Everything about Saturday Night Fever totally explained
Saturday Night Fever is a
1977 film starring
John Travolta as Tony Manero, a troubled
Brooklyn youth whose weekend activities are dominated by visits to a local
discothèque. While in the disco, Tony is the king, and the visits help him to temporarily forget the reality of his life: a dead-end job, clashes with his unsupportive and squabbling parents, racial tensions in the local community, and his associations with a gang of dead-beat friends.
A huge commercial success, the movie significantly helped to popularize
disco music around the world and made Travolta a household name. The
Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, featuring disco songs by the
Bee Gees, became the best selling soundtrack ever.
The film also showcased aspects of the music, the dancing, and the
subculture surrounding the disco era: symphony-orchestrated melodies, haute-couture styles of clothing, sexual promiscuity, and graceful choreography.
The story is based upon a
1976 New York magazine article by
British writer
Nik Cohn, "
Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night." In the late-1990s, Cohn acknowledged that the article had been fabricated. A newcomer to the
United States and a stranger to the disco lifestyle, Cohn was unable to make any sense of the subculture he'd been assigned to write about. The characters who were to become Tony Manero and his friends sprang almost completely from his imagination.
The film is also notable for being one of the first instances of
cross-media marketing, with the
tie-in soundtrack's single being used to help promote the film before its release and the film popularizing the entire soundtrack after its release.
Taglines: Original:
Where do you go when the record is over?
PG:
It is now rated PG... Because we want everyone to see John Travolta's dance performance... Because we want everyone to hear the #1 group in the country, the Bee Gees... Because we want everyone to catch Saturday Night Fever.
Story
The film is about 19-year-old Tony Manero (
John Travolta), a young man who works a dead-end job in a small paint store by day, but rules the dance floor at night with his frequent appearances at 2001 Odyssey, a Brooklyn dance club.
While at 2001 Odyssey, Tony is seen in the company of his three close friends, Joey (
Joseph Cali); Double J (
Paul Pape); and the meek Bobby C. (
Barry Miller), still in high school. It's presumed Bobby C., though younger, is part of the gang because he's the only one with a car (a run-down
Chevrolet Impala). An informal member of their gang is Annette (
Donna Pescow), a plain-looking girl who has more than friendship on her mind when it comes to Tony.
Tony, knowing Annette has the right moves to win an upcoming dance competition, recruits her to participate with him in the contest, much to her delight. Her happiness is short-lived, however, when Tony abruptly terminates their partnership after seeing Stephanie Mangano at the dance club. Stephanie is an attractive, talented dancer with what Tony assumes is a more committed attitude.
Despite her initial frosty and superior attitude toward Tony, after much urging, Stephanie (
Karen Lynn Gorney) agrees to partner with him in the contest. Stephanie works in
Manhattan as a secretary for a magazine; she's poised to move there and has more opportunities to work her way up. This awakens in Tony the need to transcend his working-class roots of
Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. However, Stephanie ultimately reveals her own vulnerabilities to Tony.
Also examined in the film is Tony's relationship with his family, including Frank Jr., Tony's older brother and clearly his parents' favorite, who abandons a planned career in the priesthood. Tony's mother dotes on Frank Jr., who shatters his parents' dreams of what he refers to as "pious glory." This may be partly because Frank Jr. no longer wishes to spend his life in
celibacy, but mainly, as he tries to explain to Tony, because he's doubts about his faith and is disillusioned with the Church.
Bobby C., who looks up to Tony because of his dance talent, asks him for advice for getting out of his relationship with his devoutly-Catholic girlfriend Pauline, who is pregnant with his child. Though Tony tells him to dump her, Bobby C. faces pressure from his family and others to marry her, which he clearly doesn't wish to do. After she refuses to get an abortion, Bobby asks Frank Jr. if Pope Paul VI would grant him
dispensation for an abortion. Bobby's feelings of despair deepen when Frank tells him dispensation would be highly unlikely.
Double-J and Joey are Tony's more like-minded friends, macho, foul-mouthed, bigoted, chauvinistic, and with hair-trigger tempers. They engage in wild behavior such as balancing themselves along the dangerous railing of the
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, often while in varying states of drunkenness. Another member of the gang is beaten up by some Latino youths and is put in a hospital. Tony, Double-J and Joey vow revenge and storm a Latino bar only finding out later that it's the wrong place.
Finally, it's the evening of the dance competition at 2001 Odyssey. Tony and Stephanie finish their dance to wild applause. The last couple to compete, however, is a Puerto Rican duo whom Tony realizes has blown him and Stephanie away after seeing their spectacular performance. Nevertheless, Tony and Stephanie take the top prize, which Tony immediately dismisses, claiming the contest was rigged in his favor (because of his popularity at 2001). He grabs the trophy and prize money from Stephanie and presents them to the Puerto Rican couple (who took second) instead, telling them they deserve it.
Angry, Tony tells off his friends as phonies who won't be honest with him, dragging Stephanie with him. He attempts to force himself on Stephanie in the car until she fights him off and escapes. He then sullenly takes off with the gang, along with a drunk and high Annette, whom Joey says is going to "give us all a piece." Double-J and Joey both take turns with Annette, but Annette starts to cry after she realizes she actually doesn't want to have sex with them.
They pull the car off the bridge, but this time, Bobby C., who normally stays in the car, joins them, and is attempting more dangerous stunts than Tony, Double-J, and Joey. Realizing that Bobby is acting recklessly, Tony tries to coax him off the railing. Upset at his lonely life, his situation with Pauline, and a broken promise from Tony earlier that he'd call him, the needy Bobby rants at Tony's lack of care, and accidentally slips, falling to his death. The friends are shocked and grief-stricken. When a policeman called to investigate the incident asks Tony if he thinks Bobby C. committed
suicide, Tony responds, "Sometimes you can kill yourself without killin' yourself...you know?"
A distraught Tony spends the rest of the night riding the subway. He finally shows up at Stephanie's apartment, apologizing and saying that he wanted to try and salvage their relationship by being friends first... and see what develops from there. Recognizing Tony's honest wish to change, Stephanie takes his hand in hers, and then him into her arms in this final scene.
Versions and sequel
There were two theatrically-released versions of the film: the "original" R version and the PG "edited version." The R-rated version is 119 minutes. The PG-rated version was released in
1978 as an attempt to attract a more youthful audience. It is 113 minutes, with profanity replaced by separately-filmed scenes that substituted milder language that were initially filmed for the network television cut of the film (such as a scene where Tony's dad gets his old job back), and with several scenes shortened or cut. Both theatrical versions were released on
VHS, but only the R-rated version was released on
Laserdisc and later on
DVD, and the DVD version is shown in
widescreen only. (However, some of the extra scenes from the PG version were included as "deleted scenes" for the DVD release.) In addition, a network television version, based primarily on the PG version, contains several minutes of outtakes deleted from the theatrical releases. However starting in the late 1990s
VH1 and
Turner Network Television started showing the original R rated version with a TV-14 rating. (Some of the language and nudity had been edited out but including some of the innuendos from the original that had been cut out of the PG version.)
The R-rated version contains scenes of profanity, nudity, drug use and a date-rape scene which has been de-emphasised or completely removed from the PG version.
A sequel,
Staying Alive, was released in
1983. It starred John Travolta and was directed by
Sylvester Stallone.
The story was also produced as a
musical stage production in
London,
Sydney and on
Broadway
Cast and roles include
Soundtrack
Track listing:
"Stayin' Alive" performed by Bee Gees - 4:45
"How Deep Is Your Love" performed by Bee Gees - 4:05
"Night Fever" performed by Bee Gees - 3:33
"More Than a Woman" performed by Bee Gees - 3:17
"If I Can't Have You" performed by Yvonne Elliman - 3:00
"A Fifth of Beethoven" performed by Walter Murphy - 3:03
"More Than a Woman" performed by Tavares - 3:17
"Manhattan Skyline" performed by David Shire - 4:44
"Calypso Breakdown" performed by Ralph MacDonald - 7:50 (*)
"Night on Disco Mountain" performed by David Shire - 5:12
"Open Sesame" performed by Kool & the Gang - 4:01
"Jive Talkin'" performed by Bee Gees - 3:43 (*)
"You Should Be Dancing" performed by Bee Gees - 4:14
"Boogie Shoes" performed by KC and the Sunshine Band - 2:17
"Salsation" performed by David Shire - 3:50
"K-Jee" performed by MFSB - 4:13
"Disco Inferno" performed by Trammps - 10:51
(*) "Calypso Breakdown" and "Jive Talkin'" were not contained in the film. » The novelty songs "Dr. Disco" and "Disco Duck", both performed by Rick Dees, were played in the film but not included on the album.
Filming locations include
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
Phillips Dance Studio
2001 Odyssey, which was later renamed Spectrum (a Gay club) in 1987 before being demolished in 2005. The club was located at 802 64th Street, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York.
Six Brothers Hardware and Paints formerly located at 7309 5th Ave in Brooklyn was the backdrop for Tony's place of employment. The store was owned and operated by a father and his six sons of the Albergo Family. It became a popular tourist stop after the release of the movie. The father was Giuseppe (Joseph Sr.) and the six brothers were Joseph, Domenic, Marco, Peter, Angelo, and Ralph. The owners have since sold the store and have retired. See the following website: http://joe-albergo.com/
Trivia
Saturday Night Fever was the favorite movie of the late film critic Gene Siskel, who claimed to have seen it 17 times. He liked the movie so much, he bought the famous white disco suit (worn by Travolta in the movie) at a charity auction for $17,000.
According to the DVD commentary for this movie, the producers wanted to use the song "Lowdown" by Boz Scaggs for use in the rehearsal scene between Tony and Annette in the dance studio. Representatives for Scaggs' label, Columbia Records, refused to allow the song, as they wanted to pursue another disco movie project, which never materialized. David Shire had to compose a song to match the dance steps demonstrated in the scene, as it was done with "Lowdown" in mind. However, it doesn't appear on the movie's soundtrack.
Donna Pescow was almost considered 'too pretty' for the role of Annette. She corrected this by putting on 40 pounds and training herself back to her native Brooklyn accent, which she trained herself away from while she was studying drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. After production ended, she immediately lost the weight she gained for the role and dropped the accent.
John Travolta's mother Helen and sister Ann both appeared in minor roles in this movie.
Bobby's C's car is a 1964 Chevrolet Impala.
Madonna's video for her 2005 hit single "Hung Up" is an homage to a scene from Saturday Night Fever, when Tony first approaches Stephanie at the rehearsal studio. In the video, Madonna is wearing almost exactly the same leotard and tights set that Stephanie wears in the film, and there's wood paneling and a wooden barre much like in the rehearsal space Stephanie uses for this scene. Madonna also did a remix during the Confessions Tour in 2006, following her successful album Confessions on a Dance Floor. The remix was the instrumental of "Disco Inferno" from Saturday Night Fever mixed with Madonna's hit song "Music" from 2000. Madonna's appearance and dance moves during "Music Inferno" were similar to Travolta's in the film.
The song "K-Jee" was used during the dance contest with the Hispanic couple that competed against Tony and Stephanie. Some VHS cassettes used a more traditional Latin-style song instead. The DVD restores the original recording.
Tony Manero was the name of a real American golfer.
John Belushi parodied the film as "Samurai Night Fever", one of his "Samurai" sketches. O. J. Simpson appears in this sketch as the Samurai's brother.
The 1980 film Airplane! contained a parody scene, with Robert Hays mocking the famous pose and the clothing shown on the poster and album cover, to the tune of "Stayin' Alive" slightly sped up (the actual song used for that scene in Saturday Night Fever was "You Should Be Dancing").
The Goodies parodied the film in their Saturday Night Grease episode.
The original working title for this film was "The Tribal Rites Of Saturday Night".
In Anurag Mathur's book The Inscrutable Americans, the protagonist Gopal is inspired by the way Travolta dances and refers to Saturday Night Fever as an 'educational' movie about America.
John Travolta still has the pair of high-heeled shoes he wore during the opening and dance sequences of the film (as depicted in the poster). He says he sometimes takes them out of the closet, but claims he doesn't wear them.
This film is banned in Malaysia.
The Children's Television Workshop published a record album of music from Sesame Street under the title Sesame Street Fever, the cover of which featured a picture of muppet Grover wearing the white three-piece disco suit in the famous Travolta pose.
The film was one of the inspirations for the short-lived sitcom Makin' It, whose main character was a devotee of the film.
In the club, a woman begs to kiss Tony and gushes, "I just kissed Al Pacino!" Later, while looking at a poster of Al Pacino in the mirror, Tony comes out of his room shouting, "Attica! Attica! Attica!" from the famous Al Pacino film, Dog Day Afternoon.
The male human dance and parts of the male dwarf dance in the MMORPG World of Warcraft are taken from this film.
The illuminated dance floor was inspired by one Badham had seen at "The Club", a private supper club in Birmingham, Alabama.
Amy Irving auditioned for the role of Stephanie, which was later won by lesser-known soap actress Karen Lynn Gorney.
The first shots of Stephanie dancing are actually of a stand-in dancer and not Gorney, except for the close-ups.
The music video for "Dang" by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion begins with a direct reference to the opening of Saturday Night Fever as lead singer Jon Spencer is shown walking down a New York City street with a paint can in one hand, exactly as Tony does in the film.
In 2000, at the Inner Circle press dinner, mayor Rudy Giuliani spoofed John Travolta by dancing to "Disco Inferno" by The Trammps. Giuliani wore a white 70s-style disco suit.
Spanish Disco-Funk band "Fundación Tony Manero" ("Tony Manero Foundation") is named after the main character.
The video game has a martial-arts themed level named "Samurai Night Fever".
The debut album by avant-garde metal band Polkadot Cadaver, Purgatory Dance Party, has cover art that's a reference to the film poster.
Bee Gee Robin Gibb admitted to BBC News on 15 December 2007 that he's never watched this film.
Academy Awards
Further Information
Get more info on 'Saturday Night Fever'.
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