Grease 2

Grease 2
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Patricia Birch
Written by	Ken Finkleman
Produced by	Robert Stigwood Allan Carr
Starring	Maxwell Caulfield Michelle Pfeiffer Adrian Zmed Lorna Luft
Music by	Louis St. Louis
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release dates	June 11, 1982
Running time	115 min.
Country
Language	English
Budget	$13.2 million
Box office	Domestic $11,608,405 Foreign $3,563,071 Worldwide $15,171,476

Grease 2 (1982) is the sequel to the smash-hit musical film Grease (1978), which was itself based upon the musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Grease 2 was produced by Allan Carr and Robert Stigwood, and directed and choreographed by Patricia Birch, the choreographer of the first film. The sequel was again set at the fictional Rydell High School, but featured an entirely new set of main characters, led by unknown young actors Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer. Notably, the film reversed the social characteristics of the first film's romantic leads (played by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John), so that in the sequel, the boy (Caulfield) was the bookish milquetoast, while the girl (Pfeiffer) was the hip greaser groupie, a Pink Lady. In recent years, it has come to be considered as a minor cult film, and is regularly shown on television.

Plot

It is 1961, two years after the events of the first film took place, and a new academic year is just beginning at Rydell High School (Back To School Again). The Pink Ladies are now led by the insouciant Stephanie Zinone (Michelle Pfeiffer), who feels she has "outgrown" her relationship with the arrogant leader of the T-Birds, Johnny Nogerelli (Adrian Zmed). A new arrival at Rydell comes in the form of clean-cut English student Michael Carrington (Maxwell Caulfield), the cousin of Sandy Olsen (the character played by Olivia Newton-John in Grease). Michael quickly becomes obsessed with winning Stephanie, despite the gentle protestation of the sole remaining lead character from the first film, Frenchy (Didi Conn), who observes that she will never date him since he is not a T-Bird.

At the local bowling alley, a competitive game (Score Tonight) turns sour due to the animosity between Johnny and Stephanie. Johnny flirts with Stephanie's friend and fellow Pink Lady, Paulette Rebchuck (Lorna Luft), to make Stephanie jealous, and she retaliates by kissing the next man who walks in the door, happening to choose Michael. Bemused by this unexpected kiss, Michael attempts to ask her out at an audition for the school talent show, but discovers that she has a very specific vision of her ideal man (Cool Rider). He realizes that he will only win her affection if he turns himself into a cool rider, and begins saving up for a motorcycle by selling completed homework assignments to the academically-challenged T-Birds. He buys the bike and spends all his spare time learning to ride it.

Following an unusual, largely interactive biology lesson (Reproduction) given by new substitute teacher Mr. Stuart (Tab Hunter), a gang of rival motorcyclists called the Cycle Lords surprise the T-Birds at the bowling alley. Before the fight starts, a lone anonymous biker appears and defeats the enemy gang, performing impressive stunts and leaping over police cars to disappear into the night (Who's That Guy?). Stephanie is instantly fascinated with the stranger. The following day at school, Michael attempts to tell Stephanie that he is the lone biker but becomes tongue-tied. In a short comic scene, one of the T-Birds, Louis DiMucci (Peter Frechette), attempts to trick his sweetheart Sharon (Maureen Teefy) into losing her virginity to him by taking her to Michael's uncle's fallout shelter and faking a nuclear explosion (Let's Do It For Our Country), but the plan backfires and she runs off in horror.

Stephanie is surprised again by the lone biker while working at a gas station, and they enjoy a romantic twilight motorcycle ride. Just as Michael is about to reveal his identity, they are interrupted by the arrival of the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies; before Michael disappears, he tells Stephanie that he will see her at the talent show, in which the Pink Ladies are performing. Johnny, enraged by Stephanie's new romance, threatens to fight the lone biker if he sees him with her again, and the group has an argument about who belongs to whom. The Pink Ladies exit haughtily, although this has little effect on the T-Birds' innate self-confidence (Prowlin'). At school, Stephanie's poor grades in English lead her to accept Michael's offer of help with her essay on Shakespeare's Hamlet, but although she has warmed to him considerably, he still cannot reveal his double identity (Charade).

Outside the talent show, Stephanie and the lone biker meet, but are instantly ambushed by the T-Birds who pursue Michael in a motorcycle chase, with Stephanie and the Pink Ladies following in a car. They pursue him to a closed-off construction site which conceals a deadly drop, and the biker's absence suggests that he has perished below, leaving Stephanie inconsolable. They return to the talent show to perform, but during the ladies' number (A Girl For All Seasons), Stephanie is overcome and stops singing, sinking to the floor. Oblivious to the audience, she enters a dreamlike fantasy world where she is reunited with her mystery biker (Turn Back The Hands Of Time). As her reverie finishes, it appears she has been singing a solo; she is duly named winner of the contest, and crowned the queen of the upcoming luau, with Johnny hailed as her king.

The school year ends with the graduation luau (Rock-A-Hula Luau) during which Johnny and Stephanie engage in an intense argument while being carried onto the pool in a floating throne. The Cycle Lords appear and begin to destroy the celebration, but are stopped by the emergence of the lone biker, much to the surprise of Stephanie. After roundly defeating the Cycle Lords and leaping over the pool on his motorcycle, he reveals himself to be Michael. After the initial shock, Johnny offers him a T-Bird jacket and welcomes him into the gang, and Stephanie finally accepts that she can have "two for the price of one" – a cool rider and a Shakespeare. All of the couples pair off happily (We'll Be Together).

Production

Grease 2 was intended to be the second film (and first sequel) in a proposed Grease franchise of four motion pictures and a television series; however, the project was quickly scrapped due to the underwhelming box office performance of this picture. The sequel's working title, Son of Grease, was changed to the more straightforward current title by producers, much to the annoyance of leading man Maxwell Caulfield, who unsuccessfully tried to have it reinstated.

Filming took place entirely on location in California, working to a 58-day shooting schedule. According to director Patricia Birch, the script was still incomplete when filming commenced. Sequences that were filmed but cut during post-production include scenes in which Frenchy (Didi Conn) helps Michael become a motorcycle rider, and a sequence at the end of the film showing Michael and Stephanie flying off into the sky on a motorcycle, most likely a visual homage to Danny (John Travolta) and Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) flying off in a car during the closing credits of the first film.

Cast

• Maxwell Caulfield as Michael Carrington. Twenty-two-year-old Caulfield had already made his Broadway début with roles in The Elephant Man (opposite Juliet Mills, a British actress 18 years his senior whom he subsequently married) and Entertaining Mr. Sloane. Having seen his performance in the latter play, Allan Carr offered Caulfield the role of Michael over thousands of applicants. Unlike co-star Michelle Pfeiffer, Caulfield's career following Grease 2 was damaged by the film's failure. He has been quoted as saying: "Before Grease 2 came out, I was being hailed as the next Richard Gere or John Travolta. However, when Grease 2 flopped, nobody would touch me. It felt like a bucket of cold water had been thrown in my face. It took me 10 years to get over Grease 2."
• Michelle Pfeiffer as Stephanie Zinone. With only a few television roles and small film appearances under her belt, 23-year-old Pfeiffer was an unknown actress when she attended the cattle call audition for the role of Stephanie. Other better-known actresses up for the part included Lisa Hartman, Kristy McNichol and Andrea McArdle, and singer Pat Benatar. Pfeiffer was a wild card choice, but according to Patricia Birch, she won the part because she "has a quirky quality you don't expect." Despite the disappointing reception of the film, Pfeiffer's meteoric rise to the Hollywood A-list began the following year when she played Elvira Hancock in Scarface.

"The Pink Ladies"

• Lorna Luft as Paulette Rebchuck
• Maureen Teefy as Sharon Cooper
• Alison Price as Rhonda Ritter
• Pamela Segall as Dolores Rebchuck

"The T-Birds"

• Adrian Zmed as Johnny Nogerelli
• Peter Frechette as Louis DiMucci
• Christopher McDonald as Goose McKenzie
• Leif Green as Davey Jaworski

Supporting

• Didi Conn as Frenchy.
• Eve Arden as Principal McGee. An Academy Award-nominated veteran, this was Arden's final film appearance before retiring from a five-decade career on stage and screen.
• Sid Caesar as Coach Calhoun
• Dody Goodman as Blanche Hodel
• Tab Hunter as Mr. Stuart
• Connie Stevens as Miss Mason. Annette Funicello was cast in the role, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.
• Eddie Deezen as Eugene Felnic
• Dennis C. Stewart as Balmudo

Grease 2 was intended to be the second film (and first sequel) in a proposed Grease franchise of four motion pictures and a television series; however, the project was quickly scrapped due to the underwhelming box office performance of this picture.[2] The sequel's working title, Son of Grease, was changed to the more straightforward current title by producers, much to the annoyance of leading man Maxwell Caulfield, who unsuccessfully tried to have it reinstated.[3]

Filming took place entirely on location in Norwalk, California,[4] working to a 58-day shooting schedule.[5] According to director Patricia Birch, the script was still incomplete when filming commenced.[6] Sequences that were filmed but cut during post-production include scenes in which Frenchy (Didi Conn) helps Michael become a motorcycle rider, and a sequence at the end of the film showing Michael and Stephanie flying off into the sky on a motorcycle, most likely a visual homage to Danny (John Travolta) and Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) flying off in a car during the closing credits of the first film.[7]

Musical numbers

1. "Back To School Again" – The Four Tops
2. "Score Tonight" – Cast
3. "Brad" – Jean Sagal & Liz Sagal
4. "Cool Rider" – Michelle Pfeiffer
5. "Reproduction" - Tab Hunter & Cast
6. "Do It For Our Country" – Peter Frechette & Maureen Teefy
7. "Who's That Guy?" – Maxwell Caulfield & Cast
8. "Prowlin'" – Adrian Zmed & The T-Birds
9. "Charades" – Maxwell Caulfield
10. "Girl For All Seasons" – Lorna Luft, Michelle Pfeiffer, Alison Price & Maureen Teefy
11. "Love Will Turn Back the Hands of Time" – Maxwell Caulfield & Michelle Pfeiffer
12. "Rock-A-Hula Luau (Summer Is Coming)" – Cast
13. "We'll Be Together" – Cast

Reception

The sequel was both a commercial disappointment and a critical failure, in sharp contrast to the success of the original film. It performed relatively poorly at the box office, taking just over $15 million in a year in which E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and Tootsie were the major commercial smashes.

The film currently has a rating of 19% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 18 critics' reviews. Janet Maslin for the New York Times condemned the film as "dizzy and slight, with an even more negligible plot than its predecessor had. This time the story can't even masquerade as an excuse for stringing the songs together. Songs? What songs? The numbers in Grease 2 are so hopelessly insubstantial that the cast is forced to burst into melody about pastimes like bowling." Variety, on the other hand, commended the staging of the musical numbers, writing that "Patricia Birch has come up with some unusual settings (a bowling alley, a bomb shelter) for some of the scenes, and employs some sharp montage to give most of the songs and dances a fair amount of punch."

Michelle Pfeiffer received some positive notice for her first major role. The New York Times review cited her performance as the "one improvement" on the original film: "Miss Pfeiffer is as gorgeous as any cover girl, and she has a sullen quality that's more fitting to a Grease character than Miss Newton-John's sunniness was." Variety wrote that she was "all anyone could ask for in the looks department, and she fills Olivia Newton-John's shoes and tight pants very well." She was nominated for a 1983 Young Artist Award in the category of Best Young Motion Picture Actress.

See also

• Grease

External links

• Grease 2 at IMDb
• Grease 2 at Box Office Mojo