USA: 1977 -- Directed by John Badham

Written by Nik Cohn and Norman Wexler

Starring John Travolta, Karen Lynn Gorney and many other long forgotten stars of the 70s.


"Where do you go when the record is over..." - original tagline

Saturday Night Fever is one of those movies that comes along and seems to change the cultural temperature in a flash. 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. For all that, the story is conventional: a 19-year-old Italian-American from Brooklyn, Tony Manero (John Travolta), works in a humble paint store and lives with his family. After dark, he becomes the polyester-clad stallion of the local nightclub; Tony's brother, a priest, observes that when Tony hits the dance floor, the crowd parts like the Red Sea before Moses. Director John Badham captures the electric connection between music and dance, and also the desperation that lies beneath Tony's ambitions to break out of his limited world. The soundtrack, which spawned a massively successful album, is dominated by the disco classics of the Bee Gees, including "Staying Alive" (Travolta's theme during the strutting opening) and "Night Fever." The Oscar-nominated Travolta, plucked from the cast of Welcome Back, Kotter, for his first starring role, is incandescent and unbelievably confident, and his dancing is terrific. Oh, and the white suit rules.

Hope to see you there. I'll save you an aisle seat and an insturctional video on doing the Hustle!

Awards

John Travolta was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role

Nominated for Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy, Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy (John Travolta), Best Original Score - Motion Picture (the Gibb brothers), and Best Original Song for "How Deep Is Your Love?"

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Memorable Quotes

Tony: Would ya just watch the hair. Ya know, I spend a long time on my hair and he hit it; he hit my hair.

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Trivia

John Travolta originally wanted his disco suit to be black until it was pointed out that in the darkened disco, his co-star's red dress would make her easier to see than him.

John Travolta's sister appears as the pizza lady, and his mother appears as the women for whom he gets the paint.

Film critic Gene Siskel often referred to Saturday Night Fever as his favourite film. He saw it 17 times and at one time owned the famous "white suit".

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Goofs

Continuity: Upon entering the discotheque in the beginning of the movie, Tony greets the same man (in blue shirt) twice.

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