Saturday Night Fever

This film has great significance for me. When I saw it in the theater in 1977, I was enthralled with the club life style. Little did I know that in late 78-79 I would be put into the life. A business man (Rock Promoter, Concerts) by the name of Harry Arnold and his wife had taken a Trip to New York City that year. And went to Studio 54 and yes because of his background in entertainment was given entrance. He and his wife fell in love with the idea of the club and decided to build one in Southern Oregon. Because of the Studio 54 influence they named it Manhattan Rose. Needing a second job and not knowing what I was walking into at the time applied. I was interviewed by Mr. Arnold himself and was hired for the front door security and ID checker. Had to ware all black pants, vest and collared shirt. Part of my job was to enforce the dress code no t-shirts, tank tops, Levis, gym shoes, baseball caps, or cowboy hats. Ever tell a cowboy he had to check his hat, and yes we had a coat room with a young lady at the helm. Like I said the place was meant to reflect Studio 54 and have class. When you walked through the double door entrance you could feel the music vibe immediately. You would walk up the 8 foot wide by 15 foot long ramp. then look left and you would see me just a few feet away. Manhattan as I called it boasted to have the biggest dance floor between Sacramento CA and Portland Oregon ("Earthquake Ethels'). It was 25 feet across by 90 feet long. It had 8 four foot high topline speakers on the floor and 8 hung in the ceiling. Seating was all swivel high back black leather chairs. The lighting was somewhat automated remember its the 70's and operated by the DJ's. The light board in the booth was about 2 feet wide and 6 feet long. I have never seen a lighting system in a club even come close to this one since. We had 3 turntables and a great music collection albums of course. Even brought in a few of mine to add to it. We even had the Chippendales at the club a few times but they were expensive. We did go with groups that were a little more reasonable. We also had a comedy night at least once a week. I got to break the DJ's once in a while and operate the booth. But Mr. Arnold did not like me to come off the door for that length of time. Now the people between 16 and 20 needed a place as well. So Harry Arnold built another club just for them and only 2 blocks away. The name of that club was "Fat City" and it was always packed. Drinks were soft drinks made to look like bar drinks. I went over a couple of times to check the crews. That was ok for a while until someone let it out that I operated the door at Manhattan Rose. That's when the bribes stated to come across. So I needed to stop going over because of that. Mostly from young ladies, that would even show up at Manhattan. The nightlife was great just like in the movie only better, because it was real. The "After Hours Parties" were truly unbelievable so much so I can't divulge on this site any details. I worked there from 1979 until 1985, but even after that I was given special access at many places in town. So this movie has some special triggers for me. Mr. Arnold would even ask me to light the dance floor as he put it. Which was to choose someone and dance to get things started. Or just dance by myself if I wanted to which was always better since I could easily walk away. All of us had to be able to dance well. So when I hear the beat of the movie I just get this big grin on my face and all the memories come flooding back. This film is fantastic even though the club in the film is on the small side. But the mood, crowd sounds, and of course the music there was no experience like it. Thanks For The Memories Again. - JIMI

No movie has ever had a greater impact on society than "Saturday Night Fever." Other movies have drawn bigger crowds, sold more, and made more money, but no other movie has ever effected any where near as great of a change on society's behavior as did "Saturday Night Fever.""Saturday Night Fever" is not a clean movie. They produced (at the same time) a PG version ... which also gives us some additional footage ... but that "laundered up" version lacks the punch of the R rated version. This violence, profanity, references to sex, and glimpses of sex are very much the everyday occurences of the street life this movie strives to depict, and the movie makers succeed in bringing this life to the screen in a realistic and believable way.John Travolta plays Tony Manero ... a true life character ... and the movie follows his life (in Brooklyn, NY) over a period of about two weeks. He is a young man devoted to disco dancing, and in his world of violence, ignorance, and greed, this dancing gives him an anchor of sorts to which he can cling. In these sinful surroundings, Tony also tries to maintain a sort of code of decency and truth, but he is the only one on this team, and it is always an uphill battle. By contrast, Tony's older brother Frank is in the priesthood ... supposedly a bastion of decency ... but decides, in the course of the movie, to leave the church.Tony works a dead-end job at a hardware store and hangs out with his gang of friends in his off time. He lives at home with his italian family (father, mother, sister, and grandmother), but really lives at the disco he and his friends go to every Saturday night. While at the disco one night he spots a new girl, Stephanie (played by Karen Lynn Gorney), and he engineers a meeting. The two of them agree to partner for an upcoming dance contest, and, throughout the course of their practicing, a mutual affection develops. In Tony, Stephanie finds a person she can at last trust, and in Stephanie, Tony finds someone who not only has dancing talents on a par with his own, but, in her, he also sees a doorway of sorts out of the world he is increasingly coming to detest. The ending of "Saturday Night Fever" is tender and delicate. The movie itself is a roller coaster ride of arguing, violence, and indecency, but the ending is soft and sweet.The heart of "Saturday Night Fever" is the dancing ... particularly Tony's dancing ... and it (the dancing) is a delight to watch. When Tony and Stephanie begin to dance together, it is as if something right is happening for the first time. The music, provided primarilly by The Bee Gees, is perfect ... giving us upbeat and fun rhythms ... as we imagine ourselves dancing right along with the characters on the screen.The acting in "Saturday Night Fever" is top-notch throughout ... usually an indication of a good director (in this case John Badham) ... with an emphasis on, not classic good acting, but on realistic portrayals of everyday New York City (Brooklyn borough) people. Travolta is at his best here, I think. Karen Lynn Gorney does a good job as Stephanie ... but, at 31, was perhaps too old for the part. In the performances of Joseph Cali and Paul Pope (as Tony's friends Joey and Double J) we are given two characters that we simply know really exist. Barry Miller is excellent as Tony's friend Bobby C (in a tricky and non-flattering part to perform). Val Bisoglio is excellent (and a little unsettling) as Tony's ignorant father, Julie Bovasso is very good as Tony's mother, and Lisa Peluso does a nice little job as Tony's sister. Sam Coppola is very believable as Tony's boss, and Donna Pescow was well chosen for the part of Annette (Tony's former partner) and she carries it out well. The smaller parts in this movie are all filled out with quality and realistic performances that add a great deal of authenticity to the film.But "Saturday Night Fever" is a classic cultural film, and is worthy of a look.

GREAT OLD TIME MOVIE

Great movie....just what I needed. This would have taken more gas than the video was worth to go get one.

Good music, a bit of a tired story line, but one to have in a collection, especially for Travolta fans,

My wife love collecting movies. Great prices and one heck of a selection.

Love this movie! Takes me back to my younger years. Shipment was fast

Always a crowd pleaser. Who doesn't love John Travolta and the Bee Gees? A movie that told a beautiful story. John Travolta was Oscar worthy, and so were all the beautiful songs the Bee Gees wrote and performed. This movie was robbed by the Academy.