Saturday Night Fever

Top 10 Fun Facts

1. The only movie soundtrack to sell more copies than Saturday Night Fever is 1992's The Bodyguard. We're not sure who hits the higher notes, though: Whitney Houston or the Bee Gees.
2. The soundtrack dropped prior to the film and helped promote its release - an early example of cross-media marketing (See also: The Monkees).
3. The script was inspired by a 1976 article in New York Magazine titled "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night" by British writer Nik Cohn. Who knew a story about disco would create a cinema icon?
4. Travolta's white polyester suit was purchased by a famous fan: movie critic Gene Siskel. Siskel bought the suit for $2,000 in 1978, and years later sold it at a charity auction for $145,000. Way to go, charity!
5. Turns out that unforgettable white suit almost wasn't. Travolta thought black would look cooler, until someone suggested to him that white would make him easier to see in the dark dance club scenes.
6. The instrumental track "Manhattan Skyline" went on to have a life of its own after appearing on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack - it's been heard in movie trailers, commercials and promotional films.
7. Fran Drescher improvised the moment when her character Connie puts a hand on John Travolta's rear end. The director thought it seemed like something Connie would do, so he left it in the film.
8. Something else Connie would do? Go commando! Fran Drescher has since revealed that she wasn't wearing underwear in her scene with John Travolta before Tony's big solo dance.
9. Travolta dropped 20 pounds for the movie, with a strict training program of 2-mile runs and 3-hour dance sessions. Clearly he knew the secrets to the Dancing with the Stars diet long before Kelly Osbourne and Mel B.
10. Co-star Donna Pescow went the other direction - to convince producers that she wasn't "too pretty" to play the role of Annette, she gained 40 pounds and revived her native Brooklyn accent.

Cast

Crew