| | | | Staying Alive
(1983) |
his sequel to Saturday Night Fever begins five years after Tony Manero (JOHN TRAVOLTA) left Brooklyn to make it as a professional dancer on Broadway. Whilst attending brutal auditions and practicing his 'hobby' of rejection from New York Agents, he makes a modest income by waiting tables, and teaching a dance class. Despite his relationship with fellow chorus dancer Jackie (CYNTHIA RHODES), he is easily enticed by wealthy star dancer Laura (FINOLA HUGHES) and wastes no time in diving between her sheets. Soon enough though, good fortune strikes and both Tony and Jackie make it into the chorus of a major Broadway show called 'Satan's Alley.' Here we meet the show's Director (STEVE INWOOD) who barks aggressive diatribes at the dancers for the duration of the film.
Soon enough, Tony's eager nature pushes the incompetent male lead out of the show and he is headlining opposite Laura. Tony begins to realise that the lusty Laura is no match for the true emotions he has for Jackie. He reveals this in his jealousy of Jackie's musical 'affiliation' with her fellow band member Carl (FRANK STALLONE)
'Did you hear the way you said goodnight to him? It was so sweet i had a cavity just listening to it'
(Tony to Jackie about Carl)
Tony retreats home to Brooklyn to collect his thoughts, taking care to cross the Verranzano bridge on foot so that we 'Fever' fans can nod knowingly to eachother. On arriving home, there's an amusing cameo from Tony's mother (JULIE BOVASSO) who seems only to increase his problems.
' What do you want me to do? Stretch it?' (Tony's Mother on hearing his comment that the House seems smaller as an adult)
Tony has to make a stand in his personal and professional life. The 'personal war' he's having with Laura is affecting the show's performance. Can he take center stage and show Laura who he really is?
Does stardom await?
King of the 'sequel' with the Rocky saga hot on every executive's lips, Stallone was venturing into a foreign genre, the musical film. However, in terms of creating a successful follow-up, Stallone was unable to do for this genre what he had done for other outings.
There are worthy nuggets from Travolta who makes the best of what he has, but too many montages mean that we are treated only to brief sections of dialogue followed by lengthy dance sequences. In fact, Travolta is the saving grace here. He knows the character of Tony Manero only too well, and his big grin and comic way with his lines brings some much needed captivation.
It's a shame that Stallone's obvious Directing talents (Paradise Alley, Rocky II) were applied here to the spectacle of the ridiculous 'Satan's Alley' show and not to the gritty depiction of life laced with quirky humour, the likes of which we saw so much of in Rocky II. In fact, the scenes featuring Julie Bovasso, the only other original cast member from Saturday Night Fever are the only times when you might get a hearty laugh.
The first draft of the screenplay was written solely by the original scribe Norman Wexler (before Stallone's industrial story press ironed out all of the creases). It was far more developed, keeping on Karen Lynn Gorney's original character 'Stephanie' as Tony's manager and numerous other central characters. Wexler's screenplay expands on its title with much more depth and maturity. Unlike the final Stallone version where the title of the film nods only momentarily to a cool tune by the Bee Gees, Wexler's 'Staying Alive' was devoted to the actual art of 'staying alive' as an auditioning dancer in Manhattan. It depicted this through many clever scenes of how to scam a free lunch or how to get free bowls of nuts and crisps in a bar etc..
This draft also followed immediately on from its predecessor as it depicts Tony moving to Manhattan and realising that he does not posses the skills to function as a professional pop, jazz and ballet dancer. He then spends a year or so training and learning the steps before auditioning. We are treated to none of this in Stallone's version. He opens with Tony as an accomplished dance teacher, trapped between the love interests of the rich Broadway starlet and the girl next door. As Wexler himself put it when reading the final draft - 'vacuous, impoverished, crass and crude.'
As a huge fan of Stallone's Writing and Directing work, it pains me to support such a verdict since i value his contribution far beyond his action roles of the 80's. However, it would be bias on my part to try to evolve Staying Alive into something other than an amusing and occasionally fun movie. Did Sly see the original? He took a convoluted rite-of-passage rich with realistic characters and diluted it beyond recognition until it was 'Rocky in Tights' - full of 'against the odds' montages. What surprises me is that only seven years earlier he had written one of the most poignant, engaging and well-structured screenplays of the 20th century. Such is life?
 Don't forget that Staying Alive is now available to order on Widescreen DVD using our special 80s Retro Assistant...
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I still love to ride this train and im very fond of the film. In my formative years, i thought so much of the movie that i even wrote to Travolta about it, who promptly replied!
Many think that this film was a major flop, but as a financial exercise it cost $18 million and made $65 million - that's not too shameful for 1983.
Notable certainly for the physical achievement Travolta made under the hands of Stallone with his total body resculpture, he is charming throughout, and there is capable support from Cynthia Rhodes (Dirty Dancing) and Frank Stallone as the 'demented paratrooper' Carl. Watch out for a classic movie finish as Travolta feels the need to prowl the streets of Manhattan strutting his thang
'Do you know what i want to do?.....Strut'
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Paramount Pictures were pleased with the gross overall and apparently offered Sly the lead in "Beverly Hills Cop" as his next assignment. More about the casting of "Beverly Hills Cop" on that page.  -Thanks to Kenneth Sutton
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The actress who plays Jackie (Cynthia Rhodes) is actually married to 80's rocker Richard Marx. Who is responsible for the songs "Right Here Waiting." and "Hazard" -Thanks to Dave Dickinson
A young Patrick Swayze can be seen in the sceen when Tony is trying out for the lead. -Thanks to Holly
Classic Cameo Alert! Watch early in the film as Travolta leaves a dance studio. Director Sylvester Stallone bumps into Tony on the street and turns camera-side for a moment with a scowl. Criticised at the time for not being able to keep his ego out of any film he was involved with, I always looked on the moment as total brilliance due to Travolta's hint of recognition.
At the nightclub where Tony works at night, he meets up with 2two groupies, one of them is Joyce Hyser, the lead character in "Just One of the Guys", she played Terry. -Thanks to Brenda
In the first scene (the auditions) Ben Lokey can be seen. He gets picked by the director to move on, but Tony gets booted. He was also in the movie "Breakin'". -Thanks to Nick Napolitano
The Soundtrack CD saw fit to happily quote the film's worst review in the liner notes!
"Satans Alley? Hmmm... Well okay Sly... but I don't know... " (Travolta to Sly on hearing the plot)
Finola Hughes (Laura) was on both soap operas General Hospital ('91-'07)and All My Children ('99-'03). -Thanks to Lindy
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Staying Alive or 80's Dance / Musical classics, then be sure to
check out this list: ..... Dirty Dancing ..... Pink Floyd: The Wall ..... Breakin' ..... Footloose ..... Xanadu ..... Stop Making Sense ..... Times Square ..... Fame ..... Pennies From Heaven ..... Earth Girls Are Easy ..... Breakin' 2 Electric Boogaloo ..... Purple Rain ..... Girls Just Want to Have Fun ..... Best Little Wh*rehouse In Texas ..... Back To The Beach ..... One From The Heart .....[More]
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Semi autobiographical of Stallone's poor days as a struggling writer/actor in New York, Travolta is seen showering with clothes on as Stallone did when he couldn't afford to wash them at a launderette.
John Travolta wasn't the only one puzzled by Sly's idea for "Satan's Alley". On VH1's "I Love The 80s Strikes Back", Sly's brother Frank Stallone recalled seeing copies of books with devils in them and "wondered what it had to do with 'Saturday Night Fever'". Finola Hughes was confused as well and she "was in it for six weeks!". -Thanks to John Edward Kilduff
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|  |  |  | | Staying Alive
Locations |
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The bar Jackie (Cynthia Rhodes) sings is New York's famed CBGB's. If you look closely the stage is angled. That is the only stage in America that is set up that way. Plus if you look on the wall, you can see the multitude of flyers posted by bands who are schedule to play there. This is still in existence today. It's located on the Bowery in the East Village. The only known 'house bands' ever to appear at CBGB's (owned by Hilly Crystal) is Blondie, Talking Heads, Prong and The Ramones. Tommy Victor from Prong (the guitarist/voice) was also a house soundman there before Prong went on to enjoy significant fame in the metal genre circa 1989-1992. [Thanks to jacq]
Can you help? Do you know any of the New York, New York filming locations used for Staying Alive? [Please send them in]
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A staple of everyone's collection. Smart pop from the Bee Gees and Frank Stallone.
Sly's sibling had major success with the title track 'Far From Over' being nominated by the Academy for 'best song' and reaching no.1 on the charts. As a whole, it was also nominated for a Grammy and a Golden Globe for 'Best soundtrack'.
Probably expecting to sell twenty million albums like SNF, it is so readily available that citizens in most major cities are issued a copy fortnightly.
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