Grease 2 (1982)

User Rating:

3.5/10   

Director:

Patricia Birch

Writer:

Ken Finkleman (writer)

Release Date:

11 June 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

Grease is still the word!

Plot:

An English student at a 1960's American high school has to prove himself to the leader of a girls' gang whose members can only date greasers.

Plot Keywords:

School | Pink Ladies | High School | Motorcycle | 1960s

Awards:

2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Nov. 14

2:00 PM

CW

Cast

Maxwell Caulfield	...	Michael Carrington
Michelle Pfeiffer	...	Stephanie Zinone
Lorna Luft	...	Paulette Rebchuck
Maureen Teefy	...	Sharon Cooper
Alison Price	...	Rhonda Ritter
Pamela Adlon	...	Dolores Rebchuck (as Pamela Segall)
Adrian Zmed	...	Johnny Nogerelli
Peter Frechette	...	Louis DiMucci
Christopher McDonald	...	Goose McKenzie
Leif Green	...	Davey Jaworski
Didi Conn	...	Frenchy
Eve Arden	...	Principal McGee
Sid Caesar	...	Coach Calhoun
Dody Goodman	...	Blanche Hodel
Tab Hunter	...	Mr. Stuart
Dick Patterson	...	Mr. Spears
Connie Stevens	...	Miss Mason
Eddie Deezen	...	Eugene Felnic
Matt Lattanzi	...	Brad
Jean Sagal	...	Sorority Girl
Liz Sagal	...	Sorority Girl
Dennis Stewart	...	Balmudo (as Dennis C. Stewart)
Brad Jeffries	...	Preptone
Vernon Scott	...	Henry Dickey
Steve M. Davison	...	Cycle Lord
Richard Epper	...	Cycle Lord
Pat Green	...	Cycle Lord
Freddie Hice	...	Cycle Lord
Steve Holladay	...	Cycle Lord
Gary Hymes	...	Cycle Lord
Michael Runyard	...	Cycle Lord (as Mike Runyard)
Scott Wilder	...	Cycle Lord
Helena Andreyko	...	Girl Greaser
Ivy Austin	...	Girl Greaser
Lucinda Dickey	...	Girl Greaser
Sandra Gray	...	Girl Greaser
Vicki Hunter	...	Girl Greaser
Donna King	...	Girl Greaser
Evelyn Tosi	...	Girl Greaser
Dallace Winkler	...	Girl Greaser
Dennis Daniels	...	Boy Greaser
John Robert Garrett	...	Boy Greaser
Bernie Hiller	...	Boy Greaser (as Bernardo Hiller)
Roy Luthringer	...	Boy Greaser
Charles McGowan	...	Boy Greaser
Aurelio Padrón	...	Boy Greaser
Andy Tennant	...	Boy Greaser
Tom Villard	...	Boy Greaser
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hillary Carlip	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Frank Clark	...	'Windshield' man in gas station (uncredited)
Jenifer Newman	...	Dancer (uncredited)
USC Trojan Marching Band	...	(uncredited)
Tom Willett	...	Bowling Alley Manager (uncredited)

Directed by
Patricia Birch

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ken Finkleman		writer

Produced by
Allan Carr	....	producer
Neil A. Machlis	....	associate producer
Bill Oakes	....	executive producer
Robert Stigwood	....	producer

Original Music by
Louis St. Louis

Cinematography by
Frank Stanley

Film Editing by
John F. Burnett

Casting by
Sally Dennison
Geoffrey Johnson

Production Design by
Gene Callahan

Set Decoration by
Lee Poll

Costume Design by
Robert De Mora

Makeup Department
Del Acevedo	....	makeup artist
Jan Cook	....	hair stylist
Charles H. Schram	....	makeup supervisor
Vivienne Walker	....	hair styles supervisor

Production Management
Neil A. Machlis	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David Arntzen	....	second assistant director
Gary Daigler	....	first assistant director
Venita Ozols	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Nigel A. Boucher	....	leadman
Kent H. Johnson	....	property master
Robert Krume	....	construction coordinator

Sound Department
Don Cahn	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jim Cook	....	sound re-recording mixer (as James Cook)
David W. Gray	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby
Robert Gutknecht	....	sound effects editor
Sean Hanley	....	dialogue editor
Robert L. Harman	....	sound re-recording mixer
Larry Jost	....	sound mixer (as Lawrence Jost)
Clyde McKinney	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby
Kim Richards	....	sound recordist
Donald C. Rogers	....	sound (as Don Rogers)

Stunts
M. James Arnett	....	stunt coordinator (as Jim Arnett)
Gary Davis	....	stunt double: Michael
Richard Epper	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Buddy Bowles	....	gaffer
Philip Caplan	....	camera operator
Ron Cardarelli	....	key grip
William N. Clark	....	camera operator
Ronald Vidor	....	Steadicam operator

Casting Department
Matt Casella	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sandy Berke Jordan	....	costume supervisor
Michael Dennison	....	costumer: men
Silvio Scarano	....	costume supervisor: men
Leslie Simmons-Potts	....	costumer: women (as Leslie S. Rich)

Editorial Department
Tim Board	....	assistant film editor
LaReine Johnston	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
Artie Butler	....	conductor
Artie Butler	....	music arranger
Artie Butler	....	orchestrator
June Edgerton	....	music editor
Michael Gibson	....	orchestrator
Murray McFadden	....	music recordist
Louis St. Louis	....	music arranger

Transportation Department
Joel Marrow	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Todd J. Adelman	....	production medic
Helena Andreyko	....	assistant choreographer
Patricia Birch	....	choreographer
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer
Mauri Syd Gayton	....	production coordinator
Carol Green	....	unit publicist
Betty A. Griffin	....	script supervisor
Carol Jadiker	....	assistant: Bill Oakes
Michael John Meehan	....	location manager (as Mike Meehan)
Peggy Peterson	....	assistant: Patricia Birch
Greg Rosatti	....	assistant choreographer
Gini Smythe	....	assistant: Robert Stigwood

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1982) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1986) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1982) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Paramount Filmes do Brasil (2003) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment Finland (2003) (Finland) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Evergreen Recording Studios  music recorded at
• Johnson-Liff Associates  casting
• Modern Film Effects  opticals

Also Known As:

Son of Grease (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Netherlands:MG6 | Peru:14 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Cadillac Jack's Cafe - 9400 block San Fernando Road, Sun Valley, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Director Pat Birch said by the time filming began, the script wasn't even complete yet, so she had to try her best to work with what she had.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The movie is explicitly set in 1961 (two years after the first film). Yet during the opening "Back to School" production number, basketball players are shown dribbling red, white and blue basketballs. These tri-colored balls were not introduced until the founding of the American Basketball Association (the ABA) in the fall of 1967.

Quotes:

Michael Carrington: [practicing bowling invitation] Howdy fellas,let's bowl some balls.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Corpus Kristi (2008)

Soundtrack:

REBEL WALK

So appalling it exerts a perverse fascination!

I used to work in a record store in the late 80s/early 90s, and one thing we sold a copy of at least every week was the Grease 2 soundtrack. I used to ask the people buying about it, and they all acknowledged that it was one of the worst movies, but that there is something about it so lovable, and that the songs are terrible, but there's something about them so charming… Now that I've seen the movie, I know what they mean.

This movie is appalling in nearly every respect, but there's just something about it--perhaps how brazenly appalling it is--that gives it an almost hypnotic fascination.

I love how the producers made only the most surface-level attempt to even appear 50s. The clothes, hairstyles, songs, and ways of speaking all scream 80s. I haven't the slightest idea why they decided to dress Michelle Pheiffer in things that essentially look like sweatshirts for the first half of the movie. And she's got on those huge dark glasses all the time… making her look like early Debbie Harry. You just really have to wonder. As for the sets… I don't think I've ever seen such low production values in a movie released by a major studio. The sets also are brazenly 80s… When Michelle is being tutored, they are OBVIOUSLY in an Elias Brothers Big Boy! Couldn't they at least have found a 50s-themed diner? There is also a scene showing guys motorcycling through a subdivision that looks like 1985 Westland, Michigan, and another time--my favorite--when Michelle and someone are sitting out in what is obviously some municipal park, with a huge superhighway with massive 18-wheelers barreling by in the background. I really have to take my hat off.

What's also charmingly appalling is how the producers made NO attempt to recapture ANYTHING you may have loved about the first movie. And I tell you, this movie makes the original look like Gone With the Wind. You really should be required to see both to appreciate what a graceful, charming movie the first one is. This is so obviously just a craven cash-in by whoever owned the rights (that's you, Allan Carr!) that, in some perverse way, only makes it the more appealing.

Everyone in this movie looks embarrassed, but none more so that Michelle Pheiffer. Obviously WRONG in every way for the part, and obviously PAINFULLY aware that she's going to look like an idiot on movie screens across America, poor Michelle seems afraid to really put herself behind any expression, movement, or song, as though by staying as still as possible she can diminish the damage. The poor girl, you can really feel her pain, especially as she sings 'Cool Rider,' and tries to dance up that ladder and down. The thing about musicals is that the characters have to appear to be transported with joy or anguish to the point that they break out in song, and poor Michelle is just so embarrassed that it really clunks. Of course, ALL the musical sequences clunk massively. If you're not buying a musical sequence it just looks like a bunch of people idiotically moving around on a set… and that's what we got here. Those poor, poor individuals.

I was amazed how poor the sound quality was. I hear this has been improved on the DVD, but it's quite clear that they were aware that these people COULD NOT SING, and tried to bury their voices as deep as possible.

What else? Well, I guess that's about it. Truly poor direction just adds to the general malaise. If you like bad, cheesy movies, they just don't get any better than this. If you are a fan of the original, you should definitely watch this, as it'll just make you love the chemistry, charming songs, and graceful story arc all the more.

--- Check out my website devoted to bad and cheesy movies: www.cinemademerde.com