lynn Gorney - Stephanie Mangano * Barry Miller - Bobby C. * Joseph Cali - Joey * Paul Pape - Double J. * Donna Pescow - Annette, a former girlfriend of Tony, still in love with him * Bruce Ornstein - Gus * Julie Bovasso - Flo Manero, Tony's mother * Martin Shakar - Frank Manero Jr., Tony's brother * Sam Coppola - Dan Fusco, paint store owner, Tony's boss * Nina Hansen - Grandmother * Lisa Peluso - Linda Manero, Tony's sister * Denny Dillon - Doreen * Bert Michaels - Pete * Robert Costanzo - Paint store customer * Robert Weil - Becker * Shelly Batt - Girl in disco * Fran Drescher - Connie * Donald Gantry - Jay Langhart * Murray Moston - Haberdashery salesman * William Andrews - Detective * Ann Travolta - Pizza girl (Travolta's sister) * Helen Travolta - Lady in paint store (Travolta's mother) * Ellen March - Bartender * Monti Rock III - The deejay * Val Bisoglio - Frank Manero Sr., Tony's father * Roy Cheverie - The wrong partner (uncredited) * Adrienne King - Dancer (uncredited) * Alberto Vasquez - Gang member (uncredited) * M. J. Quinn - Dancer (uncredited) * Chuck Norris - Dancer (uncredited) * Joe Macera - Gang member (uncredited) Soundtrack Track listing: 1. "Stayin' Alive" performed by Bee Gees - 4:45 2. "How Deep Is Your Love" performed by Bee Gees - 4:05 3. "Night Fever" performed by Bee Gees - 3:33 4. "More Than a Woman" performed by Bee Gees - 3:17 5. "If I Can't Have You" performed by Yvonne Elliman - 3:00 6. "A Fifth of Beethoven" performed by Walter Murphy - 3:03 7. "More Than a Woman" performed by Tavares - 3:17 8. "Manhattan Skyline" performed by David Shire - 4:44 9. "Calypso Breakdown" performed by Ralph MacDonald - 7:50 () 10. "Night on Disco Mountain" performed by David Shire - 5:12 11. "Open Sesame" performed by Kool & the Gang - 4:01 12. "Jive Talkin'" performed by Bee Gees - 3:43 () 13. "You Should Be Dancing" performed by Bee Gees - 4:14 14. "Boogie Shoes" performed by KC and the Sunshine Band - 2:17 15. "Salsation" performed by David Shire - 3:50 16. "K-Jee" performed by MFSB - 4:13 17. "Disco Inferno" performed by Trammps - 10:51 () "Calypso Breakdown" and "Jive Talkin'" were not contained in the film. The novelty song "Disco Duck" was played in the film, in a humorous scene, but was not included on the album. Filming locations include Verrazano Narrows Bridge * Phillips Dance Studio * 2001 Odyssey, which was later renamed Spectrum (a Gay club) in 1987 before being demolished in 2005. The club was located at 802 64th Street, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York. * Six Brothers Hardware and Paints formerly located at 7309 5th Ave in Brooklyn was the backdrop for Tony's place of employment. The store was owned and operated by a father and his six sons of the Albergo Family. It became a popular tourist stop after the release of the movie. The father was Giuseppe (Joseph Sr.) and the six brothers were Joseph, Domenic, Marco, Peter, Angelo, and Ralph. The owners have since sold the store and have retired. See the following website: http://joe-albergo.com/ Trivia * Saturday Night Fever was the favorite movie of the late film critic Gene Siskel, who claimed to have seen it 17 times. He liked the movie so much, he bought the famous white disco suit (worn by Travolta in the movie) at a charity auction for $17,000. * According to the DVD commentary for this movie, the producers wanted to use the song "Lowdown" by Boz Scaggs for use in the rehearsal scene between Tony and Annette in the dance studio. Representatives for Scaggs' label, Columbia Records, refused to allow the song, as they wanted to pursue another disco movie project, which never materialized. David Shire had to compose a song to match the dance steps demonstrated in the scene, as it was done with "Lowdown" in mind. However, it does not appear on the movie's soundtrack. * Donna Pescow was almost considered 'too pretty' for the role of Annette. She corrected this by putting on 40 pounds and training herself back to her native Brooklyn accent, which she trained herself away from while she was studying drama at the American Academy of the Arts. After production ended, she immediately lost the weight she gained for the role and dropped the accent. * John Travolta's mother Helen and sister Ann both appeared in minor roles in this movie. * Bobby's C's car is a 1964 Chevrolet Impala. * Madonna's video for her 2005 hit single "Hung Up" is an homage to a scene from Saturday Night Fever, when Tony first approaches Stephanie at the rehearsal studio. In the video, Madonna is wearing almost exactly the same leotard and tights set that Stephanie wears in the film, and there is wood paneling and a wooden barre much like in the rehearsal space Stephanie uses for this scene. Madonna also did a remix during the Confessions Tour in 2006, following her successful album Confessions on a Dance Floor. The remix was the instrumental of "Disco Inferno" from Saturday Night Fever mixed with Madonna's hit song "Music" from 2000. Madonna's appearance and dance moves during "Music Inferno" were similar to Travolta's in the film. * The song "K-Jee" was used during the dance contest with the Hispanic couple that competed against Tony and Stephanie. Some VHS cassettes used a more traditional Latin-style song instead. The DVD restores the original recording. * Tony Manero was the name of a real American golfer. * John Belushi parodied the film as "Samurai Night Fever", one of his "Samurai" sketches. O.J. Simpson appears in this sketch as the Samurai's brother. * The 1980 film Airplane! contained a parody scene, with Robert Hays mocking the famous pose and the clothing shown on the poster and album cover, to the tune of "Stayin' Alive" slightly sped up (the actual song used for that scene in Saturday Night Fever was "You Should Be Dancing"). * The Goodies parodied the film in their Saturday Night Grease episode. * The original working title for this film was "The Tribal Rites Of Saturday Night". * In Anurag Mathur's book The Inscrutable Americans, the protagonist Gopal is inspired by the way Travolta dances and refers to Saturday Night Fever as an 'educational' movie about America. * John Travolta still has the pair of high-heeled shoes he wore during the opening and dance sequences of the film (as depicted in the poster). He says he sometimes takes them out of the closet, but claims he doesn't wear them. * This film is banned in Malaysia.[2] * The Children's Television Workshop published a record album of music from Sesame Street under the title Sesame Street Fever, the cover of which featured a picture of muppet Grover wearing the white three-piece disco suit in the famous Travolta pose. * The film was one of the inspirations for the short-lived sitcom Makin' It, whose main character was a devotee of the film. * In the club, a woman begs to kiss Tony and gushes, "I just kissed Al Pacino!" Later, while looking at a poster of Al Pacino in the mirror, Tony comes out of his room shouting, " Attica! Attica! Attica!" from the famous Al Pacino film, Dog Day Afternoon. * The male human dance and parts of the male dwarf dance in the MMORPG World of Warcraft are taken from this film. * The illuminated dance floor was inspired by one Badham had seen at "The Club", a private supper club in Birmingham, Alabama. * Amy Irving auditioned for the role of Stephanie, which was later won by lesser-known soap actress Karen Lynn Gorney. * The first shots of Stephanie dancing are actually of a stand-in dancer and not Gorney, except for the close-ups. * The music video for "Dang" by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion begins with a direct reference to the opening of Saturday Night Fever as lead singer Jon Spencer is shown walking down a New York City street with a paint can in one hand, exactly as Tony does in the film. * In 2000, at the Inner Circle press dinner, mayor Rudy Giuliani spoofed John Travolta by dancing to "Disco Inferno" by The Trammps. Giuliani wore a white 70s-style disco suit. * Spanish Disco-Funk band "Fundación Tony Manero" ("Tony Manero Foundation") is named after the main character. * The video game Gex: Enter the Gecko has a martial-arts themed level named "Samurai Night Fever". * The debut album by avant-garde metal band Polkadot Cadaver, Purgatory Dance Party, has cover art that is a reference to the film poster. * Bee Gee Robin Gibb admitted to BBC News on 15 December 2007 that he has never watched this film. Academy Awards Nominated: Best Actor John Travolta Discuss. -----signature----- Chief of Staff - The SWC Rebel Scum
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 3/20 7:45pm Subject: RE: The Movie Musicals Thread: Now Dis. "Saturday Night Fever" (1977)
	It's not really a musical in some ways. Travolta is galvanizing, though.
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
JohnWesleyDowney Registered: Jan '04	Date Posted: 3/20 7:51pm Subject: RE: The Movie Musicals Thread: Now Dis. "Saturday Night Fever" (1977)
	I think Travolta's ad-lib about "Watch the hair" makes that a classic American scene. -----signature----- How many movies do you think Industrial Light and Magic has worked on? WRONG. http://www.ilm.com/ilm_services.html "Films fulfill an unconscious spiritual desire that human beings have to share a common memory." - Martin Scorcese
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Thrawn1786 Registered: Feb '04	Date Posted: 3/20 8:24pm Subject: RE: The Movie Musicals Thread: Now Dis. "Saturday Night Fever" (1977)
	The stage version was crap. I saw the touring production and walked out at intermission(which you have to understand, I almost never do), it was so bad. Never seen the movie, but my mom said it is much much better. -----signature----- e-sibs: Rabe, padawanlissa, Elfie, CW, DG, Kahn, Trimaj, MGA, prj1, SWF444, Swan, Allegra Minister of Internal Affairs, EUC Senate
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
ForceJumpAnakin Registered: Dec '06	Date Posted: 3/22 8:19am Subject: RE: The Movie Musicals Thread: Now Dis. "Saturday Night Fever" (1977)
	I love this movie. I have the Rated R version, but my favorite scene is when everyone is in the club dancing to "Night Fever" together. -----signature----- Milk, Got. Hmmm?
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
RX_Sith Title: Monopoly host Registered: Mar '06	Date Posted: 3/30 3:55pm Subject: RE: The Movie Musicals Thread: Now Dis. "Grease" (1978)
	Grease (1978). (from wiki) Grease is a film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Jim Jacobs' and Warren Casey's musical, Grease. The film stars John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway and Eve Arden. It was originally released to theatres on June 16, 1978. It was released in the U.S. 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. Tagline: Grease is the word Tagline: Grease is still the word. (1998 re-release) Plot The film opens with the theme song, "Grease", added for the movie and written by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees and performed by Frankie Valli. In 1958, during their summer vacation, and before the title credits, Danny Zuko (John Travolta) and Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton John) meet at a beach. Various scenes from their holiday are shown, but then the summer ends, and Sandy has to return to Australia. She worries that this is the end for her and Danny; they may never see each other again. By a twist of fate, Sandy does not return to Australia. Her family has a change of plans, and she attends Rydell High School as a foreign-exchange student, where Danny Zuko attends school, along with Sandy's cousin Frenchy (Didi Conn), a member of the school girls' clique, The Pink Ladies. Danny is the leader of the boys' gang (although this is a matter of contention with Kenickie), The T-Birds. Kenickie - second-in-command of the T-Birds - eggs Danny on to tell them about his summer throw downs, while the Pink Ladies egg Sandy on. This results in "Summer Nights": The two main characters give accounts of their holiday (a later scene in the movie makes it clear that Danny is exaggerating) — though neither is aware of the other's presence at the school. Encouraged by the preppy school spirit girl, Patty Simcox (Susan Buckner), Sandy joins the Rydell cheerleaders. The Pink Ladies decide to reunite Danny and Sandy, but Danny wants to protect his cool image, and his behavior towards Sandy causes her to storm off in tears. Danny stares after her for a moment, but then quickly turns back into a cool guy and goes off with his friends. Frenchy attempts to cheer Sandy up by inviting her to a sleepover at her house with the rest of the gang. Sandy comes along, but Rizzo soon gets fed up with Sandy's goody-two-shoes behavior: Sandy chokes on a cigarette, cannot stand the taste of wine, and is horrified at the idea of having her ears pierced. Frenchy is insistent, and takes her into the bathroom, but Sandy vomits at the first sight of blood. Frenchy announces to Jan (Jamie Donnelly) and Marty (Dinah Manoff) that she is dropping out of Rydell and going to beauty school, because she wants to be a beautician, which she calls "a very strategic career move". Rizzo (Stockard Channing) has had enough — she lampoons Sandy, and soon has even Frenchy joining in, singing the sarcastic "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee". The T-Birds arrive outside Frenchy's house. Rizzo leaves the sleepover and she and Kenickie (Jeff Conaway) flirt, then Kenickie invites her into the car, arm-in-arm and dumps the other T-Birds. Danny leaves on his own accord. Rizzo and Kenickie drive off, arms around each other, and the other T-Birds go for a slice of pizza. Marty, the flirtatious member of The Pink Ladies, decides to write to one of her (numerous) pen pals, while Sandy goes outside, and decides that in spite of everything, she still loves Danny, singing "Hopelessly Devoted to You", a poignant love song that was added for the movie (and was a big hit as a single). The scene shifts to Rizzo and Kenickie making out passionately in the back seat of his new car. They plan to take things a step further, but Kenickie's condom breaks. Rizzo, however, is unable to resist Kenickie, and they decide to have sexual intercourse anyway. They are soon interrupted by Leo (Dennis Cleveland Stewart), leader of rival gang The Scorpions, who damages Kenickie's car. Whilst at work on repairing the car, the T-Birds fantasize about what it will look like when it has had a paint job, singing "Greased Lightning". Soon Danny gets all of the other T-Birds convinced that the rickety old car could actually be a "major piece of machinery". Danny meets Sandy at the Frosty Palace, and tries to apologize for his actions. He sees that Sandy is sharing a soda with Tom Chisum (Lorenzo Lamas), a jock, and decides that if that's the sort of man she likes, he's going to join the jocks to impress her. The next scene follows Danny's disastrous performances in basketball, wrestling, and baseball, where he keeps resorting to violence when he loses. He finally finds his ideal sport in track, until the sight of Sandy distracts him, and he falls. Sandy leaves Tom Chisum to see if Danny is alright, and they are seemingly reconciled. Danny attempts to go to the Frosty Palace with Sandy by themselves so that they can be alone and not worry about ruining his image in front of his friends. They end up discovering Danny and Sandy are there anyway and Danny finds it hard to charm Sandy without looking like a sissy in front of his friends. After everyone leaves the malt shop, Frenchy, who has been hiding her pink hair under a scarf, imagines a guardian angel to tell her what to do with her life, who turns out to be Frankie Avalon singing "Beauty School Dropout". Later, Danny takes Sandy to the school's dance, where the TV show National Bandstand plans to broadcast live from the school. Rizzo, now mad at Kenickie, takes the rival gang's leader, Leo, to the dance, thus enticing Kenickie to take the rival gangleader's girlfriend, Cha Cha DiGregorio (Annette Charles) — Danny's ex-girlfriend. The disc jockey Vince Fontaine (Edd Byrnes) develops a sordid crush on Pink Lady Marty. The dance features several well-known songs from the '50s covered by Sha Na Na. During the dance-off, Rizzo leaves in a huff, seeing Kenickie dancing with Cha Cha, and Danny and Sandy are one of the few still in the dance-off. But soon, Sonny pulls Sandy away from Danny, and Cha Cha starts dancing with Danny. Sandy realizes that Cha Cha was one of Danny's past girlfriends — and a much better dancer. Sandy leaves the gym upset, and Danny and Cha Cha end up winning the contest. When they share their spotlight dance, three of the T-Birds run in front of the camera and moon the crowd. Later, Danny takes Sandy to a drive-in movie and apologizes for leaving her. The apology means nothing to Sandy. Danny tries to remove the class ring he is wearing to give it to her, but in doing so he accidentally elbows Sandy in the chest. Danny gives Sandy the ring and she kisses him on the cheek, saying she realizes now he respects her. The scene cuts to Marty and Rizzo in the drive-in toilets. Rizzo's unprotected sex with Kenickie has come back to haunt her--she tells Marty she missed a period. One of the T-Birds, Sonny (Michael Tucci), overhears Marty accidentally proclaiming to couples making out outside the toilets to make way for the "lady with a baby", and asks Marty what she meant so she tells him the story, which leads him to tell others until the chain effect makes it common knowledge. Marty has also suffered as a result of her crush on Vince Fontaine--she reveals to Rizzo that she caught him trying to put aspirin in her coke. Back in the car Danny has his arm around Sandy. His hand lingers above her chest and she sees it and he starts trying to make out with her. She screams, gets out of the car ("sin wagon", as she calls it), slams the door on Danny's genital area, throws back his ring (which she calls a "piece of tin"), and leaves the drive-in. Danny laments losing Sandy again, and reveals the true extent of his feelings for her in the song "Sandy" — he is helpless without her. The next scene is the race between Leo and Kenickie in the Los Angeles River. Kenickie asks Danny to be his right hand man, and Marty gives Kenickie a lucky penny. She drops it, and as Kenickie bends down to pick it up, he gets knocked out when one of the T-Birds opens the car door. As a result, Danny has to race in Kenickie's place. Sandy sits on the hill watching the neck-and-neck race, which Danny manages to win. While she is happy to see Danny win, she has misgivings about her own image, reflected in the song "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee (Reprise)". As the T-Birds and Pink Ladies celebrate with Danny, Frenchy spots Sandy and goes over to her. Sandy thinks that Frenchy can help her win Danny's heart, and asks to go over to her house to take advantage of Frenchy's suspect fashion skills. Later, on the last day of school carnival, Danny arrives, having followed through on his track jock plans, in a preppy letter sweater. However, Sandy arrives wearing a black leather jacket, red peep-toe high heeled sandals, skintight black off-the-shoulder top, curled hair, and smoking a cigarette — no more goody-two-shoes. Danny finds her extremely attractive, falling at her feet, and then the two reunite, singing the upbeat "You're the One That I Want" (another song added for the movie, and a hit single before the movie even came out). Kenickie and Rizzo get together (after Rizzo screams from the Ferris wheel that she is not pregnant) and then everyone sings in the big finale, "We Go Together", and Danny and Sandy literally fly off in the "Greased Lightning" car and disappear into the sky. Production Casting Singer Olivia Newton-John had done little acting before this film. She appeared in the 1970 film Tomorrow - 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 lead 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. 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 passed her audition without being given a singing or dancing tryout. Her skills in those areas proved limited, so she was moved into the background during the song numbers. Costumes * Danny's blue windbreaker at the beginning of the film was intended as a nod to Rebel Without a Cause (1955). * Because of a zipper breaking, Olivia Newton-John had to be sewn into the pants she wears in the last sequence (the carnival at Rydell), and was unable to remove the trousers until the filming of that scene was over. * Stockard Channing's original costume was going to be a purple blouse and green skirt. Unfortunately, it was a bad fit and she had to wear black. * Didi Conn was originally to dye her hair golden, but refused. She also refused to have her hair dyed green at the Carnival ending, stating in the DVD that she was supposed to explain to the group that she got into a pool that contained too much chlorine (referencing a joke from the original play) and colored her hair into a bright green color. She refused, stating in the interview "Don't turn me into a joke." Personal * In November 2002 Camille Paglia asserted in an Interview magazine with Donna Mills that the character of Sandy in Grease was based on Mills' experiences as a Chicago-area teen, even though no interview questions covered the subject. * Randal Kleiser hated the opening title song, "Grease" (he thought that the cynical lyrics and disco beat were inappropriate for a film in the 1960s) and the song "You're The One That I Want" (saying it "sounded awful"). Reception Although Travolta was already famous from the movie Saturday Night Fever and the television sitcom Welcome Back Kotter, Grease reconfirmed 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 was the highest grossing (US) movie of 1978. 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.[1] 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. Grease spawned a sequel, Grease 2 (1982) (with the only cast members from the original movie being Blanche, Coach Calhoun, Eugene, Frenchy, Leo (the Scorpions' gang leader), and Principal Miss McGee) that 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. This movie 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. Voted the best musical ever on Channel 4's 100 greatest musicals. Soundtrack album details Main article: Grease (album) * 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 instead. The Troy Donahue reference is in the original stage version. (The song order on the soundtrack album does not match the order in the movie. The number in brackets below indicates the order from the movie. Some of the songs were not present in the movie.) 1. [02] Grease — Frankie Valli (3:23) (a) 2. [03] Summer Nights/Summer Loving — Danny, Sandy, Pink Ladies & TBirds (3:36) (b) (d) 3. [04] Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee - Rizzo and the Pink Ladies (1:38) 4. [05] Hopelessly Devoted to You — Sandy (3:00) (c) (e) 5. [19] You're the One That I Want — Danny and Sandy (2:47) (c) (e) 6. [16] Sandy (Music by Louis St. Louis, Lyrics by Scott J. Simon) — Danny (2:30) (e) 7. [08] Beauty School Dropout — Frankie Avalon / Angels (4:02) (b) (e) 8. [06] Greased Lightnin’ — Danny and the T-Birds (3:12) (b) (e) 9. [07] It’s Raining on Prom Night — Radio (2:57) (b) (e) 10. [08] Alone at the Drive-In Movie (instrumental, see below for details) (2:22) (b) (d) (w) 11. [15] Blue Moon (Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart) — Johnny (4:02) (e) 12. [10] Rock n' Roll is Here to Stay (D. White) — Johnny (2:00) (e) 13. [11] Those Magic Changes — Johnny and Danny (2:15) (b) (e) 14. [13] Hound Dog (Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller) — Johnny (1:23) (e) 15. [14] Born to Hand Jive — Johnny and Cast (4:39) (b) (e) 16. [12] Tears on My Pillow (S. Bradford and A. Lewis) — Johnny (2:06) (d) 17. [15] Mooning — Jan and Roger (2:12) (b) (e) 18. [17] Freddy, My Love — Marty (2:40) (b) (e) 19. [09] Rock n' Roll Party Queen — Radio (2:08) (b) (e) 20. [17] There Are Worse Things I Could Do — Rizzo (2:18) (b) (e) (w) 21. [18] Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee (Reprise) — Sandy (1:20) (b) (d) 22. [20] We Go Together — Danny, Sandy, Kenickie, Rizzo, Marty, Sonny, Jan, Putzie, Doody, Frenchy, Eugene, Patty, Miss Mcgee, Mr Lynch & Coach 23. [01] Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing (Instrumental) (1:22) 24. [21] Grease (Reprise) — Frankie Valli (3:23) (a) Discuss. -----signature----- Chief of Staff - The SWC Rebel Scum
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Obi Anne Title: FanForce RSA Europe Registered: Nov '98	Date Posted: 3/31 2:42am Subject: RE: The Movie Musicals Thread: Now Dis. "Grease" (1978)
	Grease was the first film my oldest sister saw in the cinema, it became one of her favourites, so I grew up with it. I think it's fun and silly and I still enjoy it. -----signature----- Tea one, proud member of the Tea Squad, FanForce Meeting 2006, Berlin GSADMINCOACHEMPERORRULERPRESIDENTTSARMINISTERQUEEN liuba
	Post Reply \| Quote Reply \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History

« 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 » - Previous | Next | Reload

Jedi Council Forums » JC Community » The Amphitheatre »