Dirty Dancing (1987)

Spending the summer at a Catskills resort with her family, Frances "Baby" Houseman falls in love with the camp's dance instructor, Johnny Castle.

Director:

Emile Ardolino

Writer:

Eleanor Bergstein

Stars:

Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach

Won 1 Oscar. Another 10 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jennifer Grey	...	Baby Houseman
Patrick Swayze	...	Johnny Castle
Jerry Orbach	...	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

Storyline

In 1963, Frances "Baby" Houseman, a sweet daddy's girl, goes with her family to a resort in upstate New York's Catskill Mountains. Baby has grown up in privileged surroundings and all expect her to go on to college, join the Peace Corps and save the world before marrying a doctor, just like her father. Unexpectedly, Baby becomes infatuated with the camp's dance instructor, Johnny Castle, a man whose background is vastly different from her own. Baby lies to her father to get money to pay for an illegal abortion for Johnny's dance partner. She then fills in as Johnny's dance partner and it is as he is teaching her the dance routine that they fall in love. It all comes apart when Johnny's friend falls seriously ill after her abortion and Baby gets her father, who saves the girl's life. He then learns what Baby has been up to, who with and worse, that he funded the illegal abortion. He bans his daughter from any further association with "those people". In the first deliberately willful ...

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Plot Keywords:

coming of age | abortion | teenager | pantyhose | sexy woman | 

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Taglines:

Dancing to the beat of their hearts.

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Pembroke, Virginia resort where many of the Kellerman's scenes were filmed hosts three Dirty Dancing-themed weekends a year. Dinners, a sock hop, a screening of the movie, a watermelon toss, group dance lessons, and a Dirty Dancing scavenger hunt are just some of the many activities on the agenda.

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Goofs

in the scene where Baby's dad is telling them that he wants to leave early, Baby's hair is laying nicely in one shot, sticking up everywhere in the next shot and then fixed again in the next shot.

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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 ...

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Connections

Referenced in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Michael Jackson's This Is It/The House of the Devil/Gentlemen Broncos (2009)

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Soundtracks

Overload
Written by Zappacosta (as Alfie Zappacosta) and Marko Luciani
Performed by Zappacosta
Produced by Zappacosta (as Alfie Zappacosta)

User Reviews

"I don't believe you Baby"!

This timeless summer love story is a classic and will never be dated. I can't even count how many times I've seen Dirty Dancing. This is one movie that I could probably watch every few weeks and still love.

There is something timeless about this movie. I have loved other "blockbuster love story movies" like Pretty Woman and when Harry met Sally. I think their up there but there is something about Dirty Dancing that just makes it absolutely perfect. The characters, the chemistry between Swaze and Grey, the movie's direction, the INCREDIBLE dancing, the warm summery atmosphere, everything about dirty dancing is absolutely perfect. It is an instant classic and I've never really seen a movie like it either before or since.

I don't think there is one particular element that makes this movie so loved but many things, a lot of which are mentioned by numerous reviewers. Dirty Dancing has a nostalgic, languid, summery mood, realistic characters, a relateable honest message coupled with incredible music and dancing, and the one of the best dance sequences cinema has ever given us.

This movie is always on TV and I will continue to watch it as long as they show it. But I WILL mention I have no interest in seeing "Havanna Nights", this one they should have left alone.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 August 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dirty Dancing

Filming Locations:

Virginia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,900,000, 23 August 1987

Gross USA:

$64,577,242

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$217,688,008

Company Credits

Production Co:

Great American Films Limited Partnership, Vestron Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1