I will always remember Grease as the film that made me fall in love with musicals. It was so intentionally cheesy, so flagrantly over-the-top, and had a soundtrack that both captured and captivated my imagination.
Now that due credit has been given, it’s utterly shocking how many mistakes this movie was able to make and get away with. See for yourself and check out these 10+ mistakes from Grease that fans didn’t notice.
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That’s a boom mic in the reflection!
You’re going to need to get your hands on either a VHS copy of Grease or one of the very early DVD releases.
When Danny and Sandy are at the jukebox in the soda shop, you can clearly see the reflection of the crew.
Craterface loves taking off his sunglasses
Can we just reflect for a moment on how horrible a nickname Craterface is?
Watch as he arrives at the school dance with Rizzo and Marty. He’s so cool that he removes his sunglasses not once, but twice!
You can see that Marty is wearing knee pads
It happens right after Danny and Cha Cha are named the winners of the competition.
Watch as Marty does her split. If you look closely, you’ll see rather plainly that she’s wearing pads.
How did the waitress manage to turn off the lights?
In the soda shop scene, there’s a shot of one of the waitresses turning off a light switch with her elbow as she juggles a full tray of glassware.
Watch closely and you’ll see she misses the switch by a good half-foot.
Funny looking office forms
This happens near the beginning of the movie, right after Sandy officially enrolls herself in school. If you scan the forms that the office administrator gave her to fill out, you’ll see the top one is blank.
Danny’s jacket has one too many stripes
At the end of the film, we see Danny rocking his red and white Rydell letterman’s sweater, after explaining that he lettered in track and field.
A close look on the sleeve reveals two stripes! Danny only lettered in his senior year, hence there should only be one!
Futuristic cars are all the rage!
This actually happens more than once throughout the film but it’s most notable during the scene when Sandy and the Pink Ladies are walking to the outdoor cafeteria.
All of those cars in the parking lot are from the late-’70s.
John Travolta does not seem to know the lyrics
Watch near the end of the movie as the cast begins to sing We Go Together. Instead of singing “we’ll always be like one,” John mouths “that’s the way it should be.”
Doody’s pants seem to change position as he’s mooning!
Doody counts down from three and then moons the camera at the National Dance Off. When he does this, he drops his pants all the way down around his ankles.
But when the camera cuts, his pants seemed to have hiked themselves up to just below his behind!
Mattresses in an auto shop?
It’s easy to get distracted during the Greased Lightning scene but try to stay focused. You’ll notice that two white mattresses suddenly appear out of nowhere.
More than likely, this was done to help the actors during the jumps.
How did Frenchie and Doody switch places?
This happens during the We Go Together song sequence. Pay attention as soon as the gang all begin to dance forward.
When the camera cuts, you’ll see that Doody and Frenchie are opposite their starting positions.
What is happening with the string on Sandy’s shirt?
Sandy does a pretty impressive cartwheel as she makes her way over to say hi to the girls.
On her uniform, there is a very long and noticeable red string. As the camera cuts, the string appears and disappears.
Where did the hurdle go?
Danny is far from a track star and it shows! We see him knock over a hurdle and he takes a pretty bad fall.
But once he hits the ground, the hurdle vanishes! Then, when he gets back on his feet, the hurdle appears in a fallen position once more.
Who is holding the wine at the sleepover?
There’s an interesting jump in continuity during the slumber party scene. Watch as the girls talk about piercing Sandy’s ears.
While they do this, Sandy is holding the wine and passes it to Jan. When the camera cuts back to Sandy, she’s holding the wine once again!
Ice cream sundaes at the Frosty Palace
When Sandy and Tom are eating their sundaes, Tom takes a spoonful and puts it in his mouth, but in the next shot it is in his sundae glass. But you never see his arm move.
The wheel cutters keep changing
The length of the cutters keeps changing throughout the entire race.
It doesn’t stop there! By the end of the race, more cutters are missing from the car than we saw come off.
Tom’s suspenders shot
When Sonny enters the gym for the dance, he snaps Tom’s suspenders.
In the corner of the frame, you can see the microphone catching their lines. It’s easy to miss if you aren’t looking for it!
The car in the water
After the race, you can see that the black car is in the middle of the river, but when Sandy is talking to Frenchie, suddenly the car is no longer there. A few shots later, it’s back.
Cigarettes and wine
When Rizzo gets off of the bed, she is holding a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. But in the next shot, you can see that the items have changed places.
Danny and Sandy on the beach
Before the pre-credits, when Danny and Sandy are walking on the beach, Danny is on the left of Sandy. However, when they are about to kiss, they have changed positions.
Principal McGee’s American flag
When Principal McGee makes her morning announcements to the school, you’ll see the American flag on her desk at the far end.
But when the camera moves in closer in the next shot, it’s right in front of her.
Summer Nights
At the start of the song, you can see that at one point, Sandy’s lip movements are not in time with the song itself.
So that is clearly an audio problem that the editors didn’t catch.
Rizzo’s neck doesn’t make sense
In the opening scene when Rizzo is taking off her top, her neck stretches and she looks in the mirror.
But the reflection in the mirror of her neck is much longer, so it doesn’t accurately represent her!
“Did you guys get a look at Zuko this morning?”
When Jan is joined by Marty and Rizzo during lunch, she says, “Did you guys get a look at Zuko this morning?”
You can see she has nothing in her hands, but then in the next shot following the line, she’s holding a fork.
Sonny is a little bit everywhere
When Sandy and Danny are eating at the diner and the gang joins, Sonny gets up to walk Marty home.
But a few shots later, Sonny comes up behind Frenchie. So did he suddenly ditch Marty?
Hound Dog
This scene demonstrates yet another audio problem (hey, no movie is perfect).
When the band performs Hound Dog at the dance, you can see that the song isn’t matching the lead singer’s lips.
Rizzo kicks Sandy
When Rizzo is lying on the bench during Summer Nights, she kicks off Sandy.
Sandy is meant to be singing during that scene, but her mouth isn’t moving at all! Yet another audio issue.
Danny plays basketball
When Danny is about to play, Coach Calhoun speaks with him during one of the shots.
In the background, you can see the shadow of the boom mic on the ground.
The half-eaten apple
This happens when Rizzo and Marty sit down together to eat lunch. Watch and you’ll see that there’s a half-eaten apple that keeps appearing and then disappearing from the shot! It’s pretty annoying once you spot it.
Did you catch any of these mistakes? Let us know in the comments!
