Saturday Night Fever
1977
****
Director: John Badham
Cast: John Travolta, Karen Lynn Gorney, Barry Miller, Joseph Cali, Paul Pape, Donna Pescow, Bruce Ornstein, Martin Shakar, Julie Bovasso, Fran Drescher
Tony Manero is a cocky 19-year-old New Yorker who lives with his parents and works in a dead-end job. Saturday night in the local discotheque is the highlight of his week. There Tony wants to take part in a dance contest, which he hopes will act as a launching pad to a better life. John Badham's enjoyable and electric dance drama has become synonymous with its groovy, best-selling soundtrack by the Bee Gees, but this gritty coming-of-age story has much more to offer. John Travolta is full of energy in his breakthrough performance. Norman Wexler's script is based on a New York magazine article Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night by Nik Cohn
