Saturday Night Fever
Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man who spends his weekends dancing and drinking at a local discothèque while dealing with social tensions and disillusionment in his working class ethnic neighborhood in Brooklyn. The story is based on "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night", a mostly fictional 1976 article by music writer Nik Cohn.
This article is about the film. For the stage musical, see Saturday Night Fever (musical). For the soundtrack album, see Saturday Night Fever (soundtrack).
A major critical and commercial success, Saturday Night Fever had a tremendous impact on the popular culture of the late 1970s. It helped popularize disco around the world and initiated a series of collaborations between film studios and record labels. It made Travolta, already well known from his role in the popular TV sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter, a household name. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, at the time becoming the fourth-youngest nominee in the category. The film showcases aspects of the music, dancing, and subculture surrounding the disco era, including symphony-orchestrated melodies, haute couture styles of clothing, pre-AIDS sexual promiscuity, and graceful choreography. The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, featuring songs by the Bee Gees, is one of the best-selling soundtrack albums worldwide. Travolta reprised his role of Tony Manero in Staying Alive in 1983, which was panned by critics despite being successful at the box office.
In 2010, Saturday Night Fever was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
Saturday Night Fever
November 15, 1977
1975–1977
Château d'Hérouville (France); Criteria Studios (Miami)
75:54
Bill Oakes (music supervisor)
Source material[edit]
Norman Wexler's screenplay was adapted from a 1976 New York magazine article by British writer Nik Cohn, "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night". The article centers on working class Italian-Americans in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and on the lives of young men who work dead-end jobs but live for their nights dancing at the local discotheque, in particular. Cohn later wrote that "the [disco] craze had started in black gay clubs, then progressed to straight blacks and gay whites and from there to mass consumption—Latinos in the Bronx, West Indians on Staten Island, and, yes, Italians in Brooklyn."[15]
Although presented as an account of factual reporting, Cohn acknowledged in the mid-1990s that he fabricated most of the article.[16] 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.[16]
Development[edit]
Shortly after Cohn's article was published, British music impresario Robert Stigwood purchased the film rights and hired Cohn to adapt his own article to screen.[1] 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). Among the elements Wexler added to the story was Tony's younger sister, as well as older brother Frank who disappoints his parents by leaving the priesthood. "I think what Norman did so well was to create a family situation that had real truth, an accurate look at how men related to women in that moment, in ways that you would never get away with now," said producer Kevin McCormick.[15]
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."[1][15] Badham was a lesser-known director who, like his star, had mostly worked in television. His sole prior film credit, The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings, was released while Saturday Night Fever was already well into production.[15]
The film went through several different titles, including Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night and Saturday Night. After the Bee Gees wrote "Night Fever" and submitted it for the soundtrack, they told Stigwood they disliked Saturday Night for the film's title, and the film's final title of Saturday Night Fever was decided upon.[17]
Production[edit]
Casting[edit]
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.[15] 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.[15] Travolta, who had previously auditioned for Stigwood's film version of Jesus Christ Superstar, was remembered by the producer and signed to a three-movie contract with his company in 1976.[15] Stigwood wanted Travolta to first star in a movie version of Grease, but because a film adaptation of Grease was not permitted to begin filming until 1978 when its stage run had completed, they made this film first.[15] Travolta's performance as Tony Manero brought him critical acclaim and helped launch him into international stardom.
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.[15] Travolta said when he would get recognized, "[Guys'] girlfriends would come up, and they'd say, 'Hey, stay away from him, don't bug Travolta,' and they’d actually push the girls away. Tony Manero's whole male-chauvinist thing I got from watching those guys in the discos."[15] 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.[15][18] Wilson is credited for providing the look of the dance scenes and "breathing life" into the film. Said Travolta, "He taught me what he called his 'hang time.' He would smoke a cigarette to greet the day, and he infused my dancing with African-American rhythm. I'm the kind of dancer who needs thought and construction—an idea—before I dance. I need an internal story. Lester would put on some music and he would say, 'Move with me, motherfucker—move with me!'"[15]
Karen Lynn Gorney was nine years older than Travolta when she was cast as his love interest Stephanie. Although Gorney had dance experience before she was cast, she found it difficult to keep up with her co-star due to injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident some years before.[15] After the success of Saturday Night Fever, Gorney took a break from film acting to work as a dance instructor at a performing arts academy in Brooklyn. Jessica Lange, Kathleen Quinlan, Carrie Fisher, and Amy Irving were all considered for the part before Gorney was cast.
Donna Pescow was considered almost "too pretty" by Paramount heads Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg for the role of Annette. She corrected this matter by putting on weight. She also had to relearn her native Brooklyn accent, which she had overcome while studying drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.[19]
Filming[edit]
The film was shot entirely on-location in Brooklyn, New York.[15][20] The 2001 Odyssey Disco was a real club located at 802 64th Street, which has since been demolished.[21] The interior was modified for the film, including the addition of a $15,000 lighted floor,[15] which was inspired by a Birmingham, Alabama establishment Badham had visited.[22] A similar effect was achieved on the club's walls using tinfoil and Christmas lights. Since the Bee Gees were not involved in the production until after principal photography wrapped, the "Night Fever", "You Should Be Dancin'", and "More Than a Woman" sequences were shot with Stevie Wonder tracks that were later overdubbed in the sound mix.[15] During filming, the production was harassed by local gangs over use of the location, and was even firebombed.[15]
The dance studio was Phillips Dance Studio in Bensonhurst, the Manero home was a house in Bay Ridge,[23] the paint store was Pearson Paint & Hardware, also in Bay Ridge. Other locations included the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge,[15] John J. Carty Park, and the Bay Ridge Promenade.[20]
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. They would also generate fake call sheets. The tactics worked well enough that Badham was usually able to get the scenes done before significant crowds had time to gather.[15]
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
Saturday Night Fever received positive reviews and is regarded by many critics as one of the best films of 1977.[37][38][39][40] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 82% of 55 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The website's 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."[41] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[42] It was added to The New York Times "Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made", which was published in 2004.[43] 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".
Film critic Gene Siskel, who would later list this as his favorite movie, praised the film: "One minute into Saturday Night Fever you know this picture is onto something, that it knows what it's talking about." He also praised John Travolta's energetic performance: "Travolta on the dance floor is like a peacock on amphetamines. He struts like crazy."[44] Siskel even bought Travolta's famous white suit from the film at a charity auction.[45]
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. These are among the most hypnotically beautiful pop dance scenes ever filmed ... Travolta gets so far inside the role he seems incapable of a false note; even the Brooklyn accent sounds unerring ... At its best, though, Saturday Night Fever gets at something deeply romantic: the need to move, to dance, and the need to be who you'd like to be. Nirvana is the dance; when the music stops, you return to being ordinary."[46][47]
Historians of disco have criticized the film as a whitewashed representation of disco. Katherine Karlin wrote: "The film is wrongly credited with sparking the disco culture; it’s more accurate to say that it marks the moment when disco—up to that moment a megaphone for voices that were queer, black, or female—became accessible to straight white men, and thus the moment marking its decline."[48] Music historians Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton wrote in their book Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: "The Bee Gees did for disco what Elvis Presley did for rhythm and blues, what Diana Ross did for soul, what Dave Brubeck did for jazz; they made it safe for white, straight, middle-class people, hauling it out of its subcultural ghetto and into the headlight glare of the mainstream. Here was something middle America could move its uptight ass to."[49]
In popular culture[edit]
The 1980 comedy Airplane! by directors David & Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, included a flashback scene that directly parodied the dance competition scene at the disco in Saturday Night Fever.[63]
In 2008, 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.[64]
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.[65][66]
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.[67]
The 2018 film Ready Player One features a dance scene that references Saturday Night Fever, particularly the red, yellow, and blue dance floor from the 2001 Odyssey night club in the film.[68]
In November, 2023, Capital One began airing a holiday-themed commercial titled "Holiday Night Fever" which recreated the opening scene of the movie. In the sixty second version, as the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" plays over the scene, Santa Claus (a heavily made-up John Travolta) struts down a street that has been mostly cleared of snow after a winter storm. He carries a can of "magical glitter paint"; buys two cookies (instead of pizza slices) at a walk-up window and asks "what happened to three?" (he was offered three slices in the movie); eats them stacked; then pauses at a shoe store window and compares his shoes to a pair of elven boots with a jingle bell on them; he flirts with a store clerk (Donna Pescow); buys a disco ball Christmas ornament for his sleigh; throws some of the glitter paint onto a Christmas tree that is set up on the sidewalk; then goes to a disco where he asks how his hair looks and dances on the illuminated floor.