Whenever studios create movies, they never have any idea just how successful they will be. Very often, the ones they think are going to be sure-fire hits, turn out to be average or at worse duds. Film companies pump millions of dollars into productions hoping for a good return and would often stack movies with stars to give them a better chance of success. However, there are those unique films that studios take a gamble on that pay off bigger than they could ever expect. These are films that not only do well at the box office; they also become cult classics. One such film is the 1978 movie “Grease,” starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.
The movie was based on a 1971 off-broadway musical that dealt deeper with controversial subject matters than the movie, such as peer pressure, gang violence, teen pregnancy, and class conflict. The original production was said to have been a lot more aggressive, raw, and vulgar, but it was subsequently toned down quite a bit in future Broadway productions. And in 1978, Grease the movie became the highest-grossing musical film in Hollywood history, beating out “The Sound of Music.” In this video, we see Travolta and Newton-John appearing on The Merv Griffin Show to talk about the film’s success.
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During the interview, Travolta explained how he first met his co-star and how he campaigned relentlessly to bring her on board while he was performing the Grease Broadway shows. He told producers, “The perfect Sandy, the ultimate Sandy, would be Olivia Newton-John.” Watching how comfortable these two are together, it’s easy to see how they’ve remained such good friends for all these years.
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Watch a very young John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John talk about the success of Grease and share some fun stories in the video below.