GREASE 2
US, 1982, 109 minutes, Colour.
Michelle Pfeiffer, Maxwell Caulfield, Didi Conn, Eve Arden, Sid Caesar, Lorna Luft, Adrian Zmed, Christopher McDonald?.
Directed by Patricia Birch.
Grease 2 is principally a reworking of the original. Robert Stigwood and Alan Kerr produce again. The original choreographer Patricia Birch acts as both choreographer and director. With Olivia Newton- John and John Travolta absent, the film lacks a great deal of verve. English actor Maxwell Caulfield is somewhat understated in the central role. Michelle Pfeiffer, who has a comic style, is somewhat abrasive as the leading lady. Once again there are the T-birds who sing, dance, leer and pretend to act tough, and the Pink Ladies who are the 'in' group of girls. Lorna Luft, Judy Garland's daughter, is particularly striking as the outspoken Paulette. Maureen Teffey, who was such a success in the leading role in Fame, does not have to do so much here. Didi Conn, who was Frenchie in the original, has a guest appearance. others from the original are Eve Arden as Miss Mc Gee and Dody Goodman as Blanche, her assistant. They provide some comic touches, as does Sid Caesar as the coach. For good measure this time, Tab Hunter and Connie Stevens are presented as two of the teachers. They also get the chance to sing - especially Tab Hunter in an offbeat suggestive classroom song called 'Reproduction'.
The songs and the choreography are lively but not particularly memorable - especially in comparison with the original. The film traces the life of the school for 1961 and echoes some of the styles of the time. Instead of a dance competition there is an amateur performance competition, which is won by the leads. There is also the outsider, this time the English student, who is gradually accepted into the school. An excellent student, he does a lot of the assignments for the fellow students but fails to win the heart of the heroine. However, he fixes up a bike, dons leather and is an unknown 'easy rider' striking terror into the group that attacks the T-birds. With some excellent stunt work, he makes an impression on the heroine and eventually reveals himself at the end. The romance is at a very basic level. There are some very comic touches, some crudities, some adolescent humour. There is the usual battle of the sexes and the usual poking fun at education - although at the end it has its moment of seriousness (a bit more serious than the end of the original). Grease 2 is not particularly memorable but is musical entertainment, of the TV special variety, for adolescent audiences of the early '80s.
