The '50s Were Never Like This

WITH ALL THIS ATTENTION being thrown at me, I now say to myself, 'Well, I must be attractive--I mean, after all, ten million girls isn't doing too badly,'" says that "quotable" disco star of 1978.

Why John Travolta--is he just another Sean Cassidy or is he something bigger? Put aside the fact that every teeny-bopper in America is in love with him, and try to ignore the six or seven Travolta magazines decorating your local newsstands and ask does the guy have any acting talents at all, or does he just have a good pair of greasy hips?

Travolta does have a kind of endearing look about him and some might even dare to say there is some hint of talent beneath that flashy strobe-light exterior, which made its debut in Saturday Night Fever and is bound to make a few more starry-eyed fans in Grease and then who knows...Rumor has it that producers Robert Stigwood and Allan Carr held Grease until Travolta made his claim to fame in Saturday Night Fever. They apparently believed that Grease could be a bigger box office hit because everyone would be going to see Travolta, and not some rehash of a big Broadway hit.

Stigwood and Carr might be smarter than we all think. Grease essentially is a poor remake of a great musical, and Travolta is pretty good as Danny Zooko--by no means overshadowed by his co-star Olivia Newton-John as Sandra D. Grease is entertaining. It could possibly lighten up a dull evening, and if you haven't heard the songs (although by now you must have heard "You're the One That I Want" played ad infinitum on the radio) once or twice by now, they are kind of fun as well.

The basic plot of Grease is about as simple as you can get. Danny and Sandy, who is fresh from Sydney, Australia, have apparently had an intense summer romance--at the beach. ("Tell me more, was it love at first sight? Did she put up a fight?) After a fairly drippy opening scene with waves crashing and so on, and after you figure out that no, you aren't sitting in the wrong movie, it's understood that Danny and Sandy don't think on seeing each other ever again. Aww.

Soon enough, however, Sandy and her family have changed their plans to return to Sydney, and Sandy finds herself plunk in the middle of Rydell High School. Naturally the two lovers discover soon enough that they are in fact at the same high school--thanks to Rizzo (Stockard Channing '64), that is, who presents Danny with the good news while he's hanging out at Rydell's homecoming parade with his greaser friends, and Sandy is cheerleading away. Unfortunately, because he is busy being a greaser Danny can't act like the sweet kid Sandy met at the beach, and the romance seems to be headed for the proverbial rocks.

IN FACT, DANNY has a hard time coping with his two images throughout the movie and the whole school year. He wants to maintain his tough-guy image for his buddies and his sweet side for Sandy. The best scene of the movie (when you might be able to believe Travolta can act) comes as Danny tries to apologize to Sandy for the idiotic way in which he has been behaving towards her. They are in the local malt shop, of course, where all the kids hang out. Sandy has temporarily left her football-player date, who has all his brains in his biceps according to Travolta, to feed the juke box. Her real intent, of course, is to lure Danny, who is sitting with his slippery friends at another table. Anyway, Danny manages to wander over to the juke box not-so-very casually and stammer out some excuse for his bad behavior. Olivia tries her best to act indifferent, but then again, who ever said she could act? She breezes on back to her jock friend, mumbling something about how she would "really like to see Danny run circles around 'those guys,'" and Danny is left there with a very humble and baffled look.

A little humility is supposed to be good for everyone, but it is sort of pathetic to watch Travolta try and convert his image for Olivia Newton-John, and it is totally predictable that whatever he does, he will win back sweet little Sandy. Only Sandy decides to go part of the way around to Danny's side before the marriage is complete. Unfortunately, the sight of Olivia Newton-John poured into a tight black outfit with her hair frizzed out and a cigarette rather tenuously balanced off her lower lip is too much to take.

Newton-John aside, it is the special effects which do the most damage to an otherwise reasonable show. On the stage, nobody can get away with canned fant asies like the one Frenchy (Didi Conn) has in the malt shop after she has managed to tint her hair pink in beauty school. Having left Rydell High to learn how to shampoo and rinse, Frenchy is having one of those adolescent crises as to whether or not she has made the right decision by leaving school. Needless to say, her problem is hardly assuaged by a host of women with silver hair curlers and Frankie Avalon making his guest appearance as Teen Angel. Avalon tells Frenchy that she's "got the dream but not the drive. Who would want their hair done by a slob, only whores." Not only does this make Frenchy feel bad, but the audience is stupefied by this offensive piece of special effects work as well.

Grease would be a better movie if Stigwood and Carr had stuck to the basics. They have compiled a fairly impressive group of retread stars to make the era complete; Eve Arden plays Rydell High's Principal McGee, Joan Blondell is Vi, the confidante/waitress type, Edd Byrnes does a good job as Vince Fontaine, host of National Bandstand, and Sid Caesar is a good fascist coach Calhoun. Of course, Sha-Na-Na is there too, as Johnny Casino and the Gamblers, and "everyone's favorite '50s group."

If you are one of the few remaining American citizens who has not yet caught Travolta's act, Saturday Night Fever is a better bet than Grease. Apparently, however, Travolta has a three-movie contract with Robert Stigwood, so who knows what will be next?