Cult classic movie Grease takes place in an American high school, complete with all the expected romance and drama that accompanies the musical genre and high school setting. The movie does a fantastic job of capturing the essence of late 50’s teenager life through its movie sets, but where did the filming take place?
Filming of Grease took place entirely in California, where all of the interior and exterior sets were located. The majority of the scenes at Rydell were filmed at Venice High School and inside Huntington Park High School.
Although Venice High School and Huntington Park High School were the main filming locations for a great deal of the movie’s runtime, there were still a few other notable scenes that took place at other locations in California.
Also, there was one other school involved in the filming, John Marshall High School, though not to the same extent as the two others.
Rydell’s Classic High School Image
Although it’s never expressly stated in the movie, the locations in the story give some pretty strong indicators to a California setting, exactly where the movie was filmed. Perhaps the nostalgia that the movie successfully manages to capture has the choice of filming location to thank, as Rydell inherits all the authenticity of a real high school from the real high schools where the scenes were filmed.
For all of the exterior shots, the choice of school was Venice High School. Founded in 1911, the school boasts a trio of cult flicks that have all been filmed there. Alongside Grease, American History X and Nightmare on Elm Street also used the school as a filming location.
They definitely take particular pride in the fact that they were one of the main filming locations, even going as far as to celebrate the fact with a Grease sing-a-long.
Inside Rydell
The other main location for the Rydell scenes in the movie is Huntington Park High School, where all of the interior shots were filmed. An example that immediately comes to mind of the scenes filmed at Huntington would be the high school dance contest.
The scene is an incredibly memorable one, a high-energy musical number, and an appropriately vigorous and lively dance scene to go with it.
Can you imagine, however, that the filming location inside Huntington Park High School lacked any kind of air conditioning? That fact, combined with unbelievably high temperatures in the gym where the dance was being filmed led to some overheating troubles for the cast.
The Third School
The third school that was used as a filming location for Grease definitely shouldn’t be left out, as it was the proud home of the spectacular carnival scene that ended the movie. The school in question was John Marshall High School.
The part of the school that was used to house the “You’re the One That I Want” musical number and the grand finale was the athletic field of the school. Perhaps even more interesting than the fact it was filmed there, was the fact that character Cha Cha’s actor also attended the school!
Other Iconic Locations
Other than the purely school-orientated locations mentioned so far, there were a few other choice filming spots that defined the movie. First and foremost would have to be the scene where the flame of summer love sparks off the events of the movie, set to the beautiful beach backdrop of Leo Carrillo State Beach.
Initially, there was an entirely different set of plans for the movie, plans that wouldn’t have involved the beach scene. Seeing Sandy and Danny on that beach, however, it’s clear that they made the right choice when they decided to change things up at the last minute.
Another unforgettable scene that simply can’t go without being mentioned before wrapping up an overview of the filming locations is the high octane race scene. The now forever immortalized scene’s location, dubbed ‘Thunder Road’ in the movie, was filmed in the Los Angeles River Basin.
Despite the obvious danger being the fact that it was a high-speed car race, it turned out not to be the case. Instead, the real hazard was the polluted water in the viaduct, the water was stagnant and caused some of the actors to fall ill.
Thankfully nobody came to any real harm throughout the filming process of the movie, just a little bit of overheating and filthy water.