Question: When Sandy's skirt gets lifted up at the bonfire, Frenchy comes to her defence and does some weird flappy hand movement. What is it meant to mean? She basically just waves at the girl, but Sandy is very grateful.
Answer: The Pink Ladies were held in a high regard as well as very well respected and feared at Rydell high which means you didn't want to upset them or mess with them. Therefore, if they told you to do something you better do it.
Question: I had a Grease Novelbook in 1979 (a book version with movie pictures and most of the script from the full movie popular shortly after the movie's release) and in that, during the end of the pep rally scene (before Frenchie's house where Sandy is crying and talking with Frenchie about Danny), the line Frenchie says ("The only man a girl can depend on is her daddy") has the added line "if he doesn't drink." I then noticed the movie didn't have that last line added. Did the play version ever have that line in it?
Answer: The original Broadway show (early-mid 70s) did not have those lines, and it didn't have that early pep rally scene. Also, in the Broadway play, the sleepover pajama party scene was at Marty's house, not Frenchy's. For the film version of Grease (1978), there were many changes, additions, and omissions, such as the exclusion of Marty's song "Freddy My Love." As for the book versions (novelization, storybook, fotobook) based on the 1978 film, there will also be some minor discrepancies between them and the film, regarding changed or deleted dialogue, or production photos from cut scenes.
Ok. That explains it. I also remember after the end of the "Sandra Dee" song in the novel book Rizzo said, "Don't sweat it - forget it," whereas in the movie she said, "Some people are just so touchy."
Question: After Rizz brings Sandy to Danny as a surprise, Sandy runs off, and Danny looks at Rizz. Is it a look of being annoyed by Rizz, or is it "I'm sorry I hurt you before, I get why you've done this"?
Answer: He's hurt and he gives her a look of "You did this deliberately" - by bringing Sandy to meet him in front of the T-Birds, she blindsided him (and Sandy) and forced him to bring out his T-Bird persona during their surprise reunion. Obviously, that's not how he wanted his reunion with Sandy to go, and Rizzo is loving it. Rizzo is my fave character, but that bit is messed up. She may be doing it to get him back for using her as a one-night stand (before he met Sandy, not recently enough to have been the father of the suspected pregnancy like the other poster suggested). She may simply be doing it to spite Sandy because she dislikes her, and Danny is hurt and annoyed that she upset Sandy.
Question: When Sandy is watching the race, she takes her shoes off. Why? It makes no sense, because it's a dirty place. And she's wearing very white socks.
Answer: She was wearing regular shoes, not sandals or sneakers, not made for walking on concrete.
She's wearing Keds. So yeah they're sneakers. It makes no sense.
Answer: I was watching the movie recently. I suddenly thought: she, as Olivia, takes them of because they are not comfortable. In the scene she is not walking much on them.
Question: Did Danny and Rizzo have a thing together, or did Rizzo have a crush on Danny?
Answer: It is implied that Danny and Rizzo had a previous romantic relationship of some kind. When Jan says, "Did you guys get a look at Zuk this Morning? Looking pretty good this year, huh, Rizz?" Rizzo replies, "that's ancient history." Later, when Danny says, "you're looking good, Rizz, " her answer, "eat your heart out," also suggests some possible residual feelings on her part. I think that's why Rizzo enjoys tormenting Sandy and Danny by reintroducing them at Rydell at a moment that she knows Danny is going to save face around his friends.
Answer: Yes... after the reunion of Danny and Sandy and Danny playing cool and blowing her off, Rizzo stands back with a stupid grin on her face like she's proud of herself.
Yeah, I noticed that, too. Plus, at the beginning of the movie it's implied that she and Danny were a fling or at least flirting at some point. Could be she was mad at the ending of it if it wasn't her choice. Later, when he calls her Sloppy Seconds, that seems to really shock her, but I'm less sure it implies anything.
Answer: Yes.
Answer: When Rizzo shimmies down the outside of Frenchie's house she first says "what's up Kenick?", and he replies "one guess", followed by Rizzo intimating "You got a lot to offer a girl..." She then turns to Danny saying "What say you Zuck?" This is a clear inference that she would have sex with both men - a threesome, basically. Zuko is uninterested because as he states sloppy-seconds "aren't my style." He jumps out of the car and Kenickie kicks the other T-BIRDS to the sidewalk. The two love-birds head off to the hills.
Question: Nurse Wilkins is a named character in the film, but the entirety of her role seems to be her saying that her castor oil was stolen in the scene where Sandy was at a reception. Did she appear again (eg. at the gym), and was the castor oil significant in any way?
Answer: Nurse Wilkins, played by Fannie Flagg, only appeared on camera once during "Grease." It was, as you point out, during the scene in the office when Sandy first arrives to register at Rydell High School. She may have been present in other scenes, but never appeared on camera. She may also have had other speaking parts which were sacrificed to the cutting room floor. There is no way of knowing that. Castor oil was used, historically, for a variety of medicinal purposes - most notably as a laxative and remedy for minor digestive problems. It has a distinctly unpleasant taste. Therefore, stealing it would probably be just a minor prank, without any other apparent significance. I suppose one could draw conclusions about other uses adolescent boys could find for an unctuous substance like castor oil, but that would probably be reading far too much into a throw-away line.
Nurse Wilkins is mentioned a classroom cut scene (available for flu jabs). Speculation, but maybe originally Sandy was originally going to be sick for the dance competition like the stage play (with Nurse Wilkins playing a role), but when ONJ's role got enhanced during filming, this scene was dropped.
Question: I can't understand why Sonny hauled Sandy off the dance floor during the dance finale. Sure Sonny was a bit of a jerk, but he idolized Danny and would never disrespect him. Also there was nothing to suggest that he and Cha-Cha were friends. I never truly understood.
Answer: Watched that scene again now and I just think it was poor writing (in what's still a classic film regardless). How none of the judges noticed that Cha Cha took another girl's (Sandy's) place even after she'd already been "tapped out" is another huge plot hole. Plus a lot of people in America were watching the dance on TV and it's not mentioned by anyone after this scene. 35 years later and that scene still bugs me (haha).
Answer: He's fall-down drunk, that's why. He's drinking during the entire dance.
Answer: Because in real life Olivia was late for work, as a result Annette had to take Olivia's place because she was her understudy.
Answer: It's a terrible moment in the story because it exposes Danny as being thoughtless. After already burning Sandy once (at the pep rally) you'd think he'd be mindful of not doing it again. This time, though, he humiliates her in front of the entire school, as well as on television. Unsure how Sandy's sitting with him in the next scene at the drive-in only slightly miffed. Imagine how this plays as a story to their children: "Hey, kids, did I ever tell you about how your dad embarrassed me in front of everybody?" I guess it's meant to be partly motivation for Sandy to change her image and outlook in order to keep Danny, but it's a terrible message (even back then). She's nothing but thoughtful and considerate, and Danny repeatedly treats her badly, but she decides she needs to reinvent herself. (Danny's makeover doesn't count given it lasts about three minutes.) It would've been better had Danny and Sandy came second because of Sandy's dancing, and that could've played on her mind.
Answer: He is so upset about Marty liking Ed Byrnes, he just drinks all night.
Answer: I think it was because Sonny was drunk and wanted Sandy to talk to Marty for him since she dumped him for Vince Fontaine at the beginning of the dance.
Answer: Well my theory is maybe since Sonny wants a girl, Cha-Cha promised him a date with a girl if he agreed to her plan.
Question: When Danny is talking to the coach about sports, the coach asks if he likes the rings. After that Danny says something snide about installing rings or something with a hidden meaning. What is he talking about?
Answer: Danny says "yeah I installed a set of rings a couple of weeks ago", rings are a piece on the piston to an engine, something a mechanic would install or fix on your car, Danny was trying to be funny when the coach meant the gymnastics rings.
In this case, would not the "hidden meaning" be an innuendo, such as penis rings? Either he used two rings at once or had sex two times a couple weeks ago (in the back seat of his car)? (This is in a high school setting when norms about pre-marital sex were much stricter and people didn't openly talk about sex toys and the like).
Answer: Coach Calhoun is actually not talking about Olympic Rings. He is talking about the men's gymnastics apparatus.
Question: Any idea what the reference to "banging erasers" is all about? I always thought she said "banging your races" or "banging your braces" but never understood what it meant?
Answer: Banging erasers is what kids had to do as punishment. Erasers are used to clear the chalkboards, eventually they will get full of chalk and not work properly anymore so you bang them together to get the chalk out.
Answer: It was a reference to detention. She suggests that he will be banging erasers after school.
Question: What do the T-Birds mean when they ask Rizzo "What are you doing out without a net/Annette?" Is it just another Annette Funicello reference? That always confused me.
Answer: He's referring to a safety net that acrobats would use because she's climbing down the trellis and it's dangerous.
I always assumed they thought she needed 'a net' to catch a guy.
Answer: It is because she was climbing off the roof and down the trellis, and it was dangerous as she could have fallen and hurt herself. That is why they said she was doing that without a net.
Answer: I thought it referred to a hair net like one to cover curlers.
Answer: A net is what they used to call bras.
Answer: I thought it meant she needs a net to catch her and that she would fall.
Answer: Women wore hair nets to sleep to keep their curls in place - they are giving her crap for not wearing a hair net.
Question: Why didn't Sandy immediately telephone Danny when she found out she and her family were not going back to Australia, and that she would be attending his high school?
Answer: Perhaps Sandy didn't know the high school she would be going was the same as Danny's, so she didn't think to call him already, but wanted to do it later. It's all very vague about where it all come from. The point is she never thought she would see Danny again, just like Danny thought he would never see her again. With that in mind they might indeed not have exchanged phone numbers anyway so no way to contact each other.
Answer: Maybe they didn't exchange phone numbers.
Answer: Again, he had his reputation as a Ladies Man, he didn't want the gang to know, he was wimping out and had fall in love. Remember the song, "Summer Lovin" He told of scoring with a hot babe, while Sandy sang of true love.
Answer: I had an exchange student LIVE in my parents house for a month when I was in high school in 1990. I liked her a lot. We were the same age. We got along. I did not have her phone number when she left. Why? Because there was no way my father was letting me call France "long distance" in 1990. In 1959, I'm going to say that calling long distance was probably not on their radar as a viable option. Not to mention - realistically, when you're 17, and you never think you're going to see each other again because you're separated by continent, what would be the point of exchanging numbers?
This was a nice story, but has nothing to with answering the question. Sandy didn't live with Danny, so they would have exchanged local numbers, or at least Danny would have given Sandy his number if she didn't know the number where she was staying so they could call each other during the summer. For your story to be slightly comparable, the exchange student would have had live somewhere else. In that scenario you certainly would have given her your number and she wouldn't give you her number in France but where she was staying.
Answer: More than likely, based on Sandy's demeanor and adherence to etiquette, she would not have exchanged her number with a boy. She even said to Rizzo at the lunch table that she went to the beach to see a boy she met so most likely she and Danny would have made plans in person to meet up like they did.
Question: Who Is Annette? Two Quotes: "Nobody's Jugs Are Bigger Than Annette's" and during the Sandra Dee song "Would you pull that crap with Annette"... My question is who is she?
Answer: Annette Funicello, a movie star from the 50s who was known for her bosom and roles in beach/surfer themed movies. She was also one of the original members of the Mickey Mouse Club.
I was teased about that all my school years - my name is Annette.
Question: Can anybody explain why the T-Birds didn't see each other all summer? Even if Kenickie had a job, wouldn't he still be around after work?
Answer: Well, Danny was out of town, at the beach. It's quite possible that the rest of T-Birds didn't live close enough to each other to see each other during the summer. Also, they may have all had jobs, or been travelling with their families. It's also possible that they DID see each other, although maybe not as "T-Birds". When they saw each other on the first day of school, though, they were Seniors, and they were ready and excited to be T-Bird seniors.
Another possible reason is that not all of them were allowed to see friends during the summer. I had a couple of classmates whose parents were strict about them focusing on schoolwork and/or getting a job. No phone calls or visiting friends on the weekends or during summer: "You can see your friends at school."
Do you really think any of the T-Birds had strict parents?
People quite often rebel against strict parents.
When they asked Kenickie where he was, he said "working, which is more than I can say for any of youse kids" suggesting that the 3 stooges (pun intended for their stupid routine that prompts Danny to tell them to "be cool") didn't work all summer. Also, Sonny needed to borrow money in the dinner until he could get his allowance.
In regards to not living close enough to each other, it is worth mentioning that having access to a vehicle was much less common compared to nowadays.
Answer: During that time, it wasn't uncommon for people to go out of town for the whole summer. Often, it was close enough so that the father could commute on weekends while the mother and kids spent the summer at the vacation spot. Even when I was growing up in the 70's and 80's, I knew a lot of people who did it.
Question: At the diner, why was Rizzo mad at Kenickie? She seemed to be mad at him about something and I get the feeling that it wasn't because of how he ate his burger.
Answer: He was being a jerk and insensitive. But really she was worried she was pregnant and that made her have a short fuse.
Answer: Kenickie said Rizzo had the personality of a wet mop. After Rizzo said "Don't start with me!", Kenickie put his arm around Frenchy and said "Eureka, how about I finish with you." which means that Kenickie was going to break up with Rizzo. Rizzo thought that Kenickie put his arm around Frenchy because he was going to dump her for Frenchy. He didn't, though.
Answer: No, earlier on there was a big argument between Kinickie and Rizzo that was cut from the movie and that's why they were upset with each other in that scene.
Is there a clip of it?
Question: In the scene right after school lets out towards the end of the movie and the carnival shots begin, there's a guy in white shorts and no shirt who hits the bell with the hammer. The shot is maybe 3 seconds long. Doesn't he look like or may actually be Maxwell Caulfield, who was the lead role in Grease 2? It's not a large enough part to be credited, so the IMDb doesn't list who it is.
Question: How do Danny and Cha Cha know each other? He acts different around her and when they first met she said 'Zucko, baby'?
Answer: Danny and Cha Cha did date. While at the drive-in Sandy says "I still think you went together." To "go together" back then meant going steady, as in they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Danny is trying to pass it off as something less serious but he does admit "We didn't go together, we just went together."
I just think he didn't know what to say he was confused so he said what Sandy said.
She means went together at the dance.
I thought he was referring to the dance when they "went together" as in just dancing, as opposed to "go together" as in sleeping with each other.
Answer: They didn't date, just hooked up.
Answer: No one knows what kind of relationship Danny had with her. We can tell they went out, Danny's words, but no-one knows how intimate it was.
Question: Why did Principal McGee look so upset during ChaCha and Danny's dance?
Answer: They had mentioned as part of the rules that any vulgar dancing would result in disqualification, so I think her reaction wasn't just displeasure about the dance moves, but she's stressed and on the fence about whether or not to step in and disqualify them.
Answer: They were dancing in a very suggestive manner, and it made her uncomfortable.
So what? She could've had it broken up, them tossed out but logic's not used in musicals.
Breaking them up and tossing them out, that was not as easy as you make it sound. Before the contest started, McGee even said rule #3 was "tasteless or vulgar" dancing will be "disqualified," however she was not judging the contest. Despite McGee's uneasiness with Danny and Cha Cha's very suggestive dance moves, she chose not to have the popular pair disqualified. Rydell's dance was being televised, and at that point Danny and Cha Cha were the only two dancers left on the floor, surrounded by everyone else's exuberant enthusiastic support.
She was not judging the contest nor was she enforcing the rules, thus making her powerless in this situation.
Question: I heard somebody say that Danny and Sandy actually had sex at the beginning, something about how a shot of waves in movies alludes to sex. Is this true? I don't think it is, as it'd go against Sandy, but I'm curious.
Answer: No, they didn't have sex. While water and waves are often used as sexual symbolism, it is unlikely in this case - unless maybe the waves were used as a representation of sexual interest. But right at the end of that opening scene, Danny goes in for a passionate kiss, at which Sandy recoils and says, "Danny, don't spoil it." It's inconceivable that Sandy fears a passionate kiss would "spoil" the romance had they already had sex.
Answer: They did not have sex as one of the Pink Ladies says something like "you spent all that time together and he didn't even lay a hand on you." Rizzo then says he sounds like a creep.
Answer: They did have sex. In the song, "Tell Me More" Danny sings, "We got down in the sand." While gyrating his hips.
Question: At the drive-in, Kenickie confronts Rizzo about being pregnant, but she tells him not to worry because "it was someone else's mistake." What does she mean?
Answer: She says it to hurt him.
Absolutely, she said it, like she said a lot of things - out of malice. Kenickie is genuinely distressed, genuinely meant he would stick by her, even if the baby wasn't his.
Answer: Rizzo doesn't actually mean someone else got her pregnant. She is just letting Kenickie "off the hook," probably because she figures he wouldn't want to take responsibility, anyway, and she was probably going to have to handle this on her own. Kenickie is hurt by this, however, as we can tell by his expression when he replies, "thanks a lot, kid."
I always read it as an expression of relief when he says "Thanks a lot, kid".
It was not meant as an expression of off the hook. It was meant as in, "that's really a messed up thing to say!" He was hurt by her saying that he was someone else's mistake.
She didn't say he was someone else's mistake. I already said that in a different correction. She says "it was someone else's mistake." Meaning the baby isn't his.
Answer: The whole meaning behind it is that Rizzo really is pregnant with Kenickie's kid but Rizzo says it's someone else's: "someone else's problem," pretty much giving a chance for Kenickie to be off the hook as not being the father. But Kenickie obviously knows she is lying. And he's upset and says "thanks a lot kid" sarcastically.
Answer: Both Kenickie and Rizzo are upset and being sarcastic. The interpretations of his and her words are debatable, especially since there is no way of knowing if Rizzo did, in fact, sleep with someone else. However, there's no indication that Rizzo was with another boy/man, so it can be assumed Kenickie is the father and both know this is true. My interpretation was that Rizzo, by saying "it's someone else's mistake", was referring to herself - that she was stupid enough to even have sex with someone like Kenickie in the first place. (The second inferred meaning is that she will not hold him responsible because she knows he isn't interested in being a father/paying.) Kenickie's response, "thanks a lot, kid" was returning an insult - the "thanks a lot" part being sarcastic and "kid" meaning immature and not old enough to have even been given the chance or "be lucky enough" for him to (lower himself and) sleep with her, given all the other "better" girls - WOMEN - around from which to choose.
Answer: It's been a while, but I thought the quote was: Kenickie: I don't run away from my mistakes Rizzo: Don't worry, you're someone else's mistake. I would agree with others that she's essentially letting him off the hook in the storyline (everybody knows it's his), but this particular quote is basically just a joke implying HE was HIS parents' mistake...as a way to lighten the mood.
She didn't say "you're someone else's mistake." She says "it was somebody else's mistake."
Question: Well it is said that Danny was supposed to commit suicide at the end. But I would like to know for what reason, could anyone give some more detail on this? What exactly is the reason Danny would want to commit suicide in the first place?
Chosen answer: It was the film producers that suggested that Danny commit suicide at the end of the film, some have speculated to give the movie a different spin than the original stage production. However, the writers refused, so he flew off in a Cadillac with Sandy instead. That said, there's very little evidence for anything to do with Grease featuring suicide actually being real, and not just a rumour.
It doesn't answer my question why he would want to commit suicide.
If you listen to the lyrics of Summer Loving, he says that he saved her life. She nearly drowned. Speculation is she was dead the whole movie. That he failed to save her. That may be why he "killed himself."
In the song "Tell Me More," there were lyrics saying "I saved her life. She nearly drowned." The speculation is that he failed to save her and she really did drown. That's why he may have killed himself.
Answer: Danny probably would have wanted to commit suicide because he was heartbroken and depressed because he wasn't who he wanted to be and he knew it. Also because he was influenced by his gang to think that he belonged where he was, which was going against his heart.
Answer: The hand shooing gesture by Frenchie is actually a reference to the 3 stooges, a very popular but juvenile show on American TV. Doodie also makes a reference to it in the beginning of the movie when he makes a whoop whoop whoop noise when he first sees Danny.
Don't forget that the three boys were doing the same hand gestures (like poking each other's eyes) just like the 3 Stooges.