Film still of Saturday Night Fever © RR
Beach party and disco with Saturday Night Fever
Today it's Saturday, and Saturday at the Cinéma de la plage means a disco mirror ball and hips swaying to the sound of the Bee Gees. Rediscover Saturday Night Fever by John Badham on a big screen on the occasion of its 40th anniversary, in an all-new 4k restoration version.
The now legendary Tony Manero (John Travolta) takes you dancing. Each Saturday, it's a ritual; he sets the dance floor of the "2001"on fire in the hope of winning over Stephanie. The rest of the week, Tony drags his feet in a paint store and his parents keep on comparing him to his big brother who has become a priest.
The first time John Travolta swayed his hips was in Saturday Night Fever (1977). This was the first time in his career that he had had the title role in a film, a year after having appeared in Carrie, by Brian De Palma. Travolta had been trained in musicals, so the role suited him very well. He also spent a lot of time intensely preparing for the film: he ran about 2 miles and danced 3 hours every day.
John Travolta's career was launched. In 1978, he danced alongside Olivia Newton-John in the mythical film Grease, and then in the sequel to Saturday Night Fever, directed by Sylvester Stallone: Staying Alive in 1983.
At the origin of the film, the director John Badham. As more of a TV enthusiast, Badham had no idea that Saturday Night Fever, a low-cost film, would be so successful. The film premiere did not bode well as the cinema audience remained silent. It was predicted that the film would not last more than one week at the cinema. It went on to make a profit of more than 74 million dollars. Stayin’ Aliiiiiive!
