Redartz: Greetings, pop culture fans! Here at BitBA, we frequently engage in that fond reverie about the past known as nostalgia. Well, nostalgia is certainly not exclusive to our present era. 'Back in the Bronze Age', the 70's specifically, there arose a craze for 1950's popular culture. It manifested itself in music (top 40 reappearances by such 50's acts as Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis). It was represented on television (most notably in the hit shows "Happy Days" and "Laverne and Shirley"). But two of the biggest examples of the Fifties' influence were films: "American Graffiti" and "Grease".
"American Graffiti" was a big hit in 1973, and really helped amplify the popularity of "Happy Days". The film, by George Lucas (who had some later big films, incidentally) was a rich look back at a teenage weekend, and featured many of the faces who became icons later in the decade: Ron Howard, Cindy Williams, Harrison Ford). The film was also critically praised, earning a Best Picture Oscar nonimation.
"Grease", released in 1978, was a box office monster. Starring John Travolta (at the height of his popularity) and Olivia Newton-John, it adapted the popular Broadway play about late 50's teen life. The film soon became a classic, and had an incredibly successful soundtrack as well.
So today, let's compare and contrast the two. Which film was your favorite? Which holds up the best some four decades later? How about the soundtracks, the casts, the plots? I'll meet you at the malt shop and we'll compare notes about "Graffiti" and "Grease"...
14 comments:
I'm not sure if I've even seen 'American Grafitti' (possibly once, a long time ago) but 'Grease' was indeed a monster. In the UK singles chart "You're The One That I Want" stayed at #1 for 9 weeks and "Summer Nights" was #1 for 7 weeks. Also "Sandy" and "Hopelessly Devoted To You" both peaked at #2 and the soundtrack album was #1 for about 10 million weeks (or possibly 9 million). You couldn't escape Travolta & Newton John in 1978. There was also a version of "You're The One That I Want" by Hylda Baker & Arthur Mullard which was supposed to be a hilarious parody but it was actually one of the most embarrassing and cringe-inducing songs ever recorded!
While I like both, I prefer American Graffiti all around. I think it's partly due to the fact that you couldn't get away from Grease when it was popular, as Colin Jones said above, but I liked the soundtrack to A.G. a lot better....so much, in fact, that it really shaped my music preferences for a number of years afterward. There were some fantastic tunes on that album. I had the cassette and I played it until it started making that annoying sound cassettes used to make when they wore out.
Dog gone! I never saw either. I do have the Graffiti soundtrack on vinyl as a holdover from my 50s stage.
I definitely prefer American Graffiti to Grease; Grease is all right, but I'm not a big fan of musicals in general. Some of the songs are great ("Beauty School Dropout", Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee") but American Graffiti has such great characters and a cool story. Plus it's fun to spot the stars before they were stars.
I too fall into the American Graffiti camp. My father and I watched it years ago, and he liked the Toad character. It was fun seeing the stars in their youth, particularly Harrison Ford and Suzanne Sommers as the "blonde in the car."
I also would give a thumbs up to Diner, another movie set in the 50s with a great soundtrack.
I'd have to go with Grease all the way. I've seen it multiple times, and I could watch it again. It's just a fun little movie with some great music.
I actually watched American Graffiti again not too long ago, and I have to say, it really doesn't have much of a plot. The characters just sort of wander around all night getting into various situations. I actually found myself getting a little bored by the end to be honest.
Technically speaking, American Graffiti was set in 1962 ("Where were you in 62?" went the promotional tag), but really, it's apples and oranges, surely?
Graffiti was more an almost bittersweet coming-of-age film, Grease was more just nostalgic confectionary, not really an evocation of a past time as Graffiti was, although I'm told the original stage production was a little more hard-hitting (another difference, Grease was adapted from a stage musical, Graffiti was produced originally for cinema).
Graffiti probably had the better soundtrack, but how could it miss? A stack of original hits from the period, as opposed to relying on songs specifically written for it; interestingly three of the big hits from Grease were produced and added for the movie and weren't in the stage show; the title track (written by Barry Gibb) and "You're The One That I Want" and "Hopelessly Devoted To You" both written by ONJ's long-time producer John Farrar)...I understand that they been added to the stage production since.
Colin- You're spot on about the popularity of "Grease" in the UK. As big an impact it had on the US pop charts, it's reception on your side of the water was even greater.
Mike W.- you named a couple highlights from "Grease", another great one is "There are Worse Things I Could Do"- Stockard Channing's standout performance. Interestingly, the soundtrack featured several cuts that were merely incidental in the film. If I recall correctly, they were several songs from the original stage production.
B Smith- ahh, you're quite right about the timeframe of "Graffiti". And the poster is right there in the post. How embarrassing. Oh well, what's a few years between friends? Anyone know what year "Grease" was supposedly set in? I'd guess 1959...
For me it's American Graffiti by default: I've never seen Grease (although, through cultural osmosis, I'm aware the basic story and, of course, I can sing at least a few verses of the major hit songs from the movie, just because they saturated the airwaves back then).
Redartz, don't feel bad about the 1962 setting of Graffiti. In fact, in terms of music and overall culture, the early '60s were still what most people would consider the "1950s." I think 1963, when the Beatles started to become popular in the US and Kennedy was assassinated, is considered the actual end of the 1950s by many cultural historians. Just like the "sizzling '60s" really only started in, maybe, 1966 at the earliest and didn't end until deep into the '70s. In fact, I think the setting of American Graffiti in late 1962 is meant to signify the end of an era not just for its protagonists, but for the country/culture as a whole.
American Graffiti is a hilariously entertaining movie, and it really did represent the end of an era. Those classic cars, classic clothes, classic hairstyles, classic music are amazing, and I'm envious of people who lived in those times. It sure would have be a thrill to visit that time. I enjoyed Grease as well, though I did not really relate to it, and the soundtrack is very memorable and catchy, in my view. Olivia Newton-John sure was cute before transforming into the "bad girl" at the end.
@Thomas: Well, you know, some of us prefer bad girls ;)
I'm in the "apples & oranges" camp.
Both soundtracks are great - but one is period songs, the other is custom written musical numbers. No comparing them - two completely different fruit.
In tone and intent, they're completely different. Even decades, as noted above.
It's like comparing Star Trek and Star Wars - one is science fiction, the other is space opera - the metrics don't line up.
I guess when it comes down to it, i'd go with Grease for the moral of the story - A girl's gotta be a slut to get her guy.
(That was the moral we were supposed to take away from the movie, right?)
Like Edo, I really enjoyed Graffitti over Grease, but to be fair, I've only seen snippets of Grease, so I really cannot accurately compare.
On a more pop culture note, I've always been fascinated with the sudden turn to nostalgia in the early '70s, as an outlet for the depressing times of 'Nam, the Beatles breaking up, the Nixon era.., I've known no other decade that embraced that type of return to nostalgia like we did then. Both with these films, 'Crocodile Rock', Shanana, 'Happy Days', Brando posters, and other sock-hop type marketing, we really went back in strong.
I've often asked my Dad whether there was any big push like that back in the 50s or 60s, but he couldn't recall, nor have I seen anything in my research.
AND YES, loving my favorite kooky FF story of ish 136-137 (circa 1973) when the Shaper mixed them up with the 'Wild Ones' of the '50s..., just too rad.
Thomas F- to be honest, I rather preferred the pre-makeover Sandy too...
And you're right, the soundtrack of "Grease" was very catchy. It was a throwback to the 'golden age' of musicals, when every song stuck in your head. Rogers and Hammerstein might have approved.
david_b- interesting observation about the cultural funk during the early 70's. Perhaps that did prompt folks to look back to what they considered a happier time. One wonders, with so much negativity in our society today, if another such nostalgia craze could arise. Of course, with the past so readily available in many forms now, anyone can go online or pop in a dvd, and 'return to those days of yesteryear'.
And great recall of that FF story. Fun stuff!
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