Grease (movie) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Grease
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Randal Kleiser
Produced by	Robert Stigwood Allan Carr
Screenplay by	Bronte Woodard
Starring	John Travolta Olivia Newton-John Stockard Channing Jeff Conaway Eve Arden Frankie Avalon Joan Blondell Edd Byrnes Sid Caesar Alice Ghostley Dody Goodman Sha Na Na
Music by	Michael Gibson
Cinematography	Bill Butler
Editing by	John F. Burnett Robert Pergament
Studio	Paramount Pictures Allan Carr Productions RSO Records Polydor Records
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	June 16, 1978 (1978-06-16)
Running time	110 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$6 million
Money made	$366.2 million

The car race in the film took place at the Los Angeles River.

Grease is a 1978 American musical movie directed by Randal Kleiser and produced by Robert Stigwood. The movie tells the story of high-schoolers Rizzo, Kenickie, Danny, Frenchy and Sandy.

Plot

Danny Zuko and Sandra Dee meet in Los Angeles, California in summer 1959 and they fall in love. When Sandy has to leave to go back to Australia, they believe it is the end of their romance. However, Sandy gets transferred to his school and they meet again. When Danny sees Sandy again he acts as if he does not care about her. He does this to keep up his reputation, but Sandy does not know this and wishes she has never met him. She and Danny date on and off, but Sandy becomes frustrated with him because of the way he treats her. At the end of the movie, Sandy transforms herself into the kind of woman Danny could truly love forever and they get back together.

Cast

Principal cast

Protagonists

• John Travolta as Danny Zuko, who lives a double life as leader of the greaser gang called the T-Birds and as Sandy's boyfriend
• Olivia Newton-John as Sandy Olsson, Danny's girlfriend and an Australian immigrant and ingénue, who transforms from square lady to female greaser

T-Birds

• Jeff Conaway as Kenickie, Danny's best friend, Rizzo's boyfriend and the owner of Greased Lightnin’
• Barry Pearl as Doody, a member of the T-Birds, who pairs with Frenchy at the school dance
• Michael Tucci as Sonny LaTierri, a trouble-making wannabe and a T-Bird, who courts Marty with little success over the course of the film
• Kelly Ward as Putzie, a member of the T-Birds whose relationship with Jan builds over the course of the film

Pink Ladies

• Stockard Channing as Betty Rizzo, Kenickie's girlfriend and the cynical leader of the Pink Ladies
• Didi Conn as Frenchy, Sandy's closest friend in the Pink Ladies and an aspiring beautician
• Jamie Donnelly as Jan, a quirky member of the Pink Ladies who loves to eat, particularly sweets
• Dinah Manoff as Marty Maraschino, a member of the Pink Ladies

Secondary cast

Students

• Eddie Deezen as Eugene Felsnic, the class nerd
• Susan Buckner as Patricia "Patty" Simcox, the head cheerleader and a rival for Danny's affections
• Lorenzo Lamas as Thomas "Tom" Chisum, a popular jock, who competes for Sandy's affections
• Dennis C. Stewart as Leo "Crater-Face" Balmudo, leader of the Scorpions, a rivalling greaser gang. Though not a student at Rydell High, he is likely a drop-out student, possibly from St Bernadette's
• Annette Charles as Charlene "Cha-Cha" DiGregorio, Leo's girlfriend. She is a student at St Bernadette's

School Staff

• Eve Arden as Principal McGee, who shows discomfort at the goings-on at Rydell High
• Dody Goodman as Blanche Hodel, the school secretary, who enjoys even the wilder antics at the school
• Sid Caesar as Coach Vince Calhoun, the tough-talking gym teacher and coach of all the school's perennially losing sports teams
• Alice Ghostley as Mrs. Murdock, the auto-shop teacher who helps the T-Birds build Greased Lightnin'
• Darrell Zwerling as Mr. Lynch
• Dick Patterson as Mr. Rudie
• Fannie Flagg as Nurse Wilkins

Others

• Joan Blondell as Vi, a waitress at the Frosty Palace.
• Ellen Travolta as Waitress
• Frankie Avalon as Teen Angel
• Edd Byrnes as Vince Fontaine, an on-air personality at KZAZ radio and television
• Johnny Contardo and Sha Na Na as Johnny Casino and the Gamblers, a rock 'n' roll band

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album ended 1978 as the second-best-selling album of the year in the United States, exceeded only by another soundtrack album, from the film Saturday Night Fever, which also starred Travolta. The song "Hopelessly Devoted to You" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music – Original Song. The song "You're the One That I Want" was released as a single prior to the film's release and became an immediate chart-topper, despite not being in the stage show or having been seen in the film at that time. Additionally, the dance number to "You're the One That I Want" was nominated for TV Land's award for "Movie Dance Sequence You Reenacted in Your Living Room" in 2008. In the United Kingdom, the two Travolta/Newton-John duets, "You're the One That I Want" and "Summer Nights", were both number one hits and as of 2011^[update] are still among the 20 best-selling singles of all time (at Nos. 6 and 19, respectively). The film's title song was also a number-one hit single for Frankie Valli.

The songs appear in the film in the following order:

See also

In Spanish: Grease para niños