Grease, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John 3 stars out of 4
The question isn't why has Grease been reissued. The answer to that one is easy: To celebrate the movie's 20th anniversary and to make more bucks for Paramount's coffers because John Travolta is once again a hot commodity.
No, the question that ought to be asked is: Should Grease be reissued?
The answer is not an easy one.
Grease is a fun movie, an entertaining fantasy of the '50s, embodying all the cliches of that era. The music is lively and the dance numbers, choreographed by Patricia Birch, are energetic and high-spirited.
Travolta was at his pinnacle as a sexual icon, cool, but non-threatening.
But Grease didn't break any new cinematic ground. It was not a milestone in movie history such as Citizen Kane or Easy Rider.
What Grease is - or has become - is the highest-grossing musical in film history.
OK, let's not be a spoilsport. Grease is a fun and entertaining movie, even though it stretches credulity to see such performers as Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Taxi's Jeff Conaway and the multi-talented Stockard Channing try to act like high schoolers.
It's nostalgic to recall how good a dancer Travolta was, and it's sad to think of what could have been had not a few missteps sidetracked his career. He could have become a musical comedy star in the tradition of Gene Kelly.
Cinematically, the musical comedy has basically gone the way of the dinosaur. Between Grease and 1996's Evita., you can probably count the number of movie musicals on one hand.
Two reasons have contributed to the demise of the genre: The first is that movie audiences have become more sophisticated, no, make that cynical and jaded. Today, if a character began to dance and sing with no orchestra in sight, he or she would probably be hooted off the screen.
Today's audiences lack the innocence, that belief in movie magic that is required for a musical to succeed.
Secondly, a lack of talent. Performers with the charisma, the style, the larger-than-life panache of Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers and Judy Garland are gone.
Most singers and dancers remain on the stage, and those who do succeed in movies usually wind up in serious dramatic parts. A good example is Gregory Hines, one of the greatest dancers in the world. He danced a bit in The Cotton Club, Tap and White Nights, but those were essentially dramatic vehicles.
So, perhaps the reissue of Grease can serve a purpose. If audiences show enough interest, meaning if the re-release earns the studio enough revenue, it may spark a revival in movie musicals.
Perhaps not original musicals such as Singin' in the Rain , An American in Paris or Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, but for Broadway properties that have been in the planning stages for film adaptations for several years.
At one time or another, according to the industry rumor mill, Hollywood has been set to create an animated version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, a filming of the popular Phantom of the Opera as well as Les Miserables and Chicago, the latter reportedly to star Madonna.
So, let this Grease be the forerunner of an armada of movie musicals. Let Grease be the word that sparks this revival.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Ind. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com
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