"Grease" is the biggest grossing musical of all time. If you account for inflation, it would probably rank second or third, behind "The Sound of Music" and maybe "My Fair Lady". The enormous success of the film extended to the soundtrack, which generated several top ten hits. John Travolta did for retro pop what he had done for disco the year before in "Saturday Night Fever", and what he would do for country music in "Urban Cowboy" in 1980. He was a good actor and, at best, an adequate singer. But he was a showy, charismatic dancer, and that is why those vehicles (as well as the much later "Pulp Fiction", where he also wins a dance contest) are his best remembered.
Besides the presence of strutting Travolta, what can account for the success of "Grease"? It presents the 1950s as people would like to see it: as a simpler, non-political era; a fashion and musical statement. Each gender knew their role. Girls wore pink, guys wore black leather. Everybody had an attitude, but violence or open defiance to authority wasn't present. The gangs were harmless.
Whether the 1950s actually resembled this fantasy isn't the point. Communist witch hunts, polio, the hydrogen bomb, the Korean War, racial segregation and Mitch Miller are forgotten; James Dean and Elvis Presley are remembered.
In the world of "Grease", men and women into their thirties (Stockard Channing was 34) play high school students. Nobody studies or attends classes. The staff consists of a principal (Eve Arden), a coach (Sid Caesar, who hasn't lost his comic timing) and a secretary. All the students save for Rizzo (Channing) and Marty (Dinah Manoff) seem incredibly stupid. The plot is barely there: Danny (Travolta) and Sandy (Newton-John) have a romance that runs hot and cold, Rizzo is a bad girl who gets into trouble, Kenickie (Jeff Conaway) wants to turn his wreck into a drag racer.
The songs range in quality from good ("Grease") to embarrassing ("Greased Lightning"). Olivia Newton-John is pretty and a competent actress, but as a singer her reputation is for whispering pop fluff. Sha Na Na is better at promoting a style than providing it with content. Frankie Avalon is as smooth a crooner as he was in the 1950s, but also just as flat.
Admittedly, some of the songs have an edge. 'The girls will cream' for Greased Lightning, while "Beauty School Dropout" is a series of stinging insults to Frenchie (Didi Conn). The dancing is dirty, and the script is littered with sexual innuendos. But the thin layer of cynicism that surrounds this colorful costume musical doesn't improve it, perhaps because it makes the characters seem even more like caricatures.
"Grease" remains a popular musical, and its feel-good fun and active choreography make it watchable. But if you want to see a light hearted parody of the 1950s, why not watch a much better film from its own era? "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" is recommended. If you want to see a 1950s musical, you can't do better than "Singin' in the Rain". If you want to see a 1950s rock and roll musical, "The Girl Can't Help It" at least delivers the real thing. (34/100)
Go back to high school with Pink Lady Sandy (Olivia Newton-John), leader of the bad-boy T-birds, Danny (John Travolta), and a rockin and rollin all-st...More at Buy.com
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