DVDFile

As a young and impressionable 13-year-old, I can remember being fascinated with the movie Grease. I’m sure my age had a lot to do with it, but the movie just tapped into everything I seemed to be interested in at the time — hanging out with my buddies; fast cars; rock and roll music; and Olivia Newton-John in tight spandex. Enough said. I know I saw the movie at least three times in the theater and I immediately went out and bought the double-disc soundtrack LP (that was those big, black slabs of grooved vinyl for those of you born after 1980) and even collected the entire set of Grease bubble gum cards. (I still have that full card set stashed away in a drawer somewhere, bound with a cracked rubber band.) Like Saturday Night Fever, the other hit that catapulted John Travolta to superstardom the previous year, you either get Grease or you don’t. It’s one of those breakout hits that almost defies analysis or criticism. Even those who aren’t fans of musicals — and I count myself among them — seem to find something compelling and irresistible about Grease.

Unlike the gritty, R-rated Saturday Night Fever, which I was too young to see upon its initial theatrical run, Grease was a more teen-friendly PG-rated love story that I could better identify with. Not that I was running with a leather-clad gang of greasers in high school at the time, but the basic premise of young love and friendship certainly resonated with teens of all ages. The key to the success of Grease, I think, was also its rebellious but ultimately harmless depiction of life during the 1950s — where the most scandalous thing that could befall a high school teenager was losing his/her reputation as a “cool” guy/girl. Life back then seemed all too simple: teens were either hanging with friends, going to a school dance or breaking into song whenever the mood hit. And, let’s face it, like Saturday Night Fever before it, Grease would have been nothing without all that great music to propel it — infectious songs like “Summer Nights,” “Greased Lightnin’” and “You’re The One That I Want” all remain classics to this day and still bring out the amateur singers in all of us when they pop up on the radio or in a local karaoke bar.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past 30 years, you probably have an inkling of the film’s premise, but I’ll let Peter summarize it from his 2002 review of the movie’s original DVD release: “Top T-Bird Danny Zuko (John Travolta, in a career-making performance) and Australian exchange student Sandy Olsson (the always-radiant Olivia Newton-John) are enjoying one last, passionate summer fling before the start of senior year. But a last-minute change in plans results in Sandy ending up at the mythical Rydell High, much to Danny’s surprise, delight and ... confusion. It isn’t cool for T-Birds to dig chicks too much, and Sandy’s new clique The Pink Ladies don’t offer much help, either. A classic tale of mismatched young lovers follows, filled with sock hops, drag races and beauty school dropouts.

“Grease perfectly encapsulated, in song and dance, what it was like to grow up in the late ‘50s, and continues to strike a chord with anybody of any generation who’s ever been a teenager. I suppose it is considered heresy, but I’ve never thought that Grease was a great movie, just a good one. The story is hardly revolutionary — and were kids in the ‘50s really this cruel to each other? — but this is pure cinematic nostalgia for adults, nothing more, nothing less. It does have tremendous energy, with a young Randall Kleiser directing a talented, perfectly cast young ensemble throughout more than a dozen musical numbers, all classics. There are so many terrific songs here that just about every one of them feels like a hit, including ‘Summer Nights,’ ‘Hopelessly Devoted to You,’ ‘Greased Lightnin’,’ ‘Beauty School Dropout,’ ‘You’re the One That I Want,’ and of course the title tune.

“Whether as a high school play or a hit movie or a Broadway sensation, Grease exists outside the sphere of real criticism. It doesn’t matter what you say or do, it will always be loved by millions, so don’t even try to change anyone’s mind. It is an event, a phenomenon, an attitude, even a way of life. It doesn’t really make too much sense when you think about it, and as high drama it’s wafer thin, but who cares? Just grease back that hair or throw on your poodle skirt (or both), and have a great time. Grease was, is, and always will be ... the word!”

I would only add that Grease’s success can also be attributed, in large part, to the casting of John Travolta as Danny Zuko. Not only was it another career-making performance for the young actor, but Travolta was instrumental in recommending director Randall Kleiser for the gig, having previously worked with him on the TV film The Boy in the Plastic Bubble. Travolta also urged producer Robert Stigwood (Saturday Night Fever, Evita) to cast Olivia Newton-John in the role of Sandy. The rest, as they say, is cinematic history. Despite the criticism that many of the cast members seem a bit old to be playing high school teenagers, Grease is chock full of fine performances from people like Stockard Channing as the cynical Rizzo, Jeff Conaway as Danny’s best bud Kenickie, and Didi Conn as the ditzy Frenchy. Veterans Eve Arden, Dody Goodman and Sid Caesar are also great in their respective roles; and even nostalgia rock act Sha-Na-Na shows up to play Johnny Casino and the Gamblers. Somehow it just all goes together like rama lama lama, ke dinga de dinga dong.

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