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Xanadu is often labelled a remake of the 1947 Rita Hayworth vehicle "Down to Earth".  In the final ballroom scene, there is a group of breakdancers, one of which is Adolfo 'Shabba-Doo' Quinones a.k.a "Ozone" of Breakin & Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo fame. -Thanks to Nikki Stuart"Grease" was Olivia's third film. She made her movie debut in a unnoticed Australian film called "Funny Things From Down Under" when she was 16 years old and only as a walk-on with a couple of lines. She would make a bigger impact in Britain in the 1970 sci-fi musical "Tomorrow". The gross for the movie was around $23 million in the U.S. on a budget of about $12 million. The film made a small profit at the box office, but legend tries to make it seem it failed harder than it actually did. It also made millions more over the years on video, cable t.v. and DVD. -Thanks to John SegerAlthough Olivia Newton-John's character calls herself "Kira" in the movie, she was based on the muse "Terpsichore", who is the muse of dance, also known as "The Whirler". In the movie she begins to tell Sonny her real name, but all that comes out is "My real name is Ter...", before he kisses her. Regarding the decision not to put "3 Olivia's with different colored hair" in the "Dancin" sequence. This was later done in video on 'The Midnight Special' show, which was entirely devoted to promoting 'Xanadu' and hosted by Olivia. -Thanks to DamianXanadu was Gene Kelly's last motion picture role where he played a character. It was also the last picture in which he danced. He sadly passed away February 2, 1996. The name of Gene Kelly's character in "Xanadu" (Danny McGuire) is the same name he had in the 1944 film "Cover Girl" with Rita Hayworth. Like his "Xanadu" counterpart, the mid 1940's was Danny McGuire's era. -Thanks to KenOne of the headlines for the movie review was "Xana-don't"! -Thanks to Joe HoskingThe old building that became the exterior of "Xanadu" was the "Pan Pacific Auditorium" on Beverly Blvd near CBS's Television City, in Hollywood California. It was built in 1935, was closed down in 1972 and was for a moment forgotten and abandoned. Later, it's importance was recognised and then it was slated for renovation. During the 80's, seemingly endless plans were drawn up for the Pan Pacific, done up as a large shopping mall/hotel complex and a major film center that would showcase preserved and independent titles with production offices and facilities. All these plans were for naught; in 1988, a fire engulfed the entire building except the historical facade and yet, the limbo continued. On May 30, 1989, a second fire took care of the rest. The local fire department made an aggressive effort to save the front but the winds and the intensity of the fire was too much for them to handle. Within the hour, large parts of the remaining front began to crash down to the ground, followed by the rest of the facade. The Pan Pacific Auditorium was not completely demolished in the 1989 fire. The front of the building still remained up until 1997. The front was very badly burned and the four spirals on top with the leveled forms jetting out, had all crumbled together; however, it was still very much intact. After 1989, the city of Los Angeles, erected a large chain-linked fence around the building because it would easily cause injury. The history of the fire. The owner of the building in the mid-80s was approached by the Mid-Wilshire district to build condos in the place where the Pan Pacific was; however, the City would not let this go through because the Pan Pacific Auditorium was a historical landmark. (One of very few in the LA basin.) The owner got so upset with the denial of his demo permit that he set the building on fire. He was later tried and convicted of first degree arson and is still serving out his sentence somewhere in Southern California. Since the rest of the building was removed by the city, a park has been cultivated called the Pan Pacific Park, and there are plans to resurrect the building in the same place the old building once stood. Furthermore, just for note, when I was there in 2000, the lights (2 of them), poles from the original building, still stand. You can tell they belonged to the original building because of the Art Deco detailing as well as they are the same color as the building -- a Art Deco - period green, plus these lights were seen in Xanadu as well as several other photographs of the once, incredible building. -Thanks to JacqIn 2002 a new bulding was erected on the site of the pan-pacific park. Although it has one spire like the old building, it in no way resembles the building that was once there. -Thanks to TomXanadu was panned by the critics. A movie critic from the London (UK) Evening News panned the film as "the most dreadful, tasteless, movie of the decade. Indeed, of all time." The "old movie" sequence was shot in front of the rooftop set from "Suddenly" earlier in the movie. You see the exact same buildings, and the same railing in the background. -Thanks to Mike MartinAll of the muses from the beginning of the movie reappear in the finale number at the end, except for one. The second muse to "come alive" at the beginning is replaced by another dancer who is thinner and has much longer hair. -Thanks to Andrew MacLaineOne of the muses is played by Sandahl Bergman, who also played a principal dancer in "All That Jazz" and love-interest to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Valeria in "Conan the Barbarian". -Thanks to David LauritzenThe featured zebra-striped dancer that shakes her butt for the camera in Sonny's vision of the club was a lead dancer on "Solid Gold", another 80's trademark. -Thanks to Andrew MacLaineSonny borrows a motor scooter from a very trusting woman to chase Kira and never returns it after it falls into the water. Perhaps the bike's owner doesn't mind because she is one of Kira's sister muses from the opening number. -Thanks to Andrew MacLaineThis was the first movie Joel Silver produced as head of Lawrence Gordon's production company at Universal Pictures (although he was an associate producer on the previous year's "The Warriors", which also featured Michael Beck). This movie was unusual for Silver, once you consider that later in the decade he would produce some major action pieces. You know the titles... "Predator", "Commando", "Lethal Weapon" and "Die Hard". Who would've thought Silver would produce such big-money action pieces after they walked out of the theater on this one? He would keep one foot in the world of fantasy, producing "Weird Science" and the series "Tales From The Crypt", alongside cameo appearances in movies like "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?". -Thanks to John Edward KilduffOlivia has always said that Xanadu became what it became because there was no finished script when she said "yes" to it. But, given that she was considering whether to take the Xanadu job or the lead in "Can't Stop the Music" (eventually taken by Superman's Valerie Perrine), one can't help concluding that she made the right choice, or at least, the lesser of 2 evils. Matt Lattanzi, in 1982, played one of the prep boys in "Grease 2". Beyond his presence in the film and the reference to Michael Harrington (played by Maxwell Caufield who later played one of the Colbys on Dynasty II: The Colbys) as Sandy's cousin, there were no other reminders of Olivia or Sandy in Grease 2. Ironically, Caufield's character also had an Australian accent, which he faked. Ironic, because his leading lady on Dynasty II was Emma Samms, who hid her accent to sound American like Pamela Sue Martin who had played the role of Fallon Carrington prior to Samms. Samms got her start on General Hospital, where her leading man was an Australian hunk. Matt Lattanzi had the starring role in the road race comedy/drama "Catch Me If You Can". -Thanks to Stefan AndrewsDon Bluth who did the animation on the film also animinated the 80's arcade game Dragons Lair. One of the first laser disc games. -Thanks to Rob WrightActor Bill Pullman is a Roller Disco Xanadu dude. He has several good shots in the finale scene. -Thanks to Peter E. PhillipsTime magazine reviewed the film under the headline, "Oh, shut up, Muse !" They didn't like it. -Thanks to Dorrie« Click here to add some Xanadu trivia Rediscover your favorites! If you like Xanadu or 80's Dance / Musical classics, then be sure to check out this list: ..... Dirty Dancing ..... Pink Floyd: The Wall ..... Breakin' ..... Footloose ..... 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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 Featured Movie Location: XanaduWanna see the real life filming location used for Xanadu in the movie? These scenes were actually shot at Pan Pacific Auditorium - [Now destroyed], located in Hollywood, S. California. [New! Show Google Map] Key scenes of the film were filmed at locally-revered LA landmarks such as Paradise Park (the park scene where Kira first "bumps" into Sunny), the Main Street district in Santa Monica (the van riding scene), Malibu Pier in Malibu and Venice Beach. The outside sequence right before the animated section was shot at the Hollywood Bowl. [Thanks to Mike Martin] The mural location (mural never existed) was, in fact, at the end of Dudley Avenue at Venice Beach Boardwalk. The Park where Sonny and Kira forst meet at the beginning of the movie is Palisades Park, Ocean Blvd, Santa Monica, CA
Can you help? Do you know any of the S. California (or any other) filming locations used for Xanadu? [Please send them in] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Stupendous Soundtrack! Defined 1980! Songs are: 1. Magic - Olivia Newton-John 2. Suddenly - Olivia Newton-John and Cliff Richard 3. Dancin' - The Tubes with Olivia Newton-John 4. Suspended In Time - Olivia Newton-John 5. Whenever You're Away From Me - Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly 6. I'm Alive - ELO 7. The Fall - ELO 8. Don't Walk away - ELO 9. All Over The World - ELO 10. Xanadu - Olivia Newton-John The soundtrack has recently been remastered and is greatly improved. Use our search feature. Three songs were available as B sides of singles from this movie, but not on the sound track. "Drum Dreams" was the long intro from the club opening sequence and was only available on the B side to the single "All Over The World". "Fool Country" was the B side of "Magic" and was one of the songs played in the club, hald being heavy metal. "You Made Me Love You" sung by Olivia is the b-side to the 7" single release of "Suddenly" peformed by Olivia and Cliff Richard. The song is heard in the film while Danny is talking to himself about getting old and remembering when he used to perform in the '40s. This is just before the "Whenever I'm Away From You" number in Danny's house. -Thanks to Michael And Mike MartinThe film features the title theme song, "Xanadu," which is the only song in history beginning with the letter 'X' to break into Billboard's Top 40. -Thanks to Steve LewisXanadu, the movie, may have been a film flop, but Xanadu, the soundtrack, was a huge hit for both Olivia and the Electric Light Orchestra. For years, Jeff Lynne, the lead singer of ELO, disavowed his work on Xanadu. In interviews about how he came up with the title song, Lynne has said he was instructed to use the word "Xanadu" as many times as possible. Mission accomplished as he's said that he used the word "Xanadu" 27 times in the song. In recent years, Lynne has acknowledged the merit in his Xanadu work and in fact recorded a new version of Xanadu a few years ago with his lead vocals instead of Olivia's. Xanadu and Magic were both top 5 hits. Olivia has said in interviews that "Suspended in Time" is her favorite ballad of her repertoirre. She performed Suspended in Time for the first time live during her 30-year anniversary concert series. Xanadu was ELO's only number 1 selling record. The original album came with 8 free postcard scenes from the movie. -Thanks to GaryWhile ELO did the bulk of the non-Olivia music in the film, the "Dancin'" scene where the two male leads consider the type of club they want, features 80's rock band, The Tubes, in a duet with Olivia. Originally, the 3 women lip-synccing for Olivia in the "Dancin'" scene were originially supposed to be 3 Olivias with different colored hair -- but the expense of doing a 3-way film split was too high, given the already high expense of the "aura" effects for Olivia and the other muses. -Thanks to Barry Freiman« Click here to add new music trivia for Xanadu Soundtrack Available: On CD | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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