Question: At the bandstand dance there's an extra who gets a lot of camera time. (Brown jacket, open shirt and tie around his neck). As well as a delayed shot of him, Sandy also bumps into him when leaving. Not sure why he gets so much camera time almost as if he had a part elsewhere that got cut out. Any thoughts?
Answer: That makes sense to me. I've wondered about him too. But I've seen him in many other scenes when watching the movie again tonight on TV to honour the passing of Dame Olivia Newton-John.
Question: Why didn't Sandy immediately telephone Danny when she found out she and her family were not going back to Australia, and that she would be attending his high school?
Answer: Perhaps Sandy didn't know the high school she would be going was the same as Danny's, so she didn't think to call him already, but wanted to do it later. It's all very vague about where it all come from. The point is she never thought she would see Danny again, just like Danny thought he would never see her again. With that in mind they might indeed not have exchanged phone numbers anyway so no way to contact each other.
Answer: Maybe they didn't exchange phone numbers.
Answer: Again, he had his reputation as a Ladies Man, he didn't want the gang to know, he was wimping out and had fall in love. Remember the song, "Summer Lovin" He told of scoring with a hot babe, while Sandy sang of true love.
Answer: More than likely, based on Sandy's demeanor and adherence to etiquette, she would not have exchanged her number with a boy. She even said to Rizzo at the lunch table that she went to the beach to see a boy she met so most likely she and Danny would have made plans in person to meet up like they did.
Answer: I had an exchange student LIVE in my parents house for a month when I was in high school in 1990. I liked her a lot. We were the same age. We got along. I did not have her phone number when she left. Why? Because there was no way my father was letting me call France "long distance" in 1990. In 1959, I'm going to say that calling long distance was probably not on their radar as a viable option. Not to mention - realistically, when you're 17, and you never think you're going to see each other again because you're separated by continent, what would be the point of exchanging numbers?
This was a nice story, but has nothing to with answering the question. Sandy didn't live with Danny, so they would have exchanged local numbers, or at least Danny would have given Sandy his number if she didn't know the number where she was staying so they could call each other during the summer. For your story to be slightly comparable, the exchange student would have had live somewhere else. In that scenario you certainly would have given her your number and she wouldn't give you her number in France but where she was staying.
Question: What does Rizzo mean at the Frosty Palace when she asks Danny if someone is snaking him?
Answer: Actually, according to Cassell's Dictionary of Slang, snake means "to whip or punish, " originating from a teamsters whip which was commonly called a "snake" in the 1930's. I rewatched the scene with this definition in mind and it fits perfectly. Rizzo walks in and immediately notices Sandy sitting at a table with Tom. She walks straight over to where Danny is sitting with the rest of the gang and says, while glancing back over her shoulder at Sandy, "somebody snakin' ya Danny?" It seems clear Rizzo is referencing Sandy's behavior, which is designed to punish Danny for treating her poorly in front of his friends.
Answer: It's 50s slang and she's asking if Tom is moving in and stealing his girl.
Question: Why did they change the movie version when it went to VHS/DVD? There was a scene where Sandy was in the office and Kenicky came in and spoke to her... It's lost now?
Answer: It's not uncommon for films to be changed from the theatrical release to the version you can buy for your home collection. Normally the changes are slight and for some older releases were done to secure a more favourable rating - these edits tend to get restored in later releases though. Having said that another version often turns up on the telly one day with scenes that have never been seen before, then there's sometimes a "Director's Cut" on a DVD somewhere which is different still and often significantly longer. TL;DR - there can be multiple versions of a movie.
Question: When Sandy is watching the race, she takes her shoes off. Why? It makes no sense, because it's a dirty place. And she's wearing very white socks.
Answer: She was wearing regular shoes, not sandals or sneakers, not made for walking on concrete.
She's wearing Keds. So yeah they're sneakers. It makes no sense.
Answer: I was watching the movie recently. I suddenly thought: she, as Olivia, takes them of because they are not comfortable. In the scene she is not walking much on them.
Question: Any idea what the reference to "banging erasers" is all about? I always thought she said "banging your races" or "banging your braces" but never understood what it meant?
Answer: Banging erasers is what kids had to do as punishment. Erasers are used to clear the chalkboards, eventually they will get full of chalk and not work properly anymore so you bang them together to get the chalk out.
Answer: It was a reference to detention. She suggests that he will be banging erasers after school.
Question: Why did Principal McGee look so upset during ChaCha and Danny's dance?
Answer: They had mentioned as part of the rules that any vulgar dancing would result in disqualification, so I think her reaction wasn't just displeasure about the dance moves, but she's stressed and on the fence about whether or not to step in and disqualify them.
Answer: They were dancing in a very suggestive manner, and it made her uncomfortable.
So what? She could've had it broken up, them tossed out but logic's not used in musicals.
Breaking them up and tossing them out, that was not as easy as you make it sound. Before the contest started, McGee even said rule #3 was "tasteless or vulgar" dancing will be "disqualified," however she was not judging the contest. Despite McGee's uneasiness with Danny and Cha Cha's very suggestive dance moves, she chose not to have the popular pair disqualified. Rydell's dance was being televised, and at that point Danny and Cha Cha were the only two dancers left on the floor, surrounded by everyone else's exuberant enthusiastic support.
She was not judging the contest nor was she enforcing the rules, thus making her powerless in this situation.
Question: Was Principal McGee only bluffing when she announced that the "pictures" of the mooners were "on their way to Washington" to simply scare the three into admitting? Or was she serious about that and therefore wanted to give those responsible a chance to come in?
Answer: It's definitely a bluff. I highly doubt the FBI can identify people by butt.
Question: The T birds were talking about "jugs and nets" what are they referring to?
Answer: The line is, "Nobody's jugs are bigger than Annette's." He is referring to actress Annette Funicello, one of the original Mickey Mouse Club Mouseketeers during the 1950s. She was known for her voluptuous figure.
Question: When Vince Fontain talks to the crowd before the contest starts, he says "you Jims and Sals are my best pals" I understand that's how he addresses the students, but does that expression have any connotation? Why does he use it?
Answer: It's just rhyming slang used by radio hosts.
Question: During the car race, we see Cha-cha say "Cmon babe." Is she referring to Danny or the Scorpions leader? (Remember that Danny wasn't originally supposed to be the driver).
Chosen answer: She's referring to Leo, the leader of the Scorpions.
Answer: I think she's secretly meaning Danny because at the dance she calls him "Zuko Baby" and then at the race she says "c'mon baby"
Question: Why did Vince say "Don't be a slob don't get a job"? How does that make sense for high schoolers? Isn't it a good thing for them to get a job?
Answer: On the radio we hear Vince Fontaine say, "Get out of bed. It's the first day of school. Don't be a slob. Don't get a job. Go back to class. You can pass!" Vince is advising his teen listeners to go back to class on the first day of school. That they should not be a high school drop-out and get a job (full-time), but instead to stay in school and they can pass their classes. Vince doesn't mean the teenagers who have part-time jobs while they're going to high school.
Question: During the beginning of the dance off, Jan is crying (while Vince Fontaine is doing the announcement). Why?
Answer: While Vince is talking mere moments before going live on the air, Jan's getting nervous, keyed-up, and emotional, so she begins to stare and sob, much to the chagrin of Putzie. Then before the 10-second countdown she excitedly tries to get Frenchie's attention.
Question: Did Sonny and Marty become a couple at the end? You see them both dancing together during the finale but for the rest of the film, there's no suggestion that they are a couple, so I was a bit confused.
Question: After Rizz brings Sandy to Danny as a surprise, Sandy runs off, and Danny looks at Rizz. Is it a look of being annoyed by Rizz, or is it "I'm sorry I hurt you before, I get why you've done this"?
Answer: He's hurt and he gives her a look of "You did this deliberately" - by bringing Sandy to meet him in front of the T-Birds, she blindsided him (and Sandy) and forced him to bring out his T-Bird persona during their surprise reunion. Obviously, that's not how he wanted his reunion with Sandy to go, and Rizzo is loving it. Rizzo is my fave character, but that bit is messed up. She may be doing it to get him back for using her as a one-night stand (before he met Sandy, not recently enough to have been the father of the suspected pregnancy like the other poster suggested). She may simply be doing it to spite Sandy because she dislikes her, and Danny is hurt and annoyed that she upset Sandy.
Question: I had a Grease Novelbook in 1979 (a book version with movie pictures and most of the script from the full movie popular shortly after the movie's release) and in that, during the end of the pep rally scene (before Frenchie's house where Sandy is crying and talking with Frenchie about Danny), the line Frenchie says ("The only man a girl can depend on is her daddy") has the added line "if he doesn't drink." I then noticed the movie didn't have that last line added. Did the play version ever have that line in it?
Answer: The original Broadway show (early-mid 70s) did not have those lines, and it didn't have that early pep rally scene. Also, in the Broadway play, the sleepover pajama party scene was at Marty's house, not Frenchy's. For the film version of Grease (1978), there were many changes, omissions, and additions. As for the book versions (novelization, storybook, fotobook) based on the 1978 film, there can also be some minor discrepancies between them and the film, regarding deleted dialogue or production photos from cut scenes.
Answer: I remember watching a commentary when I was young. This woman on the crew pointed out that it was her son, or the son of a different crew member. I can't remember specifics because I watched the commentary over 10-years-ago. She may have been a producer or someone like that.