It was panned on release – so why are we hopelessly devoted to Grease 40 years later?

An endorsement of rape culture or a rejection of slut-shaming: the debate over the film continues, four decades on.

How did it become arguably the most beloved movie musical of all time?• Sign up for Film Today and get our film team’s highlights of the dayWhen Grease was released in cinemas in 1978, a starry, bubblegum-bright adaptation of the 1971 Chicago-to-Broadway musical, the initial reviews were not kind.

“A grave disappointment to anyone in search of style or substance,” wrote the Guardian’s Derek Malcolm that year – although, like many of his similarly unimpressed critical peers, he did concede that it was fun and likely to be a big hit.

Such an assessment turned out to be as understated as Sandy’s pre-makeover twinset-and-pearls.

According to Box Office Mojo, Grease is the second-most-successful musical movie ever, beaten only in the past 12 months by Disney’s mammoth Beauty and the Beast live-action reboot.

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