Grease 2 gave me such writer's block in the Pfandom series because what to even focus on with such an event? I finally powered through but the focus naturally had to be on LaPfeiff's career. So, herewith a random collections of thoughts and observations from this viewing which I think was my 6th or 7th? The movie is terrible but I'm addicted to early Pfeiffer's lusty bravado in it, hence the multiple revisits.
(This is gif heavy so be warned...)
Dody Goodman & Eve Arden reprising their Grease roles as "Blanche & Miss McGee"
↑ But these are the faces you'll find me making every time I find myself watching it. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS AGAIN?!?!?
...Which come to think of it is also what people say when Hollywood puts out sequels to things that didn't need sequels.
Stunt casting is sometimes the only way to go! 1950s heartthrob Tab Hunter teaching sex-ed is so so perfect. If you haven't yet seen the documentary Tab Hunter: Confidential you really must. It's on Netflix and it's such good background for Hollywood's sorta 'open closet' filled history. So much dish including his romance with Psycho's Tony Perkins. Tab Hunter had a mini revival in the 1980s and a lot of fun sending up his onscreen history as he was used for his retro camp appeal.
More stunt casting! Judy Garland's other daughter alert: Lorna Luft who plays "Paulette" is so adorable in the bowling alley sequence. Half sister Liza Minnelli came with her to the film's premiere! As for the T-Birds 2.0 I think they're the biggest drop-off in quality from the original film. Less endearing than Danny and Kenicki and so obnoxious. But for what it's worth in the gif above that's Christopher McDonald to the left (who will be the world's worst husband a decade later in Thelma & Louise), Adrian Zmed (a TV regular at the time), and Peter Frechette as DiMucci in his film debut. I am ashamed to admit this since he's so douchey in the movie but I had such a crush on DiMucci when I first watched this. It must have been nascent gaydar. I happily discovered long long afterwards that he's openly gay and became a two-time Tony nominated actor.
He was also part of a very controversial episode of thirtysomething (pictured above), the first time network television had shown two men in bed together. It was a huge scandal at the time costing the network over a million with advertisers pulling out of the show.
Frechette's big number is "Let's Do It For Our Country." Early 80s comedies are so fond of date rape and sexual harassment jokes, aren't they? The early 80s haven't aged well in this regard! (See also Hollywood Knights)
One final note on the T-Birds. Can we all agree that "Cruising" is one of the worst musical numbers ever committed to celluloid. It's so painful and it's practically feature film length.
But a few more thoughts on the pretty pretty pretty pretty leads of the movie before we close this Grease 2 chapter.
She's so fun in this movie, such an affected entrance but endearing. Dark shades were instant shorthand for "cool" in the 1980s. See also Tom Cruise in Risky Business the very next year.
Also isn't her mouth just scrumptious? I don't know if we've ever mentioned this (though we surely will have plentiful opportunity in the Pfandom series) but few movie stars are as great with screen kisses. She has so many memorable ones in that filmography! All of her mashing with Maxwell Caulfield in this movie is hot but in totally varied ways.
I present the evidence:
• The comic kiss (to prove a point) when she offers to kiss the first man who walks into a room.
• The postcard cliche clinch
• The romantic happy ending kiss. Honestly that last smooch feels like an R rated liplock snuck into a PG movie. It helps that Maxwell Caulfield is utterly delicious... no matter what one thinks of his acting in this movie.
Although what accounts for how much he reads like a 1970s gay fantasy? The director was a woman, not a gay man. Perhaps it was the costume designer's fault -- for which we thank him. Robert De Mora did design for Bette Midler frequently so maybe. Anyway, Caulfield would fit right into Can't Stop the Music (1980): the bare chested biker in black leather, the biker in shiny silver in the camp dream sequence.
Maxwell Caulfield is officially the worst at pretending to play piano, though. This always cracks me up. His hands just bounce up and down with no variation in the fingers no matter what's happening in the music. Haha
Check out those photoshoots!
For what it's worth, in retrospect I think of Maxwell Caulfield as an early 80s version of a cross between Alex Pettyfer and Aaron Taylor-Johnson for all the reported ego at the time (Pettyfer) mixed with the constant display of his body-ody-ody (both Alex & Aaron) and the early life marriage to a wife who was 20ish years older (Taylor-Johnson married at 22, and Caulfied at 21). For those of you who were not alive or pop culture aware in the early 80s, Caulfield married the actress Juliet Mills (Hayley Mills' older sister) before he even made his first movie. They're still together ♥︎ (he's now 57 and she's 75) and both still working on occasion if not in high profile ways.
And speaking of younger men / older women romances, Matt Lattanzi who plays the preppy dreamboat Brad was 22 at the time and Olivia Newton-John's boyfriend. They'd met on the set of Xanadu (1980), his film debut, and were married by 1984.
Time to wrap up.
Pfeiffer is always the take away.
"Cool Rider," which should be utterly ridiculous, is and always will be ridiculousy sexy instead. That's all thanks to the magic of Michelle Pfeiffer.
That's all.
Share your Grease 2 memories in the comments and please do watch along and comment on Pfandom. It's a big commitment to and we must have encouragement to keep it up all year! Scarface (1983) is next. We'll try to get back to every Saturday.