the Hollywood Hustle

Rip It Up, Issue 15, 1 September 1978, Page 11

the Hollywood Hustle

Ken Williams

Since the fifties, and even before, Hollywood hasn’t been slow to see the bankability of movies about youth trends. Often, however, the movie moguls have been loath to spend money, Rock Around the Clock looks as if it was filmed in a weekend with a cast of dozens; the Beach Party flicks just needed sand and Annette. Disco, the latest trend, has so far spawned two movies. Both are playing in Queen Street. They make an interesting contrast in the manufacture of what are inarguably exploitational films. Saturday Night Fever is not a cheap film. It’s from the Robert Stigwood mint and stars well-dressed, well-choreographed John Travolta, with a soundtrack dominated by the Bee Gees. Thank God It's Friday is a cheap, cheap film. It’s a Casablanca Records project "starring’’ badly-dressed non-actors who can’t dance. The music is as strident as the murky visuals which plumb new depths in ugliness. Like the audience in the storyline, one hoped for something from the Commodores. Sadly,

they mimed and most of it was lost in the forced frenzy of the dance contest finale. Both films have simple stories. Saturday Night Fever is a calculated melding of the hoary old riff about Brooklyn boy trying to break out of the ghetto with the appearance of today: clothes, dance, attitudes. Thank God It's Friday is just plain dumb. There’s a disco called The Zoo, everyone from two pubescent girls to a suburban couple celebrating their anniversary goes along, finds or loses romance, and there’s a fast-talking DJ (isn’t there always?) who’s meant to supply comedy interest but in fact is a real wimp. Saturday Night Fever has been made with care; TGIF was made. Personally I can’t see the latter having anything like the success of SNF. Its ineptitude is insulting. But, as they say, nobody ever went broke underestimating public taste. TGIF has one big advantage, of course. Even though theSA/f we’re seeing is a ’’soft" version, it’s stiil restricted. TGIF is being pushed as the disco film everyone can see certified GA. God Awful.