Saturday Night Fever

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Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 movie starring John Travolta as Tony Manero, a troubled Brooklyn youth whose weekend activities are dominated by visits to a New York discotheque. 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 dead-beat gang of friends.

The movie significantly helped to popularise disco music around the world, and made Travolta a household name. The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, featuring disco songs by the Bee Gees, was also hugely popular.

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, and graceful choregraphy.

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 had been assigned to write about. The characters who were to become Tony Manero and his friends sprang almost completely from his imagination.

Story

The story of the film has Tony Manero connect with the aloof Stephanie (Karen Lynn Gorney) one night at the disco. Despite her initial frosty and superior attitude toward Tony, she agrees to partner with him in the dance contest after much urging. Tony had previously agreed to dance with Annette, who had actively pursued Tony, despite his obvious disdain for her. Stephanie has a job in Manhattan and is poised to move there. This awakens in Tony the need to transcend his working-class roots of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. However, Stephanie herself ultimately reveals her own vulnerabilities.

Also examined through the film is Tony's relationship with his family, including an older brother who abandons a planned career in the priesthood, and his association with his no-good friends.

Versions and sequel

movie poster of PG version of Satudary Night Fever

The unsentimental depiction of the subculture of the main characters contrasts with Travolta's follow-up film, the sanitized Grease (1978).

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 112 minutes, with profanity dubbed over and 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. In addition, a network television version, based primarily on the PG version, contains several minutes of outtakes deleted from the theatrical releases.

The R-rated version contains scenes of profanity, nudity, drug use and a date-rape scene which has been deemphasised 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 done as a musical stage production in both London and on New York's Broadway.

Cast and roles include

• John Travolta - Tony Manero
• Karen Lynn Gorney - Stephanie Mangano
• Barry Miller - Bobby C.
• Joseph Cali - Joey
• Paul Pape - Double J.
• Donna Pescow - Annette, a former girlfriend of Tony, still in love with him
• Bruce Ornstein - Gus
• Julie Bovasso - Flo Manero, Tony's mother
• Martin Shakar - Frank Manero Jr., Tony's brother
• Sam Coppola - Fusco
• Nina Hansen - Grandmother
• Lisa Peluso - Linda Manero, Tony's sister
• Denny Dillon - Doreen
• Bert Michaels - Pete
• Robert Costanzo - Paint store customer
• Robert Weil - Becker
• Shelly Batt - Girl in disco
• Fran Drescher - Connie
• Donald Gantry - Jay Langhart
• Murray Moston - Haberdashery salesman
• William Andrews - Detective
• Ann Travolta - Pizza girl (Travolta's sister)
• Helen Travolta - Lady in paint store (Travolta's mother)
• Ellen March - Bartender
• Monti Rock III - The deejay
• Val Bisoglio - Frank Manero Sr., Tony's father
• Roy Cheverie - The wrong partner (uncredited)
• Adrienne King - Dancer (uncredited)
• Alberto Vasquez - Gang member (uncredited)

Soundtrack

Track listing:

1. "Stayin' Alive" performed by Bee Gees - 4:45
2. "How Deep Is Your Love" performed by Bee Gees - 4:05
3. "Night Fever" performed by Bee Gees - 3:33
4. "More Than a Woman" performed by Bee Gees - 3:17
5. "If I Can't Have You" performed by Yvonne Elliman - 3:00
6. "A Fifth of Beethoven" performed by Walter Murphy - 3:03
7. "More Than a Woman" performed by Tavares - 3:17
8. "Manhattan Skyline" performed by David Shire - 4:44
9. "Calypso Breakdown" performed by Ralph MacDonald - 7:50 (*)
10. "Night on Disco Mountain" performed by David Shire - 5:12
11. "Open Sesame" performed by Kool & the Gang - 4:01
12. "Jive Talkin'" performed by Bee Gees - 3:43 (*)
13. "You Should Be Dancing" performed by Bee Gees - 4:14
14. "Boogie Shoes" performed by KC and the Sunshine Band - 2:17
15. "Salsation" performed by David Shire - 3:50
16. "K-Jee" performed by MFSB - 4:13
17. "Disco Inferno" performed by Trammps - 10:51

Filming locations include

• Verrazano Narrows Bridge

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.
• Madonna's video for her 2005 hit single "Hung Up" is an homage to a scene from Saturday Night Fever. It was the scene at the rehearsal studio where John Travolta's character Tony Manero first approaches Karen Lynn Gorney's character Stephanie Mangano. Stephanie is practicing her disco dancing moves to the David Shire song "Manhattan Skyline" when Tony tries to break the ice by saying, "Hey, you're Stephanie Mangano, right? I'm Tony Manero. Hey, we both have the same last initial." In the video, Madonna is wearing almost exactly the same leotard and tights set that Stephanie wears in the film, and there is wood paneling and a wooden barre much like in the rehearsal space Stephanie uses for this scene.
• Most people are familiar with the song "Salsation" which was in the scene in the Dance Contest during the Hispanic Couple that competed against Tony and Stephanie. This was not the original song that was used in the movie. There was actually a more traditional Latin-style song that was used. The VHS version of the movie contains this original version.
• In some parts of Brazil, "Manero" is said as a compliment, when a person is cool, dances well, and attracts attention.
• John Belushi parodied the film as "Samurai Night Fever", one of his "Samurai" sketches. OJ Simpson appears in this sketch as the Samurai's brother.
• The Goodies parodied the film in their Saturday Night Grease episode.
• The title is said to derive from the term "Saturday night special," slang that echoes casual crime and impulsive behavior.
• The original title for this film was "The Tribal Rites Of Saturday Night"
• In Anurag Mathur's book The Inscrutable Americans the protaganist Gopal is inspired by the way Travolta dances and refers to Saturday Night Fever as an 'educational' movie about America.

Academy Awards

West End Casts (1998-1999, 2004-2006)

Since opening in 1998 Saturday Night Fever casts have included Adam Garcia (Coyote Ugly, Riding In Cars With Boys, Wicked), Ben Richards (Footballers Wives, Strictly Dance Fever), Kym Marsh (Hear'say, Coronation Street), Shaun Williamson (Eastenders, Extras), Rebecca Dent (Musicality).

External links

• http://www.karenlynngorney.com Karen Lynn Gorney's Official Homepage
• http://www.beegeesonline.com The Bee Gees Online
• http://www.beegees-world.com Bee Gees World
• http://www.nightfever.co.uk West End & UK Tour site

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