Dirty Dancing (1987)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Emile Ardolino

Writer:

Eleanor Bergstein (written by)

Release Date:

21 August 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Have The Time Of Your Life

Plot:

Spending the summer in a holiday camp with her family, Frances ('Baby') falls in love with the camp's dancing teacher.

Plot Keywords:

Dance | Abortion | Love | Resort | New York

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 9 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Jennifer Grey	...	Frances 'Baby' Houseman
Patrick Swayze	...	Johnny Castle
Jerry Orbach	...	Dr. Jake Houseman
Cynthia Rhodes	...	Penny Johnson
Jack Weston	...	Max Kellerman
Jane Brucker	...	Lisa Houseman
Kelly Bishop	...	Marjorie Houseman
Lonny Price	...	Neil Kellerman
Max Cantor	...	Robbie Gould
Charles 'Honi' Coles	...	Tito Suarez (as Charles Honi Coles)
Neal Jones	...	Billy Kostecki
'Cousin Brucie' Morrow	...	Magician
Wayne Knight	...	Stan
Paula Trueman	...	Mrs. Schumacher
Alvin Myerovich	...	Mr. Schumacher

Runtime:

USA:100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS (re-release) | Dolby Digital (re-release) | Dolby (original release) | SDDS (re-release)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Ireland:12A | Belgium:KT (original rating) | South Korea:15 | UK:15 (original rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-10 | France:U | Norway:12 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:7 | UK:12A (re-rating) (2004) | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:12 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:14A (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Appalachian region, Virginia, USA

Company:

Great American Films Limited Partnership

Trivia:

Cynthia Rhodes (Penny Johnson) was the first to be cast.

Goofs:

Continuity: Johnny gets his pants dirty by sliding across the floor, yet they are clean in the next shot.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Radio disc jockey: [on radio] Hi, everybody, this is your Cousin Brucie. Whoa! Our summer romances are in full bloom, and everybody, but everybody's in love. So cousins, here's a great song from The Four Seasons.
Baby: [voiceover] That was the summer of 1963 - when everybody called me Baby, and it didn't occur to me to mind. That was before President Kennedy was shot, before the Beatles came, when I couldn't wait to join the Peace Corps, and I thought I'd never find a guy as great as my dad. That was the summer we went to Kellerman's.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Uncle Buck (1989)

Soundtrack:

Stay

Repeated viewings reveal a well crafted story

When this film was released I dismissed as being lightweight pop nonsense. That was a mistake.

After repeated viewings and seeing a documentary of the making of DIRTY DANCING, discovering the depth of this film certainly increases its appeal.

DIRTY DANCING is a film about change. The evolving nature of relationships within the family, the changes in one's view of the world during their coming of age, etc. The story takes place during August of 1963, the final weeks of the last summer of innocence for the American people. The many personal changes experienced by the characters reflect the many changes in American society that would be marked by the Kennedy assassinations and Vietnam.

Female movie go'ers adored this film and repeated trips to the movie houses made it the world's most successful dance movie. As a male I find the romantic pairing of ultimate stud Patrick Swayze with very plain Jennifer Grey very hard to accept. This would be fatal for most romantic dramas, and it also may have create the intense dislike expressed by most male reviewers.

The film's soundtrack found #1 status before the release of the movie. To this day it is nearly impossible to attend a wedding reception without hearing a DIRTY DANCING song.

Near the midpoint of the film Baby's mother wakes up and asks Baby's father, "Is anything wrong?"

Baby's father, the anti-change family member, attempts to keep all that is happening a secret. He tells his wife to go back to sleep. However, resist as one can, change is unstopable. DIRTY DANCING is the story of one person waking up just at the final moments of our country's last sleep in innocence.