Olivia - John Travolta magazine

Οlivia Newton-John teamed up with the fantastic John Travolta for the movie Grease and, unveiling her previously hidden acting and dancing talents, the rave reviews just poured in.

Like Arthur Knight, the Hollywood Reporter critic, who wrote: Olivia was already triumphant in that vast new world of rock concerts and records. But in the movie she can tear the house apart with a number like 'You're The One That I Want' and still project a youthful innocence and vulnerability totally in keeping with the character she is asked to portray. I project for her cinematic longevity, if she so chooses.

No wonder Olivia Newton-John today is a very happy girl. Critics, claiming Grease as her movie debut, shower her with praise.

But... Truth is that this wasn't her first movie. And the reviews of that first film, in which she was girl singer in a group called Toomorrow (note the spelling!), made her wince.

Obviously the sheer dynamic impact of John Travolta helped Olivia to make it big in the movie world. Like many millions of other girls, she fell immediately under the spell of John Travolta. But, contrary to the gossip-mongers, there was no question of them being involved romantically.

She says, still breathless from her weeks on the Grease set: There just had to be people saying John and I were that-a-way, as they used to say in the corny old movies. And it was a bit worse because at the time I had split up, just temporarily, from my real boy-friend, Lee Kramer, who also is my manager.

But what was hard for me was that I'd never been involved in this kind of gossip before, I know it goes on all the time in Hollywood, but I wasn't prepared to have it happen to me.

FIGHT

n fact, the fight to success, to an eventual part in dancing/singing routines with John Travolta in a huge box-office success movie, took ages. Olivia may look peaches-and-cream soft, but she's had to struggle every inch of the way.

Her early days still stick in her mind. She recalls: I was born in England, but raised in Australia. My father was Master at Ormond College in Melbourne and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne. My parents' marriage broke up when I was just a kid, and I guess that's a bad experience for anybody to live through.

I was a kind of educational outcast. I was out of school when I was 15, and into coffee-bars, singing folk songs. It was more fun than school, but I didn't get rich.

At 16, she came to London and cut her first record, a version of Bob Dylan's song 'If Not for You', along with her partner Pat, a girl-friend. But Livvie and Pat were not in the same class as Simon and Garfunkel.

The two girls struggled on, against indifference from record company executives. Livvie says: I had a boyfriend back in Australia, but I knew that if I wanted to find success I had to get out and look the world right in the eye.

But as Pat and I toured the clubs, I realised I was incredibly naive. People would ask us if we were on drugs and all that, but we never ever knew that kind of thing went on. I guess we were living kinda dangerously, as a couple of girls out in the big wide world, but we'd just do our show, then get home for supper by ourselves in our digs.

ROLLS

One time we went off the rails I mean, we actually took off to go to the continent. We wanted to see different places. I was 18. Acted more like 14. We were usually so broke in France and places like that, we'd steal rolls laid out for breakfast, then get bits of cheese to go with them to make up lunch and dinner. Back in England, and alone because Pat had to return to Australia, Livvie met up with Bruce Welch backstage at a theatre. He was packing away the equipment, so I assumed he was just a sweeper-upper.

Their relationship, planned to end in marriage, eventually broke up. Olivia was heartbroken. She says: People look at me now, working with John Travolta and having hit records with him and all that, and they assume it has all been easy. But I know only too well that you don't get anywhere in this business without some heartbreak,

Many a flash movie executive has promised Olivia a career in films, or as a superstar of stage and records. Most are just out for what they can get. But one guy was different. He was Harry Saltzman, co-producer of the James Bond movies, and he wanted Olivia to be the girl singer in this made-to-measure group called Toomorrow.

Inspired by the way the Monkees had been specially created for the pop world, he felt a mixed vocal team could make an even bigger impact. Now Saltzman really looked like he wasn't kidding. With his prestige, surely the group, and the projected movie, and the big theatre shows, couldn't fail.

But it did. Olivia says: The records failed, everything flopped. It was chaos. We argued with each other. It was... well, okay, it was another slice of heartbreak.

Then there was the song Olivia hated at first hearing. It was called If Not For You. But she persevered with it, just to keep the peace with her record company. And it was a huge hit... the first of many.

The year was 1971 or around seven years before Grease. If Not For You got to number 25 in the American charts and number seven over here. It was 'Banks Of The Ohio' which was a number five smash in the U.K., and took her further into American territory. Then the hits really flowed: 'What Is Life', Take Me Home Country Roads, 'Let Me Be There', 'If You Love Me Let Me Know', 'I Honestly Love You', 'Love Live Love' all milestones through to the staggering worldwide success on 'You're The One That I Want' with John Travolta... and the poignant 'Hopelessly Devoted To You' triumph of Livvie's solo ballad (written by John Farrar, another ex-Shadow) from Grease

MAGIC

Sharing the magic of young love with the torrid Travolta has simply pushed the still-modest, ever-charming Olivia further up the ladder.

Her acceptance in the U.S. as a recording artist war remarkable, for the Americans accepted her as a country music singer. This is something which had never occurred to the Anglo-Australian lass, but the highest praise came from critics in Nashville, Tennessee, heart of country country, so she didn't argue.

She won awards as the most promising new country artist and generally appeared on all the top shows in that idiom. It was, for her, a totally unexpected pathway to superstardom.

Now Olivia tries not to remember that first, dreadful movie experience with the group Toomorrow, but she is so honest that she can't tell even half-truths about how bad it all was. But she quickly switches to Grease and John Travolta.

She says: It's been a complete change for me. A real breakthrough from what I had been doing. Right from the moment I met John to do my first screen test, I knew we'd get on well together.

She laughs that very distinctive little laugh. The dancing bits were very important. People on the set would kid John and me, saying 'Watch out, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' but filming the hop was the most fun of all, and I'd love to dance again in films if they'd only let me.

Actually Olivia's flair for musical comedy had previously led to a couple of big-budget television specials, one in England and one for ABC Television in the States. Also, she'd seen the stage version of Grease in London back in 1973 and loved it... though I never thought I'd get the part of Sandy. But I sure could identify with Sandy, seeing how she found it all so strange moving from Australia to the States.

When I actually got to the States, I wasn't so naive, because of my struggles in show-business, but 1 still understood her problems.

EXPERTS

Making the movie meant that Olivia didn't go on stage for a live show for the best part of a year. She admits: I can't say I honestly missed it, because there was so much excitement in each new day working with John on the studio sets. Filming was great and I feel I have a kind of raw ability, which all those experts working on Grease managed to build for me.

I'd like to do more films, but I can't just ignore stage shows. I guess I'll see what happens next. I'd hate to go into a movie where I had all the responsibility and then just fall flat on my face.

Now Olivia has her own suite of offices on Sunset Boulevarde in Los Angeles, where people guide her fantastic career. A signed picture of John Travolta has pride of place. At 29, life is good for Livvie. She also has her own ranch in Malibu, sharing it with her horses Judge, Copy, Jay, Eloise, George, Alex and Pipes; her Great Danes Zargon, Domino and Gretchen; her cats and her Irish setter Jackson.

There are still people in Hollywood who like to stir up a little trouble for a new girl like Olivia. She says philosophically: You have freedom to do just what you want, of course, but you've got to be prepared for the fact that whatever it is, the whole Hollywood world will know about it.

LUCK

Superstar Olivia adds, with remarkable modesty: I'm the lucky one. I'm sure there are a million girl singers who are much better than I am, but that's not what it is all about. If only the greatest singers were the ones making it, then the whole business would change. If your luck is in, you get the right song at the right time, and the public applaud.

She is convinced that one day she will marry and have children, though the very thought tends to frighten her. She is sure that romance and realism can go hand-in-hand, so she can remain romantic as a person, but still be realistic enough to cope with the obvious problems of being a superbly attractive girl in the jungle of show-business.

Olivia Newton-John is special. Just ask John Travolta about that.

Grease - a Story of the Film

Saturday Night Fever was about today and tomorrow, but "Grease", John Travolta's new musical film, which is opening in London on September 13th, is all about yesterday 1959, to be exact. In real life, John was only five years old when the rockers greased back their hair, donned their leather jackets and joined their rival gangs, but the movie reproduces the era so realistically that John slides into his role as a rock 'n' roll dancer as easily as he became disco king in 'Saturday Night Fever'.

One thing the movie's bound to do is reawaken an interest in good old rock era dancing, when couples jived and threw each other about in breathtaking feats of athleticism. Another thing it's already doing is starting a new fashion look. Although 'Grease' has only just arrived, boutiques are already stocking up with the '50s look and that short, slick hairstyle is bound to catch on with the guys. So John's trend-setting for the second time this year!

Although 'Grease' is all about being young and vital, and features lots of singing and dancing, the main theme is teenage romance. And the two people destined to fall in love and break each other's hearts many times over are Danny Zuko (John Travolta) and Sandy Dee (Olivia Newton-John).

The story of 'Grease' isn't anything new to John. In fact, for five whole years, Fate has caused the musical to cross his path, as if waiting for the right time to hand him the lead role and give him his biggest hit part ever. It was in 1973, just before John's nineteenth birthday, that he landed a singing and dancing part in a roadshow version of 'Grease', which was touring the country after the show had been a hit on Broadway. Then, John was just another aspiring star, an excellent singer and dancer, but a relative unknown who would be unlikely to have been considered for the lead role in the movie version of the show. It took his stint in 'Welcome Back, Kotter' and his roles in 'Carrie' and 'Saturday Night Fever' to make it obvious to the producers that he was a natural for the part of Danny Zuko.

Once he started work on the movie, he had a distinct advantage over many of the others in the cast he's spent so long in the roadshow that he nine months, in fact knew the story backwards and had already developed strong ideas on how the part of Danny should be played. This confidence certainly shows in his film performance, which is strong, super energetic and thoroughly convincing!

A love story isn't interesting unless it involves a few problems, and the relationship between Danny and Sandy in 'Grease' certainly doesn't run smoothly! For a start, you've got the classic situation of two high-school students from different backgrounds and with completely contrasting sets of values. Danny is the tough guy, the leader of a tough gang called The Thunderbirds. They like their girls to be tough, too cissies of either sex are scorned and made fun of and The Thunderbirds knock round with a girl gang called The Pink Ladies.

Danny and Sandy meet during the summer vacation and spend weeks on the beach together, falling in love. Danny is separated from his gang and, away from them, is a different person, warm, and friendly, not the poser and show-off he becomes when he's with his buddies. Sandy is a sweet, nicely brought up girl, and she charms Danny.

Once the holidays are over, though, both of them go back to school and once Danny's back with his gang, a complete change comes over him. He adopts his cool, devil-may-care attitude again and boasts to his mates about the pretty girl he pulled on the beach during the holidays.

However, Sandy, quite by chance, gets transferred to the same school as Danny and finds she can hardly recognise the gentle Danny she knew in the slick, sarcastic greaser she's now faced with. She tries to get well in with the gang of girls Danny and his friends obviously admire so much, The Pink Ladies, but soon realises she's just not their type and has no desire to emulate their ways. She'd rather be a neat, wholesome, high-kicking cheerleader on the school sports field than a sneering, freakily dressed Pink Lady!

However, when Danny spurns her for champion dancer Cha Cha and goes on to win a dance competition with her, Sandy is almost ready to give up, especially when she hears that she wasn't the only girl in his life during the summer holidays Cha Cha featured quite prominently, too!

The two of them go through several make-ups and break-ups. Each time, they decide that they are far too different to ever stay together. Yet some strange emotion always brings them back together again. Quite independently of each other, they both decide that they'll have to change their ways slightly, in order to appeal to the other more. Rather than being themselves, both Danny and Sandy start trying to be the person they think the other one wants and much emotional confusion arises as a result!

Apart from the central love theme, there's lots of excitement in other departments, too, such as the great hot-rod burn up between Danny and his friend Kenickie in their souped up car, 'Greased Lightning', and the car belonging to a rival group, The Scorpions. What with that, and the wild dancing sequences, there's plenty to excite you and hold your attention.

The double album from 'Grease' rushed to the top of the American charts and looks all set for a repeat performance here.

Now that John's had two amazing successes in musical movies, is he likely to make another one and score a hat-trick? Not from the rumours we've heard. His next film looks like being something completely different but we'll tell you more about that in a later issue!