The 1978 musical starring John Travolta that was set in the 1950s was Grease.
Directed by Randal Kleiser, Grease adapts Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey’s 1971 stage musical. It follows Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson, whose summer romance becomes complicated when they discover they attend the same California high school. The story’s cars, leather jackets, dances, slang, and rock-and-roll atmosphere deliberately evoke the late 1950s.
Travolta played Danny opposite Olivia Newton-John as Sandy. He had already appeared in a touring production of the stage musical and had become widely known through Saturday Night Fever, another 1970s hit. The film’s soundtrack became a major success, featuring songs such as “Summer Nights,” “Greased Lightnin’,” and “You’re the One That I Want.”
A common mix-up is confusing Grease with Saturday Night Fever because both starred Travolta and were released close together. Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 disco drama set in contemporary Brooklyn, while Grease is a stylized 1950s high-school musical.