For the longest time in Hollywood, the top-grossing films were not action blockbusters or even dramas, but rather musicals. In fact, Gone with the Wind, according to different sources, when adjusted for inflation, comes out as the highest-grossing film ever made at around $3.4 billion in sales worldwide. Although some sources don’t consider this total legit because the movie was re-released in theatres much more than other films on the list, boosting ticket sales by $2.8 billion. Nevertheless, the next highest-grossing movie to top it at the box office was 1965’s The Sound of Music. So you see, there was sort of a golden age for musicals between the ’40s and ’70s in which these were the kinds of films studios knew they could bank on.
However, after a while, the genre struggled with finding original stories to tell. The audience’s taste had changed a bit, and folks were looking at films with a bit more edge to them. Which may be why Grease did so well in 1978. The movie was quite a departure from traditional light-hearted or seriously dramatic musicals. The main allure of the movie wasn’t so much the story; it was the characters, especially Sandy Olsson (played by Olivia Newton-John) and Danny Zuko (played by John Travolta. The movie engaged in the concept of the good girl falling for the all American ’50s -style “bad boy.” And the chemistry between the two actors was simply electric. However, there’s no question that Travolta’s character was the star of the movie. Now, this is quite an accomplishment, considering that the role seemed very similar to Henry Winkler’s popular Fonz character from Happy Days. In fact, Winkler was originally offered the role but turned it down due in part to the similarities. Nevertheless, audiences found Travolta’s character to be unique and very entertaining. One of the most iconic scenes from the movie involved Zuko performing his trademark dance, which has become a fan favorite at numerous Grease conventions held every year all over the world. In this 2018 video, we see Travolta talking to Jimmy Fallon about the 40th anniversary of Grease.
Image via YouTube
During the conversation, Fallon mentions Travolta’s unique dance at the end of the film during the “You’re the One That I Want,” dance sequence. Travolta then explains how when he was growing up, they had a lot of different novelty dances, and how the filmmakers were looking for a special dance for the last scene. So Travolta suggested that they try a dance called the “Four Corners,” and after showing the choreographer the dance, the rest is history. After that, Travolta and Fallon go to the front of his desk, and the actor demonstrates the dance as Fallon follows along.
Image via YouTube
Check out Travolta teaching Jimmy what cool dancing is all about in the video below, daddy-o.