Grease Details

Fresh from Saturday Night Fever, John Travolta was the biggest movie star in the world when he teamed with Olivia Newton-John to help turn one of Broadway's biggest ever hits into one of Hollywood's most successful musicals. This film sets itself the peculiar task of trying to evoke nostalgia for a time before most of its audience would have been born — 1950s America — where Rydell High School is the setting for a rather slender tale of teenage love and pre-Vietnam War innocence. Stranger still, it succeeds in the task, thanks to some toe-tapping numbers, sprightly hoofing and slick performances, not least by Stockard Channing as the most unruly teenager in town.

Amiable 'period' musical for teenagers: a highly fashionable exploitation of the new star John Travolta, its commercialism was undeniable, and it carefully built in appeal to older age groups.