MOVIE REVIEW : ‘70s ‘Fever’ Staying Alive in the ‘90s : Seen these days, the Travolta film is pure nostalgia, both ridiculous and sublime. It screens at Cal State Fullerton with ‘Roller Boogie,’ which is a real stinker.

Could any sane person have predicted the disco era? In the wake of the subversive ‘60s, disco opted for conformity in silly clothes and even sillier music. We may have enjoyed this mindless, playful stretch, but even then we had to be wondering about it. What’s more baffling, it’s all come back! Disco is hot at the hottest clubs.

Well, neo-discomaniacs may be jutting hips and pointing fingers all over Hollywood, but it’s doubtful that they have anything on Tony Manero.

Manero was the character John Travolta played in “Saturday Night Fever,” a role that made Travolta poster boy for the disco generation when the movie came out in 1977. “Fever” and “Roller Boogie” from 1979 are being shown tonight at Cal State Fullerton in a free “Retro Night” tribute.

Seen these days, “Saturday Night Fever” is pure nostalgia, both ridiculous and sublime. To watch Travolta is to remember ourselves, strutting through a dance hall, bathed in a twinkle of lights from a twirling ball overhead.

All Manero wants to do is dance, dance, dance. He takes it and himself so seriously. He practices his myriad steps over and over again, as though they constitute some sort of search for identity, and even if you are giggling at such commitment, you have to respect it. Director John Badham and Travolta gave Tony passion, and it draws us to the guy.

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Badham also filled the screen with bristling energy. The club passages, as Tony and others fling themselves into the disco ritual, were filmed guilelessly and without condescension. Badham seemed to think he was onto something important (even if he really wasn’t) and treated this subculture accordingly. The gooey subplot about Tony wooing a stuck-up dancing queen (Karen Lynn Gorney) doesn’t work very well, but those smoky, atmospherically lit club scenes click.

The second part of this double-bill is a stinker, and that’s that. It’s the story of a rich girl (Linda Blair) who runs away to enter a disco roller-skating contest with a poor boy (Jim Bray). Along the way, they hook up with other skaters to keep the mob from taking over their favorite roller rink. It’s as dumb as it sounds.

* “Roller Boogie” will be shown at 8 and “Saturday Night Fever” at 10 tonight in the Titan Theatre at the Cal State Fullerton University Center, 800 N. State College Blvd., Fullerton. Free. (714) 773-3501.