Description
Air Date December 9, 2021: Director John Maggio helms Mr. Saturday Night, chronicles the career of Robert Stigwood, who went from managing artists such as Cream and the Bee Gees to producing the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, which changed the way the movie industry approached soundtrack albums.
This meteoric career of Australian entrepreneur Robert Stigwood, who gambled on a magazine article about the Brooklyn night club scene and turned it into the 1977 cultural touchstone “Saturday Night Fever,” making a global superstar out of John Travolta, and reinvigorating disco with a platinum-selling soundtrack album anchored by four number one hits from the Bee Gees. The film tracks Stigwood’s journey from managing artists such as Eric Clapton and the Bee Gees, to producing the hit shows “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Tommy,” and “Evita,” to forever changing the way film studios approached movie soundtrack synergy, leaving an indelible mark on American cinema and the record industry for decades to come.
Brimming with the sights and sounds of the era and hearing from many of the key players at the time, MR. SATURDAY NIGHT details Robert Stigwood’s rise on the music scene in Britain in the 60s, and his years of cultural dominance in America as a manager, producer and taste-making genius. His crowning achievement was optioning a gritty New York Magazine article by Nik Cohn titled “Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night” and taking on the leadership of Paramount Pictures who never quite believed in the “little disco movie.” In a prescient coup, he signed TV actor John Travolta and married the rhythmic dance music of the Bee Gees to the resulting movie. While often remembered as a beat-happy story of disco dancing, “Saturday Night Fever” captured the zeitgeist of disaffected youth struggling to break free of their milieu.
As well as telling the story of the genesis and production of “Saturday Night Fever,” MR. SATURDAY NIGHT tracks the colorful history of disco, its origins as a liberating form of entertainment for mainly Black and gay men, to its rise in popularity and acceptance by the mainstream. The Stigwood-produced movie and best-selling double-album soundtrack reinvigorated the life of disco which would fade away at the end of the 70s with Disco Demolition Night in Chicago and the rise of punk and rock music. After an unprecedented period of dominance, Stigwood experienced a string of unsuccessful projects, leading him to retire early and enjoy the financial benefits of his earlier success.
A self-proclaimed gambler who acted on instinct, an impresario and astute dealmaker, Robert Stigwood created the modern-day movie soundtrack business model, proving himself a visionary at predicting cultural tastes and trends. MR. SATURDAY NIGHT is a vibrant portrayal of the man behind the musical that stands at the apotheosis of the disco generation.
Total Duration: 1 Hour Minutes 22 Minutes in FULL HD
Angela Buzzoni (verified owner) –
“Mr. Saturday Night” is another excellent documentary that MVR has made available & it is a must-have for any nostalgic fans of 1970’s music & movie documentaries. This DVD has STUNNING HD picture, sound and runs for 1 hour 22 minutes. Aired in 2021 and directed by John Maggio, it centers around cultural phenomenon “Robert Stigwood” a successful music manager and broadway producer who famously represented the Beatles, the Bee Gees and Eric Clapton, just to name a few. A 06/07/1976 New York Times article by Nik Cohn, about the New York disco scene titled “Tribal Rites Of The New Saturday Night” caught Robert’s attention. He imagined it as a hit movie and he immediately went to work on bringing his idea to life. Robert was the one who decided to take previously written and recorded Bee Gee songs and add them to the Saturday Night Fever movie and soundtrack. Included are many still pictures with archival video and audio along with interview clips from Freddie Gershon, the president of the Robert Stigwood Group, John Travolta, The Bee Gees, Robert himself, two of Robert’s assistants, Patrick Bywalski and James Dayley, among many others. An in-depth look at disco includes the 2001 Odyssey, which was located in a New York, Italian, Brooklyn neighborhood, clips from John Travolta’s early work, such as an insurance commercial and the Welcome Back Kotter TV show along with 1970’s movie soundtrack releases (such as Jaws, The Godfather and Star Wars). Saturday Night Fever movie clips are also shown throughout the program. This is a must have for serious collectors of one of Hollywood mogul’s. Thank you, MVR, for making it available on DVD for all of us!