Grease

Grease is a 1978 American musical romantic comedy film based on the 1971 musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Written by Bronte Woodard and directed by Randal Kleiser in his theatrical feature film debut, the film depicts the lives of greaser Danny Zuko and Australian transfer student Sandy Olsson who develop an attraction for each other. The film stars John Travolta as Danny, Olivia Newton-John as Sandy, and Stockard Channing as Betty Rizzo, the leader of the Pink Ladies. Rydell High was based on Radnor High School in Radnor, Pennsylvania.

Released on June 16, 1978, Grease was successful both critically and commercially becoming the highest-grossing musical film ever at the time. Its soundtrack album ended 1978 as the second-best-selling album of the year in the United States, behind the soundtrack of the 1977 blockbuster Saturday Night Fever (which also starred Travolta) and earned the film its lone Oscar nomination for "Hopelessly Devoted to You" (which lost the Academy Award for Best Original Song to Donna Summer's "Last Dance" from Thank God It's Friday at the 51st Academy Awards).

A sequel, Grease 2, was released in 1982, starring Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer as a newer class of greasers. Few of the original cast members reprised their roles. As of 2019, an HBO Max series based on the film is in production.

In the summer of 1958, local boy Danny Zuko and vacationing Sandy Olsson meet at the beach and fall in love. When the summer comes to an end, Sandy—who is going back to Australia—frets that they may never meet again, but Danny tells her that their love is "only beginning". The film moves to the start of the seniors' term at Rydell High School. Danny is a member and leader of the T-Birds greaser gang, consisting of his best friend Kenickie, Doody, Sonny, and Putzie. The Pink Ladies, a clique of greaser girls, also arrive, consisting of leader Rizzo, Frenchy, Marty, and Jan.

After her parents decide not to return to Australia, Sandy enrolls at Rydell and is befriended by Frenchy, who considers dropping out of school to become a beautician. Unaware of each other's presence at Rydell, Danny and Sandy tell their respective groups the accounts of events during the pair's brief romance, without initially mentioning the other's name ("Summer Nights"). Sandy's version emphasizes the romance of the relationship, while Danny's version is more sexual.

When Sandy finally says Danny's name, Rizzo arranges a surprise reunion for the two, but Danny is forced to maintain his bad-boy attitude in front of his pals, upsetting Sandy, who storms off and begins dating Tom, a jock. Kenickie unveils the used car, Greased Lightnin', that he plans on restoring and racing ("Greased Lightnin'"). Frenchy invites the girls to a pajama party, but Sandy falls ill from the sight of blood after getting her ears pierced by Frenchy, Rizzo starts to make fun of Sandy ("Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee"). While Sandy is outside, she soon starts to think of Danny, and how much she loves him even though he hurt her ("Hopelessly Devoted to You"). Rizzo departs to have sex with Kenickie, during which his condom breaks. The two are disturbed by Leo, leader of the T-Birds' rival gang, the Scorpions, and his girlfriend Cha-Cha.

In an attempt to impress Sandy, Danny turns to Coach Calhoun to get into sports, eventually becoming a runner. He reunites with Sandy and they attempt to go on a date, but their friends crash it. Kenickie and a distressed Rizzo argue and split up. Left alone, Frenchy is visited by a guardian angel who advises her to return to school after a mishap in beauty class leaves her with candy-pink hair ("Beauty School Dropout").

The school dance arrives, broadcast live on television and hosted by DJ Vince Fontaine, who flirts with Marty. Rizzo and Kenickie attempt to spite one another by bringing Leo and Cha-Cha as their dates. Danny and Sandy arrive together and dance well during the chaotic hand jive contest ("Born to Hand Jive"); just before the end of the contest Sonny pulls Sandy off the dance floor, and Cha-Cha cuts in to win the contest with Danny, causing Sandy to leave the event broken-hearted.

Danny tries to make it up to Sandy by taking her to a drive-in theater ("Alone at the Drive-in Movies") but forces himself on her, causing Sandy to leave ("Sandy"). Meanwhile Rizzo fears she is pregnant after missing a period and confides in Marty, but Marty tells Sonny and he inadvertently spreads the rumor to Kenickie, the apparent father, though Rizzo denies this to him. At school, Rizzo is getting laughed at by other girls, and she soon realizes that she isn't as tough as she seems ("There Are Worse Things I Could Do").

On race day, Kenickie suffers a concussion when hit by his own car door, so Danny takes the wheel. He and Leo race until Leo crashes and leaves humiliated, with Danny as the victor. Sandy watches from afar, concluding she still loves Danny, and decides to change her attitude and look to impress him; she then asks Frenchy for help to achieve this goal ("Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee (Reprise)").

On the last day of school, Principal McGee and her assistant Blanche sob about the departing class. Rizzo discovers she is not pregnant and reunites with Kenickie. Danny has lettered in track but is shocked when Sandy arrives dressed as a female T-Bird. In song ("You're the One That I Want"), they confess their mutual love and reconcile. The class celebrates their graduation at the fair on school grounds ("We Go Together"). Sandy and Danny depart in Greased Lightnin', which takes flight ("Grease").

Principal cast

• John Travolta as Danny Zuko, who lives a double life as leader of the greaser gang the T-Birds and as Sandy's boyfriend
• Olivia Newton-John as Sandy Olsson, Danny's girlfriend and an Australian immigrant and ingénue, who transforms from square to greaser
• Stockard Channing as Betty Rizzo, Kenickie's girlfriend and the cynical leader of the Pink Ladies clique
• Jeff Conaway as Kenickie Murdoch, Danny's best friend, Rizzo's boyfriend and the owner of Greased Lightnin'
• Barry Pearl as Doody, a member of the T-Birds; he pairs with Frenchy at the school dance
• Michael Tucci as Sonny LaTieri, a trouble-making wannabe womanizer and T-Bird who courts Marty with little success over the course of the film
• Kelly Ward as Putzie, a member of the T-Birds whose relationship with Jan builds over the course of the film
• Didi Conn as Frenchy, Sandy's closest friend in the Pink Ladies and an aspiring beautician
• Jamie Donnelly as Jan, a quirky member of the Pink Ladies with a liking for Ipana toothpaste
• Dinah Manoff as Marty Maraschino, a member of the Pink Ladies whose attractiveness regularly draws the attention of men, including Sonny and Vince Fontaine

Secondary cast

• Eve Arden as Principal McGee, who shows discomfort at the goings-on at Rydell High.
• Dody Goodman as Secretary Blanche Hodel, who enjoys even the wilder antics at the school.
• Sid Caesar as Coach Vince Calhoun, the tough-talking gym teacher and coach of all the school's perennially losing sports teams
• Eddie Deezen as Eugene Felsnick, the class nerd
• Susan Buckner as Patty Simcox, the head cheerleader and a rival for Danny's affections
• Lorenzo Lamas as Tom Chisum, a popular jock who competes for Sandy's affections
• Dennis C. Stewart as Leo "Craterface" Balmudo, leader of the Scorpions, a rival greaser gang
• Annette Charles as Charlene "Cha-Cha" Di Gregorio, Leo's girlfriend
• Joan Blondell as Vi, a waitress at the Frosty Palace
• Ellen Travolta as Waitress
• Frankie Avalon as Teen Angel
• Edd Byrnes as Vince Fontaine, on-air personality at KZAZ radio and television
• Sha-Na-Na as Johnny Casino and the Gamblers, a rock and roll band
• Alice Ghostley as Mrs. Murdock, a rogue auto shop teacher who helps build Greased Lightnin' for the T-Birds
• Darrell Zwerling as Mr. Lynch
• Dick Patterson as Mr. Rudie
• Fannie Flagg as Nurse Wilkins

The soundtrack album ended 1978 as the second-best-selling album of the year in the United States, exceeded only by another soundtrack album, from the film Saturday Night Fever, which also starred Travolta. The song "Hopelessly Devoted to You" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music – Original Song. The song "You're the One That I Want" was released as a single prior to the film's release and became an immediate chart-topper, despite not being in the stage show or having been seen in the film at that time. Additionally, the dance number to "You're the One That I Want" was nominated for TV Land's award for "Movie Dance Sequence You Reenacted in Your Living Room" in 2008. In the United Kingdom, the two Travolta/Newton-John duets, "You're the One That I Want" and "Summer Nights", were both number one hits and as of 2011 are still among the 20 best-selling singles of all time (at Nos. 6 and 19, respectively). The film's title song was also a number-one hit single for Frankie Valli.

The song "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" refers to Sal Mineo in the original stage version. Mineo was stabbed to death a year before filming, so the line was changed to refer to Elvis Presley instead. The references to Troy Donohue, Doris Day, Rock Hudson and Annette Funicello are from the original stage version. Coincidentally, this scene as well as the scene before and the scene after it were filmed on August 16, 1977, the date of Elvis Presley's death.

Some of the songs were not present in the film; songs that appear in the film but not in the soundtrack are "La Bamba" by Ritchie Valens, "Whole Lotta Shaking Going On" by Jerry Lee Lewis, "Alma Mater", "Alma Mater Parody", and "Rydell Fight Song". "Alone at a Drive-in Movie (instrumental)", "Mooning", and "Freddy My Love" are not present in the film, although all three are listed in the end credits in-addition to being on the soundtrack. (Both "Mooning" and "Rock'n'Roll Party Queen", the latter of which was played in the film as background music, were written in the musical for a character named Roger that was written out of the film, replaced by the non-singing Putzie. In general, all of the songs in the musical that were performed by characters other than Danny, Rizzo, Sandy, Johnny Casino, or the Teen Angel were either taken out of the film or given to other characters, including Marty Maraschino's number "Freddy My Love", Kenickie's "Greased Lightnin'", and Doody's "Those Magic Changes".) Two songs from the musical, "Shakin' at the High School Hop" and "All Choked Up", were left off both the film and the soundtrack.

The songs appear in the film in the following order:

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