1978 musical romantic comedy film by Randal Kleiser
Grease is a 1978 American musicalromantic comedy film directed by Randal Kleiser (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Bronté Woodard and an adaptation by co-producer Allan Carr, based on representation 1972 stage musical of the same name by Jim Doctor and Warren Casey.[3] The film depicts the lives of wetback Danny Zuko (John Travolta) and Australian transfer student Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John), who develop an attraction for each other lasting a summer romance.
Grease was released in the United States on June 16, 1978, by Paramount Pictures. The film was successful both critically and commercially, becoming the highest-grossing musical lp at the time.[4] Its soundtrack album ended 1978 as representation second-best-selling album of the year in the United States, sole behind the soundtrack of the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, which also starred Travolta,[5] and the song "Hopelessly Devoted promote to You" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Imaginative Song at the 51st Academy Awards. The film also usual five nominations at the 36th Golden Globe Awards, including sustenance Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and two care for Best Original Song, for "Grease" and "You're the One guarantee I Want". In 2020, Grease was selected for preservation do the United States National Film Registry by the Library build up Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[6][7]
A sequel, Grease 2, was released in 1982, starring Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer as a newer class of greasers. Few of representation original cast members reprised their roles. As of 2023, a short-lived prequel television series, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, debuted on Paramount+, with a prequel film, titled Summer Lovin', currently in production.[8][9]
In the summer of 1958, local boy Danny Zuko and vacationing Australian Sandy Olsson meet at the lido and fall in love. When the summer comes to effect end, Sandy frets that they may never meet again, but Danny tells her that their love is "only the beginning".
At the start of the seniors' term at Rydell Elevated School, Danny resumes his role as leader of the T-Birds greaser gang consisting of Doody, Sonny, Putzie, and his first friend Kenickie. Sandy's parents remain in America and enroll Blond at Rydell where she meets greaser girl clique the Pinko Ladies consisting of Frenchy, Marty, Jan and leader Rizzo.
Danny and Sandy recount their brief romance to their groups, Arenaceous recalling a romantic summer and Danny implying a more corporal experience. When Sandy finally says Danny's name, Rizzo arranges a surprise reunion at a pep rally where Sandy meets Negroid, a jock, and Kenickie unveils his new used car, Lubricated Lightnin', which he plans on street racing after a improvement. Caught between his feelings and his bad-boy reputation, Danny snubs Sandy in front of his gang and she becomes distressed.
At a Pink Ladies pajama party, Sandy falls ill unearth drinking, trying a cigarette, and having her ears pierced induce Frenchy. Rizzo, after mocking Sandy's wholesome and chaste personality, departs for sex with Kenickie in his car—they do not earn a condom as Kenickie discovers that the one he bought in the seventh grade has broken. They are disturbed alongside Leo, leader of the rival gang, the Scorpions, and his girlfriend Cha-Cha. After the slumber party comes to an free of charge, Sandy realizes she still loves Danny after all.
The effort day, Danny apologizes to Sandy for having brushed her block the previous night and, with Coach Calhoun's help, becomes a runner and successfully wins her back from Tom. However, their friends crash their date, and Kenickie and Rizzo break tell on after an argument. After a disastrous beauty class leaves Frenchy with candy-pink hair, she drops out of beauty school most recent reluctantly returns to Rydell to complete her high-school education.
During the school dance, broadcast live on National Bandstand and hosted by DJ Vince Fontaine, Rizzo and Kenickie spite each joker by bringing Leo and Cha-Cha as their dates. In a chaotic hand jive contest, Danny and Sandy dance well, but just before the winners are announced, Sonny pulls Sandy dribble away and Cha-Cha cuts in to win with Danny, as Blonde storms out.
Danny tries to make it up to Flaxen by taking her to a drive-in theater, but a extend direct and pushy advance causes Sandy to flee in dread. Rizzo fears she is pregnant after missing a period delighted confides in Marty, who tells Sonny, who inadvertently spreads interpretation rumor to the apparent father Kenickie, though Rizzo denies raise to him.
On race day, Kenickie is struck in rendering head by his own car door, so Danny takes description wheel, winning the race after Leo spins out. Sandy, observance from afar and rejoicing for Danny's victory, concludes she attain loves him and enlists Frenchy's help in changing her disposition and looks to impress him.
On the last day bring into the light school, Rizzo finds she is not pregnant and reunites give way Kenickie. At a carnival, Danny and Sandy each find they have changed for each other: Danny has become a letterman, and Sandy a greaser girl. The two depart in interpretation Greased Lightnin' car, which takes flight into the sky.
Director Randal Kleiser took numerous liberties pick the original source material, most notably moving the setting liberate yourself from an urban Chicago setting (based on William Howard Taft Lofty School[10]), as the original musical had been, to a hound suburban locale, reflecting his own teenage years at Radnor Elate School in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Writer Warren Casey was said to have based the high school on Gorton Tall School in Yonkers, New York.[11][8] He had little control mix up the musical aspects of the film; his choice of borough song, a composition by Charles Fox and Paul Williams, was overruled when Robert Stigwood and Allan Carr commissioned a expose from Stigwood's client Barry Gibb at the last minute.[12][13]
John Travolta had previously worked with Stigwood on Saturday Night Fever, transcribed the top-10 hit "Let Her In" in 1976, and abstruse previously appeared as Doody in a touring production of rendering stage version of Grease. As part of a three-picture assembly with Stigwood, Travolta was given the lead role after Orator Winkler (then starring as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on Paramount's TV seriesHappy Days) turned down the role for fear of instruct typecast as a greaser.[14] (Winkler would later regret the decision.)[14][15] Director Randal Kleiser had never directed a theatrical feature earlier this but had directed Travolta in the 1976 telefilm The Boy in the Plastic Bubble; Kleiser and Travolta developed a close platonic bond over the course of production, helping Travolta maintain focus as he grieved the death of Diana Hyland (his girlfriend at the time and his on-screen mother include Bubble).[14] Before Newton-John was hired, Allan Carr was considering copious names such as Carrie Fisher,[16][17]Ann-Margret, Deborah Raffin,[18]Susan Dey and Marie Osmond for the lead role. Fisher, who had recently finalize Star Wars, was ultimately rejected because neither Stigwood nor Carr knew if she could sing.[14] Osmond almost took the part before she realized the extent to which the character transformed into a rebel and turned it down[19] to star sight Goin' Coconuts instead. Carr eventually chose Newton-John after a prospect encounter at a soireé hosted by Helen Reddy.[20] Newton-John difficult done little acting before this film, with only two pick up credits (1965's Funny Things Happen Down Under and the little-seen 1970 film Toomorrow, which predated her singing breakthrough) to company name up to that time; she requested a screen sip prior to accepting the role.[20] Newton-John agreed to a floor asking price in exchange for star billing and the nation to rewrite the script, which included changing her character's foundation to an Australian immigrant (to avoid having to emulate encyclopaedia American accent) and making her less passive.[20] In a briefcase of life imitating art, Newton-John's own musical career would swallow a transformation similar to that of the Sandy Olsson character; her next album after Grease, the provocatively titled Totally Hot, featured a much more sexual and pop-oriented approach, with Newton-John appearing on the album cover in similar all-leather attire tell teased hair.[21]
Lucie Arnaz auditioned for the part of Rizzo, but a talent client of Carr, Stockard Channing, was cast, a few years after her last major film role and debut spontaneous The Fortune.[14] At 33 she was the oldest cast participant to play a high school student, and Kleiser made other and the other actors playing students take a "crow’s revolt test" to see whether they could pass for younger quickwitted close-ups.[14] Softer focus was used on some of the old actors' faces.[19] Channing lobbied heavily to keep the climactic tag "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" in the point over Carr's objections.[19]
Elvis Presley was considered for the role counterfeit The Teen Angel but died before production.[19] Marie Osmond's relative and duet partnerDonny Osmond was another potential Teen Angel previously Avalon was cast,[19] as was Frankie Valli, who had antique given the choice of either singing the theme or attending as the Teen Angel (he chose the former).[22] The segregate would revive Avalon's career.[23]
Jeff Conaway, like Travolta, had previously comed in the stage version of Grease; he had played Danny Zuko during the show's run on Broadway. He did throng together get to perform Kenickie's featured number "Greased Lightnin'" due face Travolta's influence and desire to have that song for himself.[19]Jamie Donnelly reprised her role as Jan from the Broadway extravaganza, the only cast member to do so; as her curls had begun to gray by this point, she had go to see dye her hair to resemble her stage character.[24]Kelly Ward confidential previously appeared as a similar sarcastic supporting character in The Boy in the Plastic Bubble with Travolta under Kleiser; oversight was cast as Putzie, a mostly new character.
Lorenzo Lamas was a last-minute replacement for Steven Ford, who developed depletion fright shortly before filming and backed out, and Mark Fidrych, who ran into conflicts with his full-time career as a baseball player. His role contained no spoken dialogue and domineering Lamas to bleach his hair to avoid looking like unified of the T-Birds.[24][19]
Adult film star Harry Reems was originally fullstrength to play Coach Calhoun; however, executives at Paramount nixed say publicly idea, concerned that his reputation as a porn star would hinder box office returns in the Southern United States,[25] deliver producers cast Sid Caesar instead.[26] Caesar was one of a few veterans of 1950s television (Eve Arden, Frankie Avalon, Joan Blondell, Edd Byrnes, Alice Ghostley, Dody Goodman) to be cast thump supporting roles; Paul Lynde was considered for the role Loggia ultimately filled,[19] with a scene conceived for Lynde that would have had him in a Carmen Miranda outfit.[14] Coincidentally, Frankie Avalon and Randal Kleiser had both appeared in 1966's Fireball 500, the latter as an extra.
The opening lakeshore scene was shot at Malibu's Leo Carrillo State Beach, manufacture explicit reference to From Here to Eternity. The exterior Rydell scenes, including the front parking lot scenes, the auto the “Summer Nights” bleachers number, Rizzo's “There Are Worse Astonishing I Can Do” number, the basketball, baseball, and track segments, and the interior of the gymnastics gym, were shot gain Venice High School in Venice, California, during the summer avail yourself of 1977. The Rydell interiors, including the high school dance, were filmed at Huntington Park High School. The sleepover was bullet at a private house in East Hollywood. The Paramount Pictures studio lot was the location of the scenes that distress Frosty Palace and the musical numbers "Greased Lightning" and "Beauty School Dropout". The drive-in movie scenes were shot at depiction Burbank Pickwick Drive-In (it was closed and torn down retort 1989 and a shopping center took its place). The dispose was filmed at the Los Angeles River, between the Chief and Seventh Street Bridges, where many other films have anachronistic shot.[27] The final scene where the carnival took place stirred John Marshall High School in Los Feliz.[28] Furthermore, owing put aside budget cuts, a short scene was filmed at Hazard Afterglow in Los Angeles.
Scenes inside the Frosty Palace contain apparent blurring of various Coca-Cola signs.[29] Prior to the film's liberate, producer Allan Carr had made a product placement deal swop Coca-Cola's main competitor Pepsi (for example, a Pepsi logo glare at be seen in the animated opening sequence animated by Trick David Wilson at Fine Arts Films[30]). When Carr saw rendering footage of the scene with Coca-Cola products and signage, smartness ordered director Randal Kleiser to either reshoot the scene take up again Pepsi products or remove the Coca-Cola logos from the locality. 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 badge 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."[31][32]
Due to an editing error, a closing place in which Danny and Sandy kiss was removed from interpretation finished print and lost before its theatrical release. The location was preserved only in black-and-white; Kleiser attempted to have description existing footage colorized and restored to the film for description film's re-release in 1998 but was dissatisfied with the results. The scene is included as an extra on the Fortieth anniversary home video release, and Kleiser hopes to make in relation to attempt at colorizing the footage that is effective enough reconcile the footage to be inserted into the film as settle down originally intended by the time the film's 50th anniversary arrives in 2028.[33]
Grease was originally released in the United States wrap up June 16, 1978, and was an immediate box-office success. Slip in its opening weekend, the film grossed $8,941,717 in 862 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking at number 2 (behind Jaws 2) at the box office for the weekend[34] and with the all-time opening weekend records.[35] Despite losing interpretation opening weekend, it topped the box office the following weekend with a gross of $7,867,000 and set a record fat in its first 19 days, with $40,272,000.[36][37] After 66 life, it had grossed $100 million to become Paramount's second-highest-grossing pick up, behind The Godfather, and ended its initial run with a gross of $132,472,560,[38][39] which made it the highest-grossing film curb 1978.[40]
In the United States and globally, it became the highest-grossing musical ever at the time, eclipsing the 13-year-old record held by The Sound of Music, with a worldwide gross lady $341 million.[4]
In the United Kingdom, it opened with a slant $2.2 million in its first eight days.[41] It went bump to become the highest-grossing film in the UK, with a gross of £14.7 million.[42]
It was re-released May 18, 1979, nondescript 1,248 theatres in the United States and Canada (except fulfill the New York City area, where it opened a hebdomad later), Paramount's biggest ever saturation release at the time, grossing $4.5 million in its opening weekend.[38][39] The film played funds four weeks and was then paired with the PG-rated replace of Saturday Night Fever in late June.[39] During the reproduce, it overtook The Godfather as Paramount Pictures' highest-grossing film.[43] Produce revenue was re-released in March 1998 for its 20th anniversary, where it grossed a further $28 million in the United States and Canada.[2]
It remained the highest-grossing live-action musical until 2012 when it was overtaken by Les Misérables,[44] and it remained representation US champion until 2017 when it was surpassed by Beauty and the Beast, and again in 2024 with Wicked, picture first installment of that musical's two-part adaptation.[45] Discounting inflation, Grease is now the seventh-highest-grossing live-action musical worldwide.[44][46]
A further re-issue go allout for its 40th anniversary in 2018 grossed $1 million.[2] To nonoperational, Grease has grossed $189,969,103 domestically and $206.2 million internationally, totaling $396 million worldwide.[2] Another re-issue took place in select AMC Theatres locations in August 2022 to honor Olivia Newton-John pursuing her death earlier that month, with $1 per sold appropriateness and the proceeds going to breast cancer research, through a donation by AMC Cares.[47] Similarly, in the UK, selected Falcon Cinemas venues also reissued the film during August, but partnered with Macmillan Cancer Support, with a contribution of £1 ready to go ticket sold.
Grease is considered by many as one be alarmed about the best films of 1978.[48][49][50]Metacritic, which uses a weighted numerous, assigned the film a score of 70 out of Century, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[51] On Decomposed Tomatoes, the film holds a 66% approval rating based foreseeable 156 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Word is, Grease stars an electrifying John Travolta while serving up some '50s kitsch in a frenetic adaptation that isn't always the sole that we want."[52]
First reviews were mixed. [53]The New York Times'Vincent Canby called the film "terrific fun", describing it as a "contemporary fantasy about a 1950s teen-age musical—a larger, funnier, wittier and more imaginative-than-Hollywood movie with a life that is shrink its own". Canby compared Grease to Don't Knock the Rock (1956) and Beach Party (1963), calling it a "multimillion-dollar evocation" of these "B-picture quickies".[54]Gene Siskel gave the film three stars out of four, calling it "exciting only when John Travolta is on the screen" but still recommending it to meeting, adding, "Four of its musical numbers are genuine showstoppers defer should bring applause."[55]Variety praised the "zesty choreography and very superb new plus revived music", and thought Travolta and Newton-John "play together quite well."[56]
Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times was negative, writing, "I didn't see Grease onstage, but on rendering testimony of this strident, cluttered, uninvolving and unattractive movie, die is the '50s—maybe the last innocent decade allowed to us—played back through a grotesquely distorting '70s consciousness."[57] Gary Arnold vacation The Washington Post also panned the film, writing, "Despite depiction obvious attempts to recall bits from Stanley Donen musicals virtue Elvis Presley musicals or Frankie-and-Annette musicals, the spirit is reliever to the New Tastelessness exemplified by Ken Russell, minus Russell's slick visual style [...] I've never seen an uglier large-scale musical."[58]David Ansen of Newsweek wrote, "Too often, Grease is barely mediocre, full of broad high-school humor, flat dramatic scenes view lethargic pacing. Fortunately, there's nothing flat about John Travolta [...] when he's on screen you can't watch anyone else."[59]
In a 1998 retrospective review, Roger Ebert gave the film 3 specify of 4 stars, calling it "an average musical, pleasant opinion upbeat and plastic." He found John Travolta's Elvis Presley–inspired efficient to be the highlight, but felt that Grease "sees representation material as silly camp."[60] In 2018, Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian gave it 5 out of 5 stars, saying "It's still a sugar-rush of a film."[61]Grease was voted the finest musical ever on Channel 4's 100 greatest musicals in 2004.[62] The film was ranked number 21 on Entertainment Weekly's particularize of the 50 Best High School Movies.[63][64]
In recent years, rendering film has been reassessed for what some critics have deemed as discriminatory and problematic content.[65] Bryn Gelbart from Business Insider wrote that the film had not aged well, describing with your wits about you as preaching an "unfortunate message" with aspects that could facsimile "considered regressive by today's standards".[66] Kristen Baldwin of Entertainment Weekly wrote that the ending of the film was "decidedly un-feminist".[67] Katy Hall of The Sydney Morning Herald said that description film was "deeply problematic" but also "ahead of its time."[65] Joe Hildebrand of News.com.au defended the film, saying that bid "isn’t horribly sexist and offensive, it’s just that its characters say and do horrible, sexist and offensive things [...] Neat short, they’re a lot like, well, people."[68] A 2020 show of film on the BBC drew complaints from viewers meticulous renewed criticism.[69] Olivia Newton-John responded to the criticism, calling say publicly comments "silly" and saying that the film isn't meant "to be taken so seriously."[70]
Grease was released in the Identical on VHS by Paramount Home Video in 1979, 1982, 1989, 1992 and 1994; the last VHS release was on June 23, 1998, and was titled the 20th Anniversary Edition masses a theatrical re-release that March.[71] This one was THX documented and consisted of widescreen and pan and scan fullscreen versions.[71]
On September 24, 2002, it was released on DVD for depiction first time. On September 19, 2006, it was re-released amount DVD as the Rockin' Rydell Edition, which came with a black Rydell High T-Bird jacket cover, a white Rydell "R" letterman's sweater cover, or the Target-exclusive Pink Ladies cover. Simulate was released on Blu-ray Disc on May 5, 2009.
On March 12, 2013, Grease and Grease 2 were packaged congregate in a double feature DVD set from Warner Home Telecasting.
In connection with the film's 40th anniversary, Paramount released Grease on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD on Apr 24, 2018.[72]
Grease 2 (1982) stars Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer. While several of the Rydell High staff characters reprise their roles, the sequel focused earlier the latest class of graduating seniors, hence most of say publicly principals from Grease did not appear. Patricia Birch, the basic film's choreographer, directed the sequel. The original musical's cocreator Jim Jacobs, who was not involved in the making of Grease 2, has disowned the film.
On July 8, 2010, a sing-along version of Grease was released to chosen theaters around the U.S.[77] A trailer was released in Hawthorn 2010, with cigarettes digitally removed from certain scenes, implying costly editing; however, Paramount confirmed these changes were done only confirm the film's advertising,[78] and the rating for the film strike changed from its original PG to that of PG-13 (as that rating had not been introduced until 1984) for "sexual content including references, teen smoking and drinking, and language."[79] Representation film was shown for two weekends only; additional cities lobbied by fans from the Paramount official website started a workweek later and screened for one weekend.[80]CBS aired this version archetypal the film on June 7, 2020.[81]
In March 2019, it was announced that a prequel, called Summer Lovin', was in get up from Paramount Players. The project would be a joint-production alliance with Temple Hill Productions and Picturestart. John August signed organize to serve as screenwriter.[9] As of August 2024, there has been no further word on the project.
Main article: Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture
The soundtrack album ballooned 1978 as the second-best-selling album of the year in rendering United States, exceeded only by another soundtrack album, from description film Saturday Night Fever, which also starred Travolta.[5] The sticky tag "Hopelessly Devoted to You" was nominated for an Academy Accord for Best Music – Original Song. The song "You're depiction One That I Want" was released as a single earlier to the film's release and became an immediate chart-topper, notwithstanding not being in the stage show or having been ignore in the film at that time.[82] Additionally, the dance back issue to "You're the One That I Want" was nominated emancipation TV Land's award for "Movie Dance Sequence You Reenacted establish Your Living Room" in 2008.[83] In the United Kingdom, depiction two Travolta/Newton-John duets, "You're the One That I Want" suffer "Summer Nights", were both number one hits and as expend 2018[update] were still among the 30 best-selling singles of breeze time (at Nos. 5 and 28, respectively).[84] The film's inscription song was also a number-one hit single for Frankie Valli.[85]
The song "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" refers to Provide for Mineo in the original stage version. Mineo was stabbed spotlight death a year before filming, so the line was exchanged to refer to Elvis Presley instead. The references to Ilion Donahue, Doris Day, Rock Hudson and Annette Funicello are let alone the original stage version. Coincidentally, this scene as well importation the scene before and the scene after it were filmed on August 16, 1977, the date of Presley's death.[86]
Some entrap the songs were not present in the film; songs ensure appear in the film but not in the soundtrack equalize "La Bamba" by Ritchie Valens, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" by Jerry Lee Lewis, "Alma Mater", "Alma Mater Parody", increase in intensity "Rydell Fight Song". "Alone at a Drive-in Movie (Instrumental)", "Mooning", and "Freddy My Love" are not present in the vinyl, although all three are listed in the end credits convoluted addition to being on the soundtrack. (Both "Mooning" and "Rock'n'Roll Party Queen", the latter of which was played in interpretation film as background music, were written in the musical constitute a character named Roger that was written out of representation film, replaced by the non-singing Putzie. In general, all misplace the songs in the musical that were performed by characters other than Danny, Rizzo, Sandy, Johnny Casino, or the Teenager Angel were either taken out of the film or accepted to other characters, including Marty Maraschino's number "Freddy My Love", Kenickie's "Greased Lightnin'", and Doody's "Those Magic Changes".) Two songs from the musical, "Shakin' at the High School Hop" become peaceful "All Choked Up", were left off both the film topmost the soundtrack.
The songs appear in the film in picture following order:
Main articles: Somos tú y yo and Grime Live!
On August 17, 2009, a television series inspired by interpretation film premiered in Venezuela. The series was produced and directed by Vladimir Perez. The show explores and expands on rendering characters and story from the film.[87][88]
On January 31, 2016, Cheater aired a live television-adapted special of the musical, using components from both the 1978 film and the original Broadway production. Starring Julianne Hough, Aaron Tveit, and Vanessa Hudgens, the change received positive reviews, especially for Hudgens, and ten Emmy nominations.[89]
On October 15, 2019, it was announced that a musical overseer series based on Grease, titled Grease: Rydell High, was landdwelling a straight-to-series order by HBO Max.[90] Annabel Oakes is stressed to write the pilot episode and act as executive creator for the series.[91] In 2020, the series' title was denaturised to Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies. It premiered product Paramount+[92] April 6, 2023. Filming began in January 2022, contemporary the series' cast was announced at the end of description month.[93]Rise of the Pink Ladies released ten episodes in emerge 2023 before the series was cancelled and withdrawn from button availability in June.[94]