54
Short description
Set in the late 1970s, 54 follows Shane O'Shea, a nineteen-year-old from Jersey City who crosses the bridge into Manhattan hoping to get past the door of Studio 54, the exclusive club run by entrepreneur Steve Rubell. Rubell spots Shane in the crowd waiting outside and lets him in, then offers him a job behind the bar. The club's nightlife draws Shane into a world of drugs, sex and disco music, and into new friendships: Greg Randazzo, a bartender with ambitions of his own, Greg's wife Anita, who wants a career in music, and Julie Black, a soap opera actress Shane becomes involved with. The film traces how the club's excesses affect the people inside it.
The film was directed by Mark Christopher, who also wrote the screenplay, and was his first feature; he later directed Pizza. It was produced by Richard N. Gladstein, Ira Deutchman and Dolly Hall, and stars Ryan Phillippe as Shane, Mike Myers as Steve Rubell, Salma Hayek Pinault as Anita, Breckin Meyer as Greg, Neve Campbell as Julie and Sela Ward as Billie Auster. Around one hundred cast members and forty-six crew members are credited.
Released in August 1998, 54 had a budget of 13 million dollars and took in about 17 million dollars worldwide. On TMDB it holds a rating of 5.9 out of 10 from 556 votes, while the film critics' rating stands at 4.2 out of 10 from 66 reviews, a notably lower figure than the audience score.
What's left behind the scenes
- Ian Schrager, the second owner of Studio 54, is not mentioned once in the film. This was done deliberately because, at the time of the premiere, he was still alive, while Steve Rubell (1943-1989) died on July 25, 1989, from AIDS, and the filmmakers feared Schrager might sue them.
- In Steve's bedroom hangs a painting by Andy Warhol (1928-1987). It depicts the actress Sylva Ward.
- The character of Disco Dottie is based on Sally Lippman, born in 1900. Lippman mourned the death of her husband when she discovered the disco scene, which completely changed her life. The old lady earned the nickname "Disco Sally" for her moves on the dance floor.
- Ryan Phillippe's character is based on Tig Thomas, who worked at the legendary "Studio 54" from 1977 to 1982.
- In 2008, approximately 10 years after the film’s release, screenwriter and director Mark Christopher assembled a director’s cut, adding 45 minutes of footage that had never been seen before. This footage was not included in the original version of the film at the insistence of the Miramax film company.
- The film is set in New York, but filming primarily took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1997. Reshoots of some scenes took place in June 1998, shortly before the film's scheduled release at the end of August. During the reshoots, 45 minutes of original scenes and episodes were reduced to 25. The overall runtime of the film was reduced from two hours to ninety minutes.
- Mark Christopher finished working on the original version of the film in early 1998. Studio executives liked the “raw” cut, but two preview screenings on Long Island turned into a nightmare. The audience complained that they disliked all of the characters and were dissatisfied with the abundance of scenes depicting homosexual love. The kiss between Ryan Phillippe and Breckin Meyer in particular provoked a negative reaction. Viewers felt that the actors themselves were uncomfortable in the scene. Miramax head Harvey Weinstein ordered the plot to be changed and additional shooting to be organized. Almost all references to Ryan Phillippe’s character’s bisexuality were removed from the film, Neve Campbell’s role was expanded, and a new ending was filmed. The resulting version garnered little love from either viewers or critics, while Christopher’s version became a cult favorite among film buffs. A pirated copy of Christopher’s film circulated among them for many years until it was finally officially released in 2015.
- The post-production process was heavily influenced by Harvey Weinstein, which led The Telegraph in 2017 to include this film in a list titled “Harvey Scissorhands: 6 Films Harvey Weinstein Destroyed.”
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