Grease 2

Grease 2
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Patricia Birch
Produced by	Allan Carr Robert Stigwood
Written by	Ken Finkleman
Starring	Maxwell Caulfield Michelle Pfeiffer Adrian Zmed Lorna Luft Didi Conn Eve Arden Sid Caesar Dody Goodman Tab Hunter Connie Stevens
Music by	Louis St. Louis
Cinematography	Frank Stanley
Edited by	John F. Burnett
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release dates	June 11, 1982 (1982-06-11)
Running time	114 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$11.2 million
Box office	$15.2 million

Grease 2 is a 1982 American musical romantic comedy film and sequel to Grease, which is based upon the musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The film was produced by Allan Carr and Robert Stigwood, and directed and choreographed by Patricia Birch, who also choreographed the first film. It takes place two years after the original film at Rydell High School, with an almost entirely new cast, led by actors Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer.

The film was both a critical and commercial failure, grossing a little over $15 million at the box office.

Plot

It is 1961, two years after the original Grease film. The first day of school has arrived and the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies dance and sing as they enter the school ("Back to School Again"). The Pink Ladies are now led by Stephanie Zinone (Michelle Pfeiffer), who feels she has "outgrown" her relationship with Johnny Nogerelli (Adrian Zmed), the arrogant and rather immature new leader of the T-Birds.

A new arrival comes in the form of clean-cut British student Michael Carrington (Maxwell Caulfield) (a cousin of Sandy Olsson from the previous film). He is welcomed and introduced to the school atmosphere by Frenchy (Didi Conn), who was asked by Sandy to help show Michael around. Frenchy reveals she has returned to Rydell to get her high school diploma so she can start her own cosmetics company. Michael eventually meets Stephanie and quickly becomes smitten with her. At the local bowling alley, a game ("Score Tonight") turns sour due to the animosity between Johnny and Stephanie. Stephanie retaliates by kissing the next man who walks in the door, which happens to be Michael. Bemused by this unexpected kiss, Michael asks her out but learns that she has a very specific vision of her ideal man ("Cool Rider"). As he realizes that he will only win her affection if he turns himself into a cool rider, Michael accepts payment from the T-Birds to write papers for them, and uses the cash to buy a motorcycle.

Following an unusual biology lesson ("Reproduction") given by Mr. Stuart (Tab Hunter),a substitute teacher, a gang of rival motorcyclists called the Cycle Lords (most of whom are members of the defunct Scorpions) led by Leo Balmudo (Dennis C. Stewart) surprise the T-Birds at the bowling alley. Before the fight starts, a lone anonymous biker appears (who is Michael in disguise), defeats the enemy gang and disappears into the night ("Who's That Guy?"). Stephanie is fascinated with the stranger. The next evening at the garage, Stephanie is surprised again by the Cool Rider 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 Pink Ladies; before Michael leaves, he tells Stephanie that he will see her at the talent show, in which the Pink Ladies and T-Birds are performing in. Johnny, enraged by Stephanie's new romance, threatens to fight the Cool Rider if he sees him with her again. The Pink Ladies walk away haughtily but this has little effect on the T-Birds' self-confidence ("Prowlin'").

At school, Stephanie's poor grades in English lead her to accept Michael's offer of help. Johnny, upon seeing them together in a discussion, demands that Stephanie quit the Pink Ladies for his "rep". Although still head over heels for the Cool Rider, interactions with Michael reveal that she has become smitten with him as Michael ponders over his continuing charade he puts on for Stephanie ("Charades").

At the talent show, Stephanie and the Cool Rider meet but are ambushed by the T-Birds who pursue Michael with Stephanie and the Pink Ladies following in a car. They chase him to a construction site which conceals a deadly drop, and the biker's absence suggests that he has perished below, leaving Stephanie heartbroken and inconsolable. Johnny and his T-Birds remove the competing Preptones preppie boys by tying them to a shower pole in the boys locker room and drenching them. During the Pink Ladies' number at the talent show ("Girl for All Seasons"), Stephanie enters a dreamlike fantasy world where she is reunited with her mystery biker ("(Love Will) Turn Back the Hands of Time"). She is named winner of the contest and crowned the queen of the upcoming graduation luau, with Johnny hailed as king for his performance of "Prowlin'" with his fellow T-Birds.

The school year ends with the luau ("Rock-a-Hula Luau"), during which the Cycle Lords suddenly reappear and begin to destroy the celebration. After the Cool Rider reappears and defeats the Cycle Lords again, he reveals himself to be Michael. After his initial shock, Johnny gives him a T-Birds jacket, officially welcoming him into the gang, and Stephanie accepts that she can now be with him. All the couples pair off happily at the seniors' graduation as the graduating class sings ("We'll Be Together"). The credits start rolling in yearbook-style, as in the original film.

Cast

• Maxwell Caulfield as Michael Carrington/Cool Rider, an English exchange student and Sandy's cousin. Caulfield had already made his Broadway début with roles in The Elephant Man and Entertaining Mr. Sloane. Having seen his performances, 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, the leader of the Pink Ladies. With only a few television roles and small film appearances, the 23-year-old Pfeiffer was an unknown actress when she attended the casting call audition for the role of Stephanie. Other better-known actresses up for the part included Lisa Hartman, Kristy McNichol, 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 T-Birds

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

The Pink Ladies

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

Reprising roles from Grease

• Didi Conn as Frenchy
• Eve Arden as Principal McGee
• Sid Caesar as Coach Calhoun
• Dody Goodman as Blanche Hodel
• Eddie Deezen as Eugene Felsnick
• Dennis C. Stewart as Leo Balmudo (Craterface), leader of the Cycle Lords (appeared as gang leader of the Scorpions in the previous film)
• Dick Patterson as Mr. Spears (appeared as Mr. Rudie in the previous film)

Supporting cast

• Tab Hunter as Mr. Stuart
• Connie Stevens as Miss Yvette Mason
• Jean and Liz Sagal as Noreen and Doreen
• Matt Lattanzi as Brad
• Lucinda Dickey as Girl Greaser

Production

Development

Grease co-producer Allan Carr had a deal with Paramount Pictures to be paid $5 million to produce a sequel, with production beginning within three years of the original film. Carr decided to hire Patricia Birch as director for the sequel, as she had previously served as the choreographer for the stage and film versions of Grease. Birch was initially hesitant to accept after learning that neither composers Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey nor John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John would be involved in film. The total budget for the production was $11.2 million, almost double the budget of the original.

Grease 2 was intended to be the second film (and first sequel) in a proposed Grease franchise of four films and a television series. (The third and fourth films were to take place in the sixties and during the counterculture era.) However, the projects were scrapped due to the underwhelming box office performance of Grease 2. Maxwell Caulfield was unhappy with the film's "drab" title, and unsuccessfully lobbied to change it to Son of Grease.

Casting

Birch proposed an idea to feature Travolta and Newton-John reprising their characters as a now married couple running a gas station near the end of the film, which did not come to fruition. Paramount tried to get Jeff Conaway and Stockard Channing from the first film to do cameos but this did not happen.

Timothy Hutton was announced as a male star, but Maxwell Caulfield was signed after impressing producers on Broadway in Entertaining Mister Sloane.

Michelle Pfeiffer had only made a few films before:

That was really weird for me. I'd been taking singing lessons and I had taken dance, because I loved to dance, but I had never considered myself a professional at all. I went on this audience as a fluke, and somehow, through the process of going back and dancing, and then going back and singing, I ended up getting the part. I went crazy with that movie. I came to New York and the paparazzi were waiting at the hotel. I know the producers put them up to it. I am basically very private, and I'm really nervous about doing publicity. Every time I set up an interview, I say, "That's it, this is my last one. I'll do this because I committed to doing it, but I'm never doing another one." It was insane.

Lorna Luft was the last star cast. The part played by Connie Stevens was originally meant for Annette Funicello but she was unable to appear as she was filming a peanut butter advertisement that week.

Filming

Scenes at Rydell High School were filmed at Excelsior High School, an abandoned school in Norwalk, California. Filming took place throughout 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 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.

In the film, after Stephanie wins the contest, it goes on to show the stakeout in the final scene. Originally, there were a few minutes dedicated to a scene in which Michael (believed to be dead in his alter ego, by Stephanie) comes out on stage as Stephanie is exiting the stage, unbeknownst to her that he is the cool rider and he is alive. He attempts to ask her what's wrong and she storms past him and runs off crying, then it cuts to the stakeout. There was a scene in the film within the "Who's that Guy?" number in which Goose (Christopher McDonald) accidentally smashes Rhonda's (Alison Price) nose at the Bowl-A-Rama door. None of these scenes have been shown since the film's release.

Release

Box office

The sequel took in just over $15 million after coming at #5 on opening weekend behind E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Rocky III, and Poltergeist. Barry Diller of Paramount said that the film "on no level is as good as the first. The quality isn't there." Jim Jacobs described it as "awful... the pits."

Critical reception

As of August 2015, the film had a rating of 32% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 28 critics' reviews, with an average rating of 3.6/10. The site's consensus states: "Grease 2 is undeniably stocked with solid songs and well-choreographed dance sequences, but there's no getting around the fact that it's a blatant retread of its far more entertaining predecessor." 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." Roger Ebert called it one of the worst films of the year, stating that it "went over the same grounds as the original Grease, but at half-speed."

Michelle Pfeiffer

Michelle Pfeiffer received positive notices 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. The movie was nominated for a Stinkers Bad Movie Awards for Worst Picture.

"That film was a good experience for me," said Pfeiffer later. "It taught me a valuable lesson. Before it even came out the hype had started. Maxwell and I were being thrust down the public's throat in huge full page advertisements. There was no way we could live up to any of that and we didn't. So the crash was very loud. But it did teach me not to have expectations."

Remakes

The film's screenplay was adapted in the Kannada (South India) feature film Premaloka, starring Ravichandran and Juhi Chawla, released in 1987 which went on to become a blockbuster.

Plans for a third film

Paramount had intended to turn Grease into a multi-picture franchise with three sequels planned and a TV series down the road. When Grease 2 flopped at the box office, all the plans were scrapped.

In 2008, it was reported that Paramount was planning a new sequel to Grease that would debut straight to DVD.

Soundtrack

Main article: Grease 2 (soundtrack)

Grease 2
Soundtrack album
Released	1982
Recorded	1981
Length	32:28
Label	RSO
chronology
Grease (1978)Grease1978

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	link

1. "Back to School Again" – Cast, The Four Tops
2. "Score Tonight" – Cast
3. "Brad" – Sorority Girls
4. "Cool Rider" – Stephanie
5. "Reproduction" – Mr. Stuart, Cast
6. "Who's That Guy?" – Michael, T-Birds, Pink Ladies, Cycle Lords, Cast
7. "Do It for Our Country" – Louis, Sharon (Sharon's part is absent from the soundtrack)
8. "Prowlin'" – Johnny, T-Birds
9. "Charades" – Michael
10. "Girl for All Seasons" – Sharon, Paulette, Rhonda, Stephanie
11. "(Love Will) Turn Back the Hands of Time" – Stephanie, Michael
12. "Rock-a-Hula Luau (Summer Is Coming)" – Cast
13. "We'll Be Together" – Michael, Stephanie, Johnny, Paulette, Cast

Featured as background music at Rydell Sport Field:

1. "Moon River" (Military Band)

Featured as background music at the bowling alley:

1. "Our Day Will Come" – Ruby & The Romantics (Grease 2 takes place in 1961 and "Our Day Will Come" did not come out until 1963)
2. "Rebel Walk" – Duane Eddy (this was the B-side of his biggest hit "Because They're Young")

Featured at the beginning:

1. "Alma Mater" – Instrumental (this song was played at the beginning when Principal McGee and Blanche put up the 1961 Rydell flag)

References

Bibliography

External links

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