Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: MR. SATURDAY NIGHT [DOC NYC 2021 - Virtual]
The aspect of trends sometimes comes down specifically to timing. Sometimes it is just the right aspect of knowing talent and how it can fit together. In the mid 70s, Robert Stigwood hit a really specific pitch in knowing how to bridge music, concerts and films. Mostly as one watches "Mr Saturday Night", he was moving by the seat of his pants. It served him well but he also was logical enough when he got out to know when his time wa. But his instinct balanced with his own prolictivities determined a very specific approach that was nothing short of fate. The essence of disco is interestingly discussed in terms of his genesis and why it was what it was. This is one of the underlying currents that the doc explores. The irony comes in the New York Magazine article that inspired Saturday Night Fever because what it discussed was something much more toxic than even what was on screen at times.
Nik Cohn the writer of that article, relates in voice over, how he and a black friend went to Bay Ridge to check on this very and completely Italian disco but how it showed how inherently racist NY was at that time. Cohn's perception in many ways is a revelation but also the irony in the actual origin of the Tony Manero story. The aspect of Stigwood is a linear story but shows him a dealmaker who somehow knew something about the soundtracks in "Grease" and "Saturday Night Fever" that Paramount and then Chief Michael Eisner missed. Stigwood was able to make a deal to get a distinct first dollar gross of the soundtrack. It is said in the film that George Lucas for "Star Wars" used Stigwood's approach in his negotiation because it had never been done before. Stigwood also figured out the approach for the Bee Gees and John Travolta's 3 picture deal. Again he was ahead of the game. Granted to say there are alot of near tidbits but aspects that were already part of the ether. It isn't revelatory but it is detailed in showing motivation and reaction while still showing a journey of a man through culture. Stigwood was a man who could walk in many worlds and still face off between studio heads, The Beatles and even disco haters. B
By Tim Wassberg
