Grease

Grease (1978)

Timing: 1:50 (110 min)

7.371/10
7621

7.586/10
18302

7.2/10
294139

All about film

Video 16

Photo 106

Actors and characters

Release date

1978-06-16

Country

United States, United Kingdom

Production

Paramount, Robert Stigwood Organization, Fine Arts Films

Genre

Romance, Comedy

Budget

$6 000 000

Revenue

$396 271 103

Website

Director

Randal Kleiser

Actors

Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta, Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway, Barry Pearl, Michael Tucci, Kelly Ward, Didi Conn, Jamie Donnelly, Dinah Manoff
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Allan Carr, Robert Stigwood, Lindsley Parsons Jr.

Operator

Bill Butler

Composer

Warren Casey

Artist

Audition

Joel Thurm

Editing

John F. Burnett
All team (43)

• The film's soundtrack went platinum twenty times.
• The kiss marks on Rizzo were real. According to Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway insisted on applying them himself.
• 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 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• During the filming of the carnival scenes, the temperature on set rose to 41 degrees Celsius.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 filming, the film crew chewed approximately 100,000 pieces of chewing gum (an average of 5,000 pieces per day).