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 | dance | abortion | teenager | pantyhose | 

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Taglines:

First dance. First love. The time of your life.

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scenes at Kellerman's were shot at the Mountain Lake Hotel in Virginia. The crew could only film during the hotel's off-season in autumn, even though the film was set in summer. In several scenes, autumn leaves had to be painted green, scenes had to be reframed because steam from the hot lights kept drifting into the shots, and the cast, who did all their scenes in light summer clothes, wore coats between takes. In their scene in the lake, Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey are shown only from a distance because close-ups revealed them covered in goosebumps and shaking from the ice-cold water.

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Goofs

Lisa says to Baby "You wouldn't care if I screwed the whole army as long as I was on the right side of the Ho Chi Minh trail." The Ho Chi Minh trail was not well known in the United States until 1965, not 1963 and definitely not by Lisa who is not interested in politics.

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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

Featured in MsMojo: Top 10 BEST Dance Scenes in Dance Movies (2019)

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Soundtracks

Fox Trot and Waltz
(uncredited)
Written by Michael Lloyd and John D'Andrea

User Reviews

Nobody gives Baby a low rating

Dirty Dancing is a classic film that is so memorable that it is hard to say anything negative about it.

It has a reasonable plot but is accompanied by an immortal soundtrack and moments that make this film remarkable. Herein lies it's value as it can be revisited for positive memories and a soundtrack second to none. While many will argue Schindler's list or 12 Years A Slave is a superior film not many will agree you can revisit or watch it over again. The songs featured in this classic will be included on our iPod's and play on the radios for years to come. We will never forget when Patrick Swayze hoisted Jennifer Grey up for the dance sequence at the end, timeless moments that keep this film alive and memorable.

Dirty Dancing in its essence is a film about letting go of strict societal norms and letting the music embrace you. You dance and feel the beat as opposed to observing rules and steps, the music dictates the rhythm and mood. Perhaps this iconic film was significant in the departure from traditional dancing as fewer people know dancing. Dancing as we see in modern movies or real life is people moving to the music without any defined steps, perhaps started by this iconic film.

This film is a must see and should be on your bucket list. It is easy to understand and easy to get lost in this great soundtrack.

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:

$214,577,242

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) Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1