The duo practice for an upcoming contest that could mean total success at last for Travolta and the opportunity to get discovered doing what he really loves. Facing pressure from his family and others to marry her, Bobby asks Frank Jr. if the Pope would grant him dispensation for an abortion. In SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, 19-year-old Brooklynite Tony Manero (John Travolta) lives uncomfortably at home with his large Italian-American family, works at a local paint store, hangs out with his troublemaking pals, and treats marriage-minded girlfriend Annette (Donna Pescow) with contempt, partially because she won't have sex with him. The R-rated version released in 1977 represented the movie's first run, and totaled 119 minutes. Paramount planned to theatrically release the PG-rated version, which was being shown by airlines, in 1978; however, MPAA rules at the time did not allow for two different rated versions of a film to be shown at the same time in the country. Nineteen-year-old Brooklyn native Tony Manero lives for Saturday nights at the local disco, where he's king of the club, thanks to his stylish moves on the dance floor. Meanwhile, Bobby C. has been trying to get out of his relationship with his devout Catholic girlfriend, Pauline, who is pregnant with his child. But this TV edit included some of the innuendos from the original film that were edited or removed from the PG version. (3,182) IMDb 6.8 1h 58min 1977 X-Ray R. A 19-year-old young man who works in a paint store lets nothing spoil Saturday nights at his favorite disco where he is the center of attraction. Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. [13] Producer Robert Stigwood said in an A&E Documentary of "The Inside Story: Saturday Night Fever", about the PG-rated version: It ruined the film. Spending the summer at a Catskills resort with her family, Frances "Baby" Houseman falls in love with the camp's dance instructor, Johnny Castle. Showing all 5 items Jump to: Summaries (4) Synopsis (1) Summaries. [32], This article is about the film. To escape his day-to-day life, Tony goes to 2001 Odyssey, a local disco club, where he is king of the dance floor and receives the admiration and respect he longs for. [30][31], The Red Hot Chili Peppers 2016 music video for their song "Go Robot" is heavily inspired by the film and recreates the opening scene and classic characters from the film who are portrayed by each band member. After a young man is murdered, his spirit stays behind to warn his lover of impending danger, with the help of a reluctant psychic. Instead of abstaining as usual, Bobby performs stunts more recklessly than the rest of the gang. Morning has dawned by the time he appears at Stephanie's apartment. The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, featuring disco songs by the Bee Gees, is one of the best-selling soundtracks of all time. Gilmore Girls: Red Light on the Wedding Night. A refresher for those who haven’t seen the movie, or have forgotten: Saturday Night Fever is the story of a 19-year-old Italian American who clerks in a paint store. Nirvana is the dance; when the music stops, you return to being ordinary. The site's critical consensus reads, "Boasting a smart, poignant story, a classic soundtrack, and a starmaking performance from John Travolta, Saturday Night Fever ranks among the finest dramas of the 1970s. Listen to the ground: there is movement all around. Jessica Lange, Kathleen Quinlan, Carrie Fisher, and Amy Irving were all considered for the part before Gorney was cast. Written by After Joey finishes with Annette, he switches places with Double J who then proceeds to rape Annette despite her loud protests with Tony clearly uncomfortable with the situation in the front seat. Frank Jr. tells Tony that he never wanted to be a priest and only did it to make their parents happy. "Saturday Night Fever" is a total over-achiever as it could have fallen to exploitation tactics of the 1970s, but becomes one of those iconic films that still stands the test of time. The song "K-Jee" was used during the dance contest with the Puerto Rican couple that competed against Tony and Stephanie. To maintain runtime, a few deleted scenes were restored (including Tony dancing with Doreen to "Disco Duck", Tony running his finger along the cables of the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge, and Tony's father getting his job back). [29], On April 17, 2012, Fox aired series Glee's episode 16, "Saturday Night Glee-ver", which pays tribute to the film and features various songs from its soundtrack (especially the songs performed by the Bee Gees), covered by the series' cast. Tony shares a warm relationship with Frank Jr., but feels pleased that he, Tony, is no longer the black sheep of the family. Box Office, THE BEST SONG/MUSIC IN OPENING TITLE SEQUENCES! Although presented as an account of factual reporting, Cohn acknowledge in the mid-1990s that he fabricated most of the article. Tony, Double J, and Joey get out of the car to fight, but Bobby C. runs away when a gang member tries to attack him in the car. John G. Avildsen was originally hired as the film's director, but was replaced one month before principal photography by John Badham over "conceptual disagreements. [21] The dance studio was Phillips Dance Studio in Bensonhurst, the Manero home was a house in Bay Ridge,[11] the paint store was Pearson Paint & Hardware, also in Bay Ridge. Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? It doesn't have the power, or the impact, of the original, R-rated edition. The 2001 Odyssey Disco was a real club located at 802 64th Street, which has since been demolished. A chronicle of the lives of several teenagers who attend a New York high school for students gifted in the performing arts. The network television version (which premiered on November 16, 1980, on ABC) was basically a slightly shortened form of the PG-rated version, but contained several minutes of out-takes normally excised from both theatrical releases to make up for lost/cut material. During filming, the production was harassed by local gangs over use of the location, and were even firebombed. Two theatrical versions of the film were released: the original R-rated version and an edited PG-rated version in 1979.[1]. Karen Lynn Gorney was actually nine years older than Travolta when she was cast as his love interest Stephanie. 94th St. and Fifth Avenue, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. In 2010, Saturday Night Fever was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Looking to watch Saturday Night Fever? Starting in the late 1990s VH1, TBS, and TNT started showing the original R-rated version with a TV-14 rating. Bud is a young man from the country who learns about life and love in a Houston bar. However, this track does not appear on the movie's soundtrack. Stephanie dreams of the world beyond Brooklyn, and her plans to move to Manhattan just over the bridge soon change Tony's life forever. Bobby's strong sense of despair, the situation with Pauline, and Tony's broken promise to call him earlier that day all lead to a suicidal tirade about Tony's lack of caring before Bobby slips and falls to his death in the water below. The premiere of the R-rated edition occurred at midnight on January 1, 1980. alfiehitchie. This was before switching to a 24-hour-a-day operation, while still under their old broadcast standards concerning R-rated films). The film's relatively low budget ($3.5 million) meant that most of the actors were relative unknowns, many of whom were recruited from New York's theatre scene. Tony and his friends ritually stop on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to clown around. After the success of the first run, the film's content was re-edited into a 112 minutes, toned down, PG-rated version, not only to attract a wider audience, but also to capitalize on attracting the target audience of the teenagers who were not old enough to see the film by themselves, but who made the film's soundtrack album a monster hit. For the stage musical, see, The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group, Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen, AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition), "Library of Congress adds 'Saturday Night Fever,' Simon and Garfunkel, Pink Floyd to audio archive – San Jose Mercury News", "New race: Donna Pescow (Published 1978)", "Bay Ridge Still Has Saturday Night Fever, 35 Years Later", "Greatest Films of 1977: "melodramatic, out-dated blockbuster, "What We Don't Remember About Saturday Night Fever", Entertainment News, Photos and Videos – HuffPost Entertainment, "Anthony Kiedis Makes a White-Painted Saturday Night Fever Homage in the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 'Go Robot' Video", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saturday_Night_Fever&oldid=1018473404, Films based on newspaper and magazine articles, United States National Film Registry films, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing additional references from December 2017, All articles needing additional references, Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers, Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Bee Gees, Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson, Helen Travolta (John's mother) as paint store customer, Ann Travolta (John's sister) as pizza girl, "Salsation" performed by David Shire – 3:50, This page was last edited on 18 April 2021, at 08:01. The last two deleted scenes were included in the 2017 director's cut. A similar effect was achieved on the club's walls using tinfoil and Christmas lights. (1977). But outside of the club, things don't look so rosy. Night fever, night fever. Here I am, Prayin' for this moment to last, Livin' on the music so fine, Borne on the wind, Makin' it mine. Amazon.com. Here are some great movies worth streaming that you won't see in the Best Picture category at the 2021 Oscars. Find out where Saturday Night Fever is streaming, if Saturday Night Fever is on Netflix, and get news and updates, on Decider. At home, Tony fights constantly with his father and has to compete with his family's starry-eyed view of his older brother, a priest. We know how to show it. Producer Robert Stigwood wanted to call the film Saturday Night, but singer Robin Gibb expressed hesitation at the title. Tony Manero is a 19-year-old Italian American from the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Stephanie dreams of the world beyond Brooklyn, and her plans to move to Manhattan just over the bridge soon change Tony's life forever. [22] In 2010, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". There is something goin' down and I can feel it. 46 of 65 people found this review helpful. After the movie's release in 1977, disco ruled the dance floors, and a blow-dried member of a TV-sitcom ensemble became the hottest star in the country. Gimme that night fever, night fever. Still one of the finer films of the time period. A Pittsburgh woman with two jobs as a welder and an exotic dancer wants to get into ballet school. [6] A sequel, Staying Alive, also starring Travolta, was released in 1983, but was panned by critics. Favorite movie based on a magazine article? The film grossed $25.9 million in its first 24 days of release and grossed an average of $600,000 a day throughout January to March[15] going on to gross $94.2 million in the United States and Canada and $237.1 million worldwide.[5]. The soundtrack was released on November 15, 1977. Once outside in Bobby's car, Tony tries to rape Stephanie, but she resists and runs from him. Title: The movie also works as a time capsule to a part of contemporary American history where discos and bell-bottoms were all the rage. "[9] Badham was a lesser-known director who like his star, had mostly worked in television. [16][17][18][19] On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 82% based on 49 reviews, with an average rating of 7.49/10. He tells Tony and his friends that his attackers were the Barracudas, a Puerto Rican gang. It remains the second best-selling soundtrack of all time with over 45 million units sold, behind The Bodyguard. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance (becoming the fifth-youngest nominee in the category). After Saturday Night Fever's success, Gorney took a hiatus from film acting to work as a dance instructor at a performing arts academy in Brooklyn. Tony and Stephanie salvage their relationship and agree to be friends. Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham. Realizing that he is acting recklessly, Tony tries to get him to come down. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young working-class Italian-American man from Brooklyn who spends his weekends dancing and drinking at a local Brooklyn discothèque; Karen Lynn Gorney as Stephanie Mangano, his dance partner and eventual confidante; and Donna Pescowas Annette, Tony's former dance partner and would-be girlfriend. He apologizes for his bad behavior, telling her that he plans to relocate from Brooklyn to Manhattan to try and start a new life. However, things begin to change when he spies Stephanie Mangano in the disco and starts training with her for the club's dance competition. Donna Pescow was considered almost "too pretty" by Eisner and Katzenberg for the role of Annette. The film showcased aspects of the music, the dancing, and the subculture surrounding the disco era: symphony-orchestrated melodies; haute couture styles of clothing; pre-AIDS sexual promiscuity; and graceful choreography. It came with a shirt that buttoned under the crotch, so it would still look neat after a night on the dance floor. Badham chose the final title after the Bee Gees' track "Night Fever", which they submitted for the soundtrack. the sweeping euphonic nature of the compositions and the detailed instrumentation, upon which Barry Gibb's dreamy falsetto and romantic lyrics seem to find their milieu. Saturday Night Fever. When Saturday Night Fever premiered on HBO in 1980, both versions of the film were aired: the PG version during the day, and the R version during the evening (HBO had a programming rule of only showing R-rated films during the evening. An uneducated Brooklyn teen (John Travolta, in an Oscar-nominated role) lives in a dream world over the weekends as the king of a disco dance floor. Tony's older brother, Frank Jr., who was the pride of the family since he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest, brings despair to their parents and grandmother when he tells them he has quit the priesthood. The PG-rated version never had a Home Video Release on Laserdisc. Saturday Night Fever is a 1998 jukebox musical based on the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever.Its book is by Nan Knighton (in collaboration with Arlene Phillips, Paul Nicholas, and Robert Stigwood), and the songs mostly consist of songs that were featured in the film's soundtrack, which in turn were mostly written and performed by the Bee Gees. The DVD restores the original recording. [12] The PG-rated version was eventually released in 1979 and was later paired by Paramount in a double feature along with its other John Travolta blockbuster, Grease. We know how to do it. 4.5 out of 5 stars. Five years later, Tony Manero's Saturday Night Fever is still burning. He insisted on performing his character's own dance sequences after producers suggested he be substituted by a body double, rehearsing his choreography with Lester Wilson and Deney Terrio for three hours every day, losing 20 pounds in the process. Saturday Night Fever, although hardly as prodigious an artistic achievement as those precursors, was precisely that kind of musical phenomenon for the second half of the '70s. "[20] At Metacritic the film has a score of 77 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". It was added to The New York Times "Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made", which was published in 2004. A man in a legal but hurtful business needs an escort for some social events, and hires a beautiful prostitute he meets... only to fall in love. He lives with his parents, grandmother, and younger sister, and works at a dead-end job in a small hardware store. She corrected this matter by putting on weight. The film, theoretically speaking, appeals most to teenagers … Disillusioned, quietly upset with where his life is, Travolta finds solace by dancing in public to Bee Gee's music and finds love with his newest dance partner (Karen Lynn Gorney). Saturday Night Fever This version was released on Blu-Ray & DVD in May. Saturday Night Fever (1977) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. On the waves of the air there is danci Meanwhile, the point-of-view of the newborn boy is narrated through voice-over. When Frank tells him such a thing would be highly unlikely, Bobby's feelings of desperation increase. Now he's strutting toward his biggest challenge yet: succeeding as a dancer on the Broadway stage. Saturday Night Fever is the soundtrack album from the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever starring John Travolta. Joey has sex with Annette in the back seat of the car. Though Gorney had pre-existing dance experience unlike Travolta, she initially found it difficult to keep up with her co-star due to injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident some years prior. The tactics worked well enough that Badham was usually able to get the scenes done before significant crowds had time to gather. "[28], In 2008, the director Pablo Larraín made a film, Tony Manero, about a Chilean dancer obsessed by the main character in Saturday Night Fever who tries to win a Tony Manero look-alike contest. Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track (in Italia Colonna sonora originale del film La febbre del sabato sera) è l' album musicale contenente la colonna sonora del film La febbre del sabato sera, del 1977, con John Travolta. According to the DVD commentary for Saturday Night Fever, the producers intended to use the song "Lowdown" by Boz Scaggs in the rehearsal scene between Tony and Annette in the dance studio, and choreographed their dance moves to the song. Saturday Night Fever is one of those movies that comes along and seems to change the cultural temperature in a flash. Other locations included the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, John J. Carty Park, and the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. She also had to relearn her native Brooklyn accent, which she had overcome while studying drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.[10]. Was this review helpful to you? "Saturday Night Fever" is a total over-achiever as it could have fallen to exploitation tactics of the 1970s, but becomes one of those iconic films that still stands the test of time. While on his way home from the grocery store, Gus is attacked by a gang and hospitalized. [9] After finishing a single screenplay draft, Cohn was replaced by Norman Wexler, who'd previously picked up Oscar nominations for Joe (1970) and Serpico (1973). "Saturday Night Fever" was one of the most fashionable LPs to own at the tail-end of the 1970s; the music captured the zeitgeist and became ubiquitous, hence why it never received the credit it deserved for being a genuinely excellent record. About Night Fever "Night Fever" is a song written and performed by the Bee Gees. This disc includes both the director's cut and the original theatrical version, as well as the bulk of the bonus features from the prior release. Il disco uscì il 15 Novembre … What are the differences between the PG Version and the Uncensored R-Rated Version? He gives the Puerto Rican couple his trophy and award money, and leaves with Stephanie. [8] 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; instead, the character who became Tony Manero was based on an English mod acquaintance of Cohn.[8]. It first appeared on the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever on RSO Records. However, representatives for Scaggs' label Columbia Records refused to grant legal clearance for it, as they wanted to pursue another disco movie project, which never materialized. Saturday Night Fever is about a Brooklyn youth who feels his only chance to get somewhere in life is as the king of the disco floor. The story is based upon "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night", an article by music writer Nik Cohn, first published in a June 1976 issue of New York magazine. For more than 40% of the actors it was their film debut. The only actor in the cast who was already an established name was John Travolta, thanks to his role on the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter. Saturday Night Fever received positive reviews and is regarded by many critics as one of the best films of 1977. Tony's friends come to the car along with an intoxicated Annette. Travolta and his friends seem destined to go down a path of destruction though as a soap opera develops for all the key people found within. Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. Travolta researched the part by visiting the real 2001 Odyssey discotheque, and claimed he adopted many of the character's swaggering mannerisms from the male patrons. I got to inspect it once. ‎Watch trailers, read customer and critic reviews, and buy Saturday Night Fever directed by John Badham for $14.99. The interior was modified for the film, including the addition of a $15,000 lighted floor, which was inspired by a Birmingham, Alabama establishment Badham had visited. To try to throw off Travolta's fans who might disrupt filming, Badham and his team took to shooting exterior scenes as early in the morning as possible before people caught on - often at the crack of dawn. [24], Film critic Pauline Kael wrote a gushing review of the film in The New Yorker: "The way Saturday Night Fever has been directed and shot, we feel the languorous pull of the discotheque, and the gaudiness is transformed. View production, box office, & company info. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man from Brooklyn who spends his weekends dancing and drinking at a local discothèque while dealing with social tensions and general restlessness and disillusionment with his life while feeling directionless and trapped in his working-class neighborhood. The bridge has special significance for Tony as a symbol of escape to a better life. "[25][26], Historians of disco have criticized the film as a whitewashed representation of disco. From "Dexter" to The Suicide Squad, here are our picks for the reboots and remakes we're most excited for in 2021 and beyond. Numerous profanity-filled scenes were replaced with alternate takes of the same scenes, substituting milder language initially intended for the network television cut. "Saturday Night Fever" is about how Tony Manero does that. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. THERE WAS A PG-RATED VERSION OF IT, TOO. He struts like crazy. 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