Saturday Night Fever is one of the best movies of all time, and definitely one of John Travolta’s most famous films.
It was one of the first times we got to see him strut his stuff on screen, and needless to say, fans truly loved it.
But there is plenty people don’t know about it! Let’s get into this great list to learn more.
People thought Travolta was wrong for the role.
After producer Robert Stigwood signed John Travolta for a three-movie contract, everyone was surprised.
At the time, it wasn’t common for actors to move from television work to movies, and they didn’t think Travolta could pull it off.
They released a PG version of the movie.
In order to get more of a teenage audience, a PG version of the movie was released in March of 1979.
Both versions of the film got released on VHS and eventually DVD, but the R-rated version wasn’t as widespread until the DVD release.
Donna Pescow had to re-learn her accent.
Pescow was only 22 when she got the role of Annette, but funnily enough, she had tried to get rid of her Brooklyn accent only to need it back again for the role.
Filmmakers told her to move back home with her parents to get her accent back.
Filming the bridge scene was harrowing.
Fans know that the scene where one of Tony’s entourage falls from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is one of the most upsetting in the film.
But, it was also upsetting to create. This is because actor Paul Pape didn’t have any safety wire on and just climbed up there himself.
Tony’s suit eventually sold for $145,000.
The only remaining suit left after filming was signed by Travolta and bought in 1979 at a charity auction by Gene Siskel for only 2 grand.
However, he then re-sold the suit in 1995 for a whopping $145,500. That’s quite the increase!
Filming in Brooklyn was often difficult.
It wasn’t easy filming there in the ’70s, and the crew dealt with a lot of things that made their filming difficult.
At times, the crowds in Brooklyn were nearly impossible to navigate as thousands of people were trying to watch the actors film.
It was based on a fake “true story.”
The main character was based on a real person named Vincent featured in a New York magazine article written by Nick Cohn.
However, Cohn eventually admitted that the story was completely made up. He fabricated the story, so the film is based on a true story that isn’t true.
Travolta was inspired by Robert De Niro.
While De Niro isn’t known for his dance moves, Travolta was inspired by his dedication to his craft.
Travolta explained how De Niro would really immerse himself in roles and learn skills, and he was inspired by this to train for months and dance every day.
Travolta wasn’t even into disco.
While the character of Tony was obsessed with disco, Travolta wasn’t because it was starting to fall out of fashion.
At the time of filming the movie, disco was past its prime, but the film would still go onto have major success.
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Travolta was on a plane when his Academy Award nom was announced.
When the Academy Award nominations were being announced, John Travolta was actually on a flight.
But, unlike today, he didn’t have access to things like the internet where he could find out in real-time.
So, he had to wait until he landed to hear he got the nomination.
The soundtrack broke many records.
The soundtrack sold 15 million copies just in the United States, and it took the spot as the top-selling soundtrack ever before being taken over by The Bodygaurd .
But that was 15 years later, so it kept its top spot for a long time!
Donna Pescow had never been to a discotheque.
Seeing as she was only 22 at the time of landing the role, it makes sense she hadn’t really participated in disco culture herself. It was somewhat for a generation a little older than her.
She didn’t go to a discotheque until she started filming.
Bee-Gees music wasn’t added until post-production.
While fans know the film for having megahits by the Bee Gees, they weren’t actually involved in the movie at all until post-production.
They actually wrote most of the music for the soundtrack in a weekend, which is really quite impressive.
The actors were dancing to totally different music.
It might look like Travolta and the other actors are dancing to the Bee-Gees, but since that music was added in post-production, they really weren’t.
When asked the music they listened to during the scenes, Travolta revealed it was Stevie Wonder and Boz Scaggs.
Travolta’s girlfriend died during filming.
While filming the movie, Travolta’s girlfriend, Diana Hyland, was dying from breast cancer. She was 41 at the time and 18 years older than him.
He was able to leave the set and go back to L.A. to be with her before she passed away.
