John Travolta
Did you know John Travolta's first decent role
in the movies was in the 1976 film Carrie with Sissy Spacek?
Travolta played Billy Nolan who plays a prank on Spacek's
character, Carrie White.
Okay, enough trivia, let's get to the phenomenon
Saturday Night Fever where Travolta played his first lead
role as Tony Manero. To say the film was a massive box-office
hit is, perhaps, the understatement of the century. The Bee
Gees music, the drama and tragedy of young love set against
disco dancing was a potent cocktail. In all fairness to the
producer, Robert Stigwood, it was probably a risk giving the
lead to a relative unknown, but if it was a gamble, Stigwood
hit the jackpot. John Travolta was immense in the role. From
the opening sequence when he struts down the road with the
paint tins to the closing titles, John Travolta's powerful
screen presence was the key focus. Not only because of Travolta's
extraordinary, sensitive good-looks, but because Tony Manero
was so cockily confident and so completely insecure in the
very same sentence. John Travolta played the character brilliantly.
Tony Manero was a young guy growing up and struggling to find
his feet and yet he is the most wonderful disco dancer and
never puts a foot wrong... It kept the audience on its toes
and a legend was born...
After a flop in Moment By Moment, a film that
disappeared off the radar, John Travolta again joined forces
with Robert Stigwood and made the film that became a monster.
Together with Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta made a true
classic in Grease. For me, a true classic is a film I can
watch time and time again and never tire of. I can't claim
I haven't tired of Saturday Night Fever, the movie is dated
now, but I have never tired of Grease, which remains ageless.
But then John Travolta made one bad choice after
another. Urban Cowboy enjoyed a little success, whilst Blow
Out flopped and Travolta's attempt to reprise the character
Tony Manero in Staying Alive stumbled badly. Then Travolta
was put alongside Olivia Newton-John again in the hope of
re-energising the chemistry they had shared in Grease in the
production Two Of A Kind, but no, it failed. Then Perfect
with Jamie Lee Curtis... The story line was so weak! How could
John Travolta have read the script and thought it was good?
... It seemed John Travolta could only make a smash hit or
a complete flop... And as he was accepting roles in the flops
he was turning down lead roles in films that became big box-office
successes, movies such as American Gigolo, Flashdance, An
Officer and a Gentleman, Splash and Fatal Attraction... I
don't know what he was smoking at the time, but I want none
of it! ... Fortunately, it wasn't long before another hit
came along in the script Look Who's Talking where John Travolta
starred with Kirsty Alley and a baby voice-overed by Bruce
Willis.
Then more flops began to mount up when, out
of the blue, Quentin Tarantino wanted John Travolta. Travolta
was Tarantino's childhood hero (he was mine also) to star
in the supremely brilliant Pulp Fiction. Since then John Travolta
has had more hits than flops. I will mention a few of my favourite
John Travolta films in recent years: Get Shorty, where Travolta
really shines again, Michael, which is one of my favourite
films, a film that mentioning it here makes me want to get
out the DVD and watch it again. A Civil Action, a seriously
poignnant film that leaves a taste in the mouth, The General's
Daughter, an intriguing film that kept me guessing, and I
quite liked Basic and I still haven't mentioned Face Off !
I always look forward to the next John Travolta
film with eager anticipation, but I always have my fingers
crossed.... ;-) Long live John Travolta...
Tim Rees
Share
