In the 1970s, John Travolta danced his way into our hearts with his performance in Saturday Night Fever. The now-iconic scene of Travolta strutting down the street in a white suit is one that will be remembered for years to come. Travolta, however, almost didn’t get the chance to dance in the scene.
Saturday Night Fever was shot between December 1976 and August 1977. After filming had wrapped up, Paramount Pictures decided that there wasn’t enough disco music in the film. The studio brought in Bee Gees frontman Barry Gibb to rework some of composer David Shire’s instrumental disco pieces with a little help from fellow Bee Gee, Robin Gibb. The result was the hit song “Stayin’ Alive,” which is heard during the scene in which Travolta dances (and climbs on top of cars).
What wasn’t originally planned for the scene were break dancing moves like those displayed by Travolta in the final version. Those moves were actually improvised by Travolta when director John Badham mentioned that he wanted to see some dancing on cars. Initially, Travolta could only come up with dance moves while standing still or walking toward the camera. When it came time to shoot the scene, Travolta asked Badham if he could try the moves that he had improvised.
Badham liked Travolta’s idea and they filmed the scene in one take.
In a 2000 interview, Travolta stated that dancing around on top of cars wasn’t as easy as it looks: “I was up on a platform about three-and-a-half feet off the ground and I was afraid that I would fall. And if you look closely, my knees are bent in that scene because my instinct is to balance myself. It looks like I’m very confident but it’s just an act.”
Travolta went on to say that he wasn’t even sure they got the shot: “I did the scene and John Badham said, ‘That was great! We got it!’ And I thought, ‘Oh man, I’m glad that’s over!'”
The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack would go on to win a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978. Travolta would be nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for his performance in the film.
Saturday Night Fever is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
