Useless Movie Trivia For
Grease
Memorable Movie Quotes
Danny: Why, this car is Auto-matic. Its System-matic. Its Hyyyyydro-matic. Why, its Greased Lightning!
Danny: That's my name, don't wear it out.
Principal McGee: If you can't be in athlete, be an athetic supporter.
Trivia
Henry Winkler, who became a sensation as "Fonzie" on Happy Days, was considered for the role of Danny Zuko. However, he turned down the role for fear of being typecast.
Due to a zipper breaking, Olivia Newton-John had to be sewn into the trousers she wears in the last sequence (the carnival at Rydell).
Set in high school, most of the principal cast were way past their teenage years. When filming began in June 1977, John Travolta was 23, Olivia Newton-John was 28, Stockard Channing was 33, Jeff Conaway was 26, Barry Pearl was 27, Michael Tucci was 31, Kelly Ward was 20, Didi Conn was 25; Jamie Donnelly was 30, and Annette Charles was 29. Only Dinah Manoff, Lorenzo Lamas, and Eddie Deezen, all 19, were still teenagers.
When Olivia Newton-John was cast as Sandy, her character's background had to be changed to accommodate Newton-John's own background. In the original Broadway musical Sandy was an all-American girl and her last name was Dumbrowski. In the movie version, she became Sandy Olsson, foreign-exchange student from Australia. Also, because of Newton-John's casting, John Farrar (Newton-John's frequent songwriter) had to write two new songs for the film while other songs from the Broadway musical were dropped.
Carrie Fisher was considered for the role of Rizzo.
For a time, it was the third highest-grossing movie of all time behind only Jaws and Star Wars.
It was released again in theaters in 1998 for a couple of reasons: to mark the 20th anniversary of the original and because the year before, a dance mix of songs from the soundtrack became a big hit on radio.
The original stage play had more sexual references than the censors wanted to allow. Among these was the use of plastic wrap as protection. To overcome the censors, there weren't any blatant references but Danny rubs plastic wrap over his crotch during "Greased Lightning".
The scene in Frenchy's bedroom while Rizzo is singing the line about Elvis was actually filmed the same day that Elvis Presley died.
The final musical scene, "You're the One That I Want" was filmed with the help of a traveling carnival. However, director Randal Kleiser decided the next day that additional scenes were needed for close-ups. Unfortunately the carnival had left town so set decorators were called in to build replica backgrounds, that matched the carnival ride's construction for the close-ups.
The dance contest scene was filmed during the summer, when the school was closed. The gym had no air conditioning and the doors had to be kept closed to control lighting, so the building became stifling hot. On more than one occasion, an extra had to be taken out due to heat-related illness.
In the scene where the cast are near the bridge after the car race, the water on the ground was stagnant and dangerous. Some cast members became ill from filming as the setting was a derelict place full of dirt and rubbish.
The production had a product placement plan with Coca-Cola, but it fell through. The Coke products were taken out or blurred. There is a huge hanging picture/advertisement in the diner that was blurred out. Photos on the inside flaps of the soundtrack album have Pepsi products.
"Greased Lightning" was supposed to be sung by Jeff Conaway's character, Kenickie, as it is in the stage version. John Travolta used his clout to have his character sing it. The director felt it was only right to ask Conaway if it was okay. At first he refused, but he eventually gave in.
Rizzo's hickeys were real. Stockard Channing said in an interview that Jeff Conaway insisted on applying them himself.
The original Broadway production opened at the Eden Theater on February 14, 1972 and ran for 3,388 performances, setting a record. Adrienne Barbeau and Barry Bostwick were in the original Broadway cast. John Travolta appeared at some time as a replacement on Broadway in the role of "Doody". Marilu Henner, an alumna of the original Chicago production, appeared as a replacement in the role of "Marty". Patrick Swayze and Treat Williams were both replacements as Danny Zuko. Richard Gere is also listed as an understudy to many male roles, including Danny Zuko. Gere played Zuko in the London production in 1973.
The highest-grossing movie of 1978.
Goofs
During the drag race, modern trucks and cars are seen driving on the overpass in the back ground.
During the first dance in the gymnasium ("Rock and Roll is Here to Stay") when Danny and Sandy are dancing near the end of the song, there is a scoreboard visible very briefly which reads either "Presented by class of 1971" or "Presented by class of 1974", far later than the time when the story takes place.
In The Credits
The beginning credits show the main characters in cartoon form.
The ending credits show actors names to the side of mock up yearbook pages.
Box Office Info USA
Budget: $6,000,000
Gross: $153,113,000
Filming Locations
4524 Kingswell Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (The Slumber Party)
Burbank, California, USA
Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA
El Matador Beach, Malibu, California, USA
Huntington Park High School - 6020 Miles Avenue, Huntington Park, California, USA(classroom and big dance contest scenes)
Huntington Park, California, USA
John Marshall High School - 3939 Tracy Street, Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California, USA
(carnival scenes at the end of the movie)
Los Angeles River Basin - Between 1st & 4th Street Bridges, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA
(Thunder Road)
Los Angeles, California, USA
Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California, USA
Malibu, California, USA
Pickwick Drive-In Theater - 1100 W. Alameda Avenue, Burbank, California, USA
(drive-in theatre - now demolished)
Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, USA
Venice High School - 13000 Venice Boulevard, Venice, Los Angeles, California, USA
(exterior shots of school buildings)
Venice, Los Angeles, California, USA
Virgil Junior High School - 152 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA