This Day in Pop Culture for December 14

1977: America Catches ‘Saturday Night Fever’

The movie Saturday Night Fever arrived in theaters on this day in 1977 and propelled both John Travolta as well as the music group, the Bee Gees to even greater stardom that they had already achieved. However, the only songs actually written for the movie were “Stayin’ Alive” and “Night Fever.” Though often made fun of now, at the time, the film had favorable reviews and was nominated for four Golden Globes and an Oscar for Best Actor. The original release of the movie was rated R, but a second, PG version of the film was released two years later that took out the nudity, bad language and violence. The film was re-released a third time in 1980 alongside another Travolta hit – Grease.