Grease
Short description
Grease follows Sandy, an Australian newcomer, and Danny, a local greaser, who fall for each other over a summer holiday and then part ways. When they unexpectedly turn up at the same high school, Danny acts cold in front of his friends, while Sandy struggles to fit in with a tougher crowd. The film is set in a stylised 1950s America of open-top cars and slicked-back hair, and its story plays out through song and dance.
Randal Kleiser directed, working from a screenplay by Bronte Woodard, with Allan Carr and Robert Stigwood producing. It was Kleiser's second feature, arriving between The Boy in the Plastic Bubble and The Blue Lagoon, and it became the most commercially successful title on his filmography. Olivia Newton-John plays Sandy and John Travolta plays Danny, with Stockard Channing as Rizzo and Jeff Conaway as Kenickie heading a large credited cast.
Made for about 6 million dollars, the film took close to 396 million dollars worldwide, a return that made it one of the biggest hits of its era. On IMDb it holds 7.2/10 across roughly 294,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.4/10 from a much smaller base of about 7,800. A critics' rating of 7.1/10 from 157 reviews places professional opinion broadly in line with the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Elvis Presley was invited to play the guardian angel during the performance of "Beauty School Drop-Out," but he declined. When Allan Carr acquired the rights to "Grease," he envisioned Presley in the role of Danny and Ann-Margret as Sandy – an actress, singer, and dancer.
- During the filming of Jeff Conway's performance of "Greased Lightning," he was accidentally dropped and suffered a back injury. He began taking painkillers, moved on to stronger pills, and eventually became addicted to drugs. He passed away at the age of 60 in 2011.
- The film's soundtrack went platinum twenty times.
- The dance competition was filmed during summer vacation. The school gymnasium was not equipped with air conditioning, the doors were closed, as required for lighting, so the room was unbearably hot and stuffy. Several extras repeatedly felt unwell.
- The first film was so successful that initially, three sequels were planned, but these plans were abandoned after the release of “Grease 2” (Patricia Birch, 1982). In 2002, Didi Conn, Olivia Newton-John, and John Travolta hoped to film “Grease 3” with the same actors and characters, but set in a different decade, such as the 1970s or 1990s, but the idea never progressed beyond discussion.
- Initially, it was planned that the song “Greased Lightning” would be sung, as in the stage production, by the character of Jeff Conaway, but John Travolta took it for himself. Before filming, the director asked Conaway if he objected, he initially resisted, but did not strongly object.
- Before taking on the role of Sandy, actress Olivia Newton-John requested a screen test. The director agreed, and a scene was filmed for the test at a drive-in theater. The actress liked the result and agreed to star in the film.
- During the filming of the carnival scenes, the temperature on set rose to 41 degrees Celsius.
- In the stage version of the song “Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee,” it was about Sal Mineo (1939-1976). For the film, the lyrics were changed to Elvis Presley (1935-1977).
- The final scene during the performance of "You're the One That I Want" was filmed with a traveling circus. Because director Randal Kleiser wanted to reshoot some close-ups the next day, they had to contact the props department and rebuild the sets, as the circus had already left.
- The scene near the bridge after the race was filmed amidst scattered trash, and the water in the puddles was stagnant and foul. Some members of the crew felt ill after the shooting.
- The kiss marks on Rizzo were real. According to Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway insisted on applying them himself.
- The song “Hopelessly Devoted to You” was written and recorded after filming had already finished. Olivia Newton-John's contract included a stipulation that she would perform one song solo, but no one could come up with a song suitable for her character, Sandy, until the producer had the idea for “Hopelessly Devoted to You” around the middle of the shooting period. Director Randal Kleiser had to devise a new scene for this song. It was recorded after filming was complete, and thanks to it, the film received its only Academy Award nomination.
- During filming, the film crew chewed approximately 100,000 pieces of chewing gum (an average of 5,000 pieces per day).
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