Saturday Night Fever

A Brooklyn youth feels his only chance to get somewhere is as the king of the disco floor.

• Director: John Badham
• Genre:Drama / Music / Romance
• Runtime:114 minutes

Cast

John Travolta : Tony Manero
Karen Lynn Gorney: Stephanie
Barry Miller : Bobby C.
Joseph Cali : Joey
Paul Pape : Double J.

The film is about 19-year-old Tony Manero (John Travolta), a young Italian American from the New York City borough of Brooklyn who works a dead-end job in a small hardware store by day, but rules the dance floor at night with his frequent appearances at 2001 Odyssey, a Brooklyn dance club.

While at 2001 Odyssey, Tony is seen in the company of his three close friends, Joey (Joseph Cali); Double J (Paul Pape); and the diminutive Bobby C. (Barry Miller), still in high school. It is presumed Bobby C., though younger, is part of the gang because he is the only one with a car (a run-down Chevrolet Impala). An informal member of their gang is Annette (Donna Pescow), a neighborhood girl who has apparently been Tony’s partner in previous dance competitions and longs for a more permanent relationship with him.

Tony, knowing Annette has the right moves to win an upcoming dance competition, recruits her to participate with him in the contest, much to her delight. Her happiness is short-lived, however, when Tony abruptly terminates their partnership after seeing Stephanie Mangano (Karen Lynn Gorney) dance at the disco and later at a neighborhood dance studio. Stephanie is a tall, attractive, talented dancer with what Tony assumes is a more committed potential toward winning the competition. Despite her initial frosty and superior attitude toward Tony, after much urging, Stephanie agrees to partner with him in the contest.

Stephanie works as a secretary for a magazine publisher in Manhattan; she is poised to move there, where she has more opportunities to work her way up. She even talks about meeting celebrities like Joe Namath and David Bowie at the offices of the magazine she works at. This awakens in Tony the need to transcend his Bay Ridge, Brooklyn working-class roots. However, Stephanie ultimately reveals her own vulnerabilities to Tony.

Also examined in the film is Tony’s relationship with his family, including Frank Jr., Tony’s older brother and clearly his parents’ favorite. Tony’s mother dotes on Frank Jr., who shatters his parents’ dreams of what he refers to as “pious glory” by abandoning the priesthood. This may be partly because Frank Jr. no longer wishes to spend his life in celibacy, but mainly, as he tries to explain to Tony, because he has doubts about his faith and is disillusioned with the Church. Read more