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 11 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:

camera shot of feet | pantyhose | coming of age | teenager | dancing | 

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Taglines:

Have the time of your life

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 August 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dirty Dancing

Filming Locations:

Appalachian region, Virginia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,900,000, 23 August 1987, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$63,954,274, 31 December 1997

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$170,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Great American Films Limited Partnership, Vestron Pictures

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jennifer Grey was about to embark on a publicity tour to promote this movie when she and then boyfriend Matthew Broderick were involved in a head-on collision in their rental car in Ireland, in which a mother and daughter died, in August 1987.

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Goofs

Johnny gets his pants dirty by sliding across the floor, yet they are clean 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 New Girl: Big News (2014)

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Soundtracks

Johnny's Mambo
Written by Erich Bulling, John D'Andrea, and Michael Lloyd

User Reviews

My favorite film

This is the best movie ever, but that is my opinion. Some say it's cheesy but I think it is truly a beautiful film. The chemistry between Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze it's like no other I have ever seen, and that is what makes the film so perfect. I always wonder what would have been of this film if these two actors never existed, because not just one them did it for me, they both did. If you have never seen this film, when you do you will understand what I mean. Dirty Dancing looks like it was done from the heart and it feels so real for some reason, like magic- and the soundtrack LOVE IT. Besides the 2 lead actors the soundtrack makes the film the beauty that it is. As you can tell I am in love with this film, and I know you will be too.