Originally Melvin Van Peebles was slated to take on the story of Wendell Scott, the first black driver to both enter NASCAR and win a Grand National Series race, but he left the directorship to Car Wash’s Michael Schultz. Greased Lightning stars Richard Pryor in the title role, continuing to reveal the depth of his range beyond the comedic. Despite taking a few liberties with Scott’s life, the film hardly exaggerates the prejudice and racism the racecar driver experienced throughout his life. With a good-natured, upbeat tone, the inspirational story follows the dramatic cultural shifts from segregation to the civil rights era. Similar to Scott, the film’s stars Pryor and Pam Grier—who plays his loving, more pragmatic wife—survived much racial prejudice and surmounted numerous obstacles throughout their careers. Their onscreen chemistry is also not an embellishment; shortly after the production wrapped, the fictional husband and wife became an actual couple for a while. – BG