entertainment
Page 10 Summer Nebraskan, Thursday, June 29, 1978
'Grease' not a slick production
By Kent Wolgamott
Grease is purported to be a nostalgic
tongue-in-cheek look at the '50s and a
return of the great American musical to
the silver screen.
It is neither.
Robert Stigwood and Allen Carr's
movie version of the successful Broadway
production is only another in a series of
movies tied in a symbiotic relationship to
their soundtrack recordings.
If Grease is a tribute to anything, it
honors 70s marketing techniques, includ
ing the technique of hyping the film's
review
finale song, "You're the One that I Want"
to number one single in the country before
the movie was released. The tactic
guaranteed ticket sales and increased
revenue for the producers.
Making Grease marketable in the 70s
also required the imposition of the disco
beat into the movie's score leaving the
only authentic '50s music confined to a set
by Sha Na Na during a dance contest
scene.
The movie itself seems to be hap
hazardly thrown together. Some of the
musical numbers are intricately staged
and choreographed and then immediately
contrasted with sloppy productions in
natural settings.
The stars of the show, John Travolta
and Olivia Newton-John, provide little
depth and do nothing to embellish their
characters.
Both Travolta, as Danny, the greaser in
a black leather jacket, and Newton-John,
as Sandy, the Sandra Dee-Doris Day good
girl, could have portrayed the problems of
a relationship between the two conflicting
types of '50s teenagers.
Instead Travolta simply shows us again
that he can dance and displays none of the
energy of Saturday Night Fever or even
the rebelliousness of Gabe Kotter's class
room. Newton-John's acting seems to be
forced and stiff, pushing one to the
conclusion that she was selected only
because she looks the part and can sing.
The most convincing performance is
Summer Film Festival
' 'The Blue Hotel' ' will be shown in the
Nebraska union lounge at noon July 5 as
part of the Summer Film Festival. The
story, by Stephen Crane, is set in the
1880's and deals with a young Swede
who arrives at the hotel of a frontier
Nebraska town.
Also showing is a Laurel and Hardy
1931 classic, "Laughing Gravy" with
Stan and Ollie giving shelter to a little
dog on a cold winter night and the
landlord being anything but pleased.
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given by Stockard Channing as Kizzo, the
leader of the Pink Ladies and the
scandalous bad girl of Rydell High School.
Some portions of the movie are enter
taining and humorous, especially those
involving the T-Birds, Travolta's gang,
and the Pink Ladies, their ladies auxili
ary. It is unfortuiiate that the Grease of
Broadway could not make the trip to
Hollywood, but economics seem to have
interfered.
Director Randal Klieser uses few inno
vative techniques to transform the Broad
way musical into a popular film. Appear
ances of 50s celebrities Frankie Avalon,
Eve Ardan, and others seem awkward
and just another part of the hype.
So if someone wants to see a great
American musical that satirises the 50s,
he or she will have to take a trip to New
York where Grease is still running or look
for a touring company here in the great
midwest.
I v -ArsvA vV2 eft-
Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta dance to the 50's beat at the prom dance in
Grease."
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