Xanadu (1980)

My Review

“Xanadu” is a musical fantasy film about a struggling artist who meets a mysterious woman who encourages him to partner with a retired big band leader to convert an old auditorium to Xanadu, a large roller-disco nightclub. Director Robert Greenwald put together what is no doubt the worst film of 1980 with lousy writing, a terrible storyline, unfocused direction, unbelievably bad music, and atrocious choreography. The stinker of a screenplay was written by Richard Christian Danus and Marc Reid Rubel.

The cast is headed by Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly, whose great talents were squandered with this project. It was embarrassing to see Gene Kelly, the veteran of so many classic musicals of the 1940’s and 1950’s, in the scene where he was skating (and singing) roller derby-style around the track. Co-stars include Michael Beck, James Sloyan, Jo Ann Harris, and Wilfred Hyde-White in a voice role as Zeus.

The unwatchable “Xanadu” was a box office bomb for Universal Studios. This film inspired the creation of the Golden Raspberry Awards, which commemorates Hollywood’s duds of the year. “Xanadu” received six nominations the first year, winning one for Best Director. The movie was also nominated for two Stinkers Bad Movie Awards. “Xanadu” was filmed around the Los Angeles area, capturing the historic Pan-Pacific Auditorium on Beverly Blvd. on film for all time. It was destroyed in a fire in 1989.