Tender Nostalgia of Unlived Times ...

Rating: 8/10 (3 August 2015)

At a time that confines now to prehistory, when box-office top-tens weren't made of franchises' appointed reboots or frankly disappointing remakes, of Pixar marvels or Marvels pixilation, two school movies could make it in the Top 3 of the highest-grossing movies of the year. From third to first, it was "Animal House" and "Grease" (for the trivia, "Superman" was the second).
And these two movies -regarded now as classic- worked because they didn't conflict one to another, each one carried its own spirit and did a damn good job at that. John Landis' "Animal House" was set in 1962 but was clearly impregnated by a touch of absurdity and a sense of anarchy, obviously too mature for the very time it depicted, like a raunchy and adult variation of something that was closer tone-wise to George Lucas' 1962 in "American Graffiti". Granted the actors were all baby-boomers who lived the real 1962, but it was their 1978 selves acting there, no doubt.
Things work in reverse for "Grease", it's set only three years earlier, not a huge chronological leap, but it's an obvious over-the-top, fantasized version of the 50's, one that the cast knew as kids or pre-teens and could only re-enact with a tender nostalgia, which is what "Grease" is about. There's no way you can watch that "We Go Together" sequence at the end without feeling some magical sentiment invading your heart. The only proper description I can give (from a guy born four years after the film) is 'paradoxical nostalgia'. Basically, I feel like I lived at the film's time or the release's time, who said Cinema acted rationally anyway?
And the reason, I, and I believe many fans who're from my generation, feel that way is because "Grease" plays the cards straightforwardly and doesn't pretend to be anything else than a good old-fashioned romance and a heart-grabbing musical. Does it sound too reducing? Maybe; but then again, how many romances fail? How many musicals were swept-off by the passing of time? It's not easy, and sometimes, you need two strong protagonists to make it work. In the case of "Grease", directed by Randal Kleiser (because the director deserves some credit) and I apologize in advance to Olivia Newton-John's fans, I think the film works primarily thanks to John Travolta, who plays Danny Zuko, the cool and handsome T Birds leader.
Indeed, if there's anything "Grease" did, is to have proved some skeptical minds that Travolta wasn't a one-hit wonder, the hit being his success in "Saturday Night Fever", the cocky disco dancer staggering down New York was meant to 'stay alive'. He had the looks, the charisma and just as he knew how to be funny even in a dramatic way, in the case of "Grease", he could be serious in a comedic way. Travolta's success wasn't accidental and although he had many ups and downs, he was an actor who could act and move his way out of a good story, so that his persona wouldn't desert the screens forever.
Of course, everyone remembers the names of Olivia Newton-John who played Sandy, the sweet and innocent Australian girl falling in love with the bad-boy, macho man and cool greaser, in another take of "Romeo and Juliet" meets "Beauty and the Beast" myths, as we all remember Stockard Channing as the scene-stealing Pink Sisters' leader Rizzo and  you know, that actress who played Frenchy it gets tougher, now. I know the rest of the cast includes many nice- looking guys and dolls, 2uko's friend, Kelk.. Kell never mind, the torrid 'Cha-cha' (whom I just learned from Wikipedia that she passed away) but also a first-class list of supporting players who, by their sole presence, pay a genuine tribute to the old days : Sid Caesar, Joan Blondell, Frankie Avalon and Eve Arden, to name a few
But it's Travolta's movie nonetheless. And he might have half of Astaire's dancing talent or half of James Dean's iconic appeal, but both halves makes a 'one' that oddly surpasses these two legends. And it doesn't shine only during the romantic moments, because like I said, it took two things to make '"Grease" work: a romance and a musical, and I guess the streak of stinkers Travolta had during the 80's was because each time, something lacked. But even when your plot is predictable, all you need are catchy songs and memorable lyrics. "Grease" has more than needed, and there's never one moment you feel like skipping. From "Summer Nights" to "Sandra Dee" from the sweet "Hopelessly Devoted to You" to the defining "You're the One that I Want" and the final apotheosis of "Go Together", every emotion is rewarded, and the fun is always there.
"Grease" made it in both AFI's Romances and Musical List with "Summer Nights" in the Top 100 Songs ("The One that I Want" was unfairly overlooked). The film was the last musical to throne on the box-office and it is the most successful one in history, and almost forty years later, its appeal is undeniable. It might feel laughable in a sort of juvenile naivety whether the two friends pretending to act macho after a hug, the way one gets knocked down by a car door or the whole 'all's well that ends well' finale but it still works. And as I suspect most viewers in 1978 weren't high school kids in 1959; and thankfully, so they couldn't spot the exaggeration, we love the film now for its timeless quality and tender simplicity; one that made the success a series like "Glee".
That's the power of music, always carrying a personal resonance. Speaking of mine, I remembered spotting during the dance-off the choreography from that Spanish summer hit "Asereje" and using Zucco as my first nickname when I started chatting (good old Caramail days). That among many other things.
Oh yeah; and it was Didi Conn playing Frenchie (thanks, Wikipedia)