Grease Trivia
Henry Winkler, who was playing Fonzie on "Happy Days" (1974), was originally supposed to play Danny but didn't for fear of being typecast.
Susan Dey and Deborah Raffin were the first choices for the role of Sandy (Dey declined the role after her manager advised against it). Marie Osmond later claimed on the Larry King Show that she had been also been offered the role but declined "on moral grounds" though she later admitted this to be untrue.
Lucie Arnaz was first choice for the role of Rizzo but was rejected after her actress mother Lucille Ball refused to allow her to screen test at Paramount Studios (she wrongly claimed that she used to own it).
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).
Jeff Conaway had to walk slightly stooped so that John Travolta would appear taller.
Set in high school, most of the principal cast were way past their teenage years at the time of filming. John Travolta was 24; Jeff Conaway, Michael Tucci, Barry Pearl, and Didi Conn were all 28; Olivia Newton-John was 29; Jamie Donnelly was 30 and Stockard Channing was the eldest at 34. Dinah Manoff and Lorenzo Lamas were still teenagers - both were 19.
Randal Kleiser hated the song "You're The One That I want" saying it "sounded awful".
"You're the One That I Want" took just an afternoon to film.
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.
Although cut from the movie, The Alma Mater/Parody instrumental from the stage version can be heard in the office on the last day and during the carnival scenes.
Several musical numbers were not used in the film. They appear, however, as jukebox tunes, or band numbers at the high school dance. Among them "Freddy, My Love," "Those Magic Changes," and "It's Raining on Prom Night" all of which were performed by characters in the stage musical.
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 (1975) and Star Wars (1977).
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 film was released in Spain as Brilliantina (Brilliantine) - because its English title translated as "fat" in Spanish.
"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.
Danny's blue windbreaker at the beginning of the film was intended as a nod to Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
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 blatent 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.
Randal Kleiser hated the opening title song, "Grease" (he thought that the cynical lyrics and disco beat were inappropriate for a film set in the 1950s).
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 occassion, an extra had to be taken out due to heat related illness.
Choreographer Patricia Birch worked with Sha-Na-Na to ensure that the tempo of the dance contest would be correct. She appears, uncredited, as one of the dancers during the contest.
In the song "Look at Me I'm Sandra Dee", it originally references Sal Mineo in the stage version. However, due to Mineo's murder the year before shooting began the reference was given to Troy Donahue.
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.
Harry Reems was originally signed to play Coach Calhoun. Producers got cold feet weeks before filming and replaced him with Sid Caesar.
Randal Kleiser shot a scene of Kenickie and Rizzo getting into a heated argument, which explained their attitude towards each other in the diner scene (where Rizzo threw the malt at Kenickie). The fight scene was cut because it didn't match the tone of the rest of the film; it was much grittier, described by one crew member as "looking like something Martin Scorsese might have directed."
"Hopelessly Devoted To You" was written and recorded after the movie had wrapped. The producers felt they needed a strong ballad and had Olivia Newton-John come back to film her singing this song.
The official premiere after-party was at Studio 54.
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.
Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, who wrote the original stage play, were originally supposed to serve as executive producers of the film but got kicked off the set by Allen Carr. Patrica Birch who was choreographer on the Broadway stage continued her role in the movie version and the film original song "Sandy" was co-written by Louis St Louis who wrote some songs used in the film.
Originated in Chicago at the Kingston Mines Theatre, of which authors Jim Jacobs and 'Casey, Warren' were acting ensemble members. It opened on the 5 February 1971, and cast members Marilu Henner, who played Marty, and James Canning, who played Doody, went on to play those roles on Broadway. Others in the cast were Sue Williams (Rizzo), Bruce Hickey (Kenickie), Bill Cervetti (Miller), Sheila Caeser (Jan), Hedda Lubin (Frenchy), Polly Pen (Patti), Leslie Goto (Sandi), Doug Stevnson (Danny), Gerald Bolnick (Sonny) and Gary Houston (Roger). Guy Barile directed and Ronna Kaye choreographed the production, and Wrick Paul (aka Rick Paul) was set designer. The rock-and-roll band that accompanied the show, led by Michael Williams, was called Sex Nellie, and Love.