Dirty Dancing
Short description
In the summer of 1963, seventeen-year-old Frances "Baby" Houseman joins her family for their annual holiday at a resort in the Catskills. Sheltered and headed for college, she expects another dull season among the guests, but she is drawn into the resort's staff quarters and the world of its dance instructors. There she meets Johnny Castle, a seasoned professional dancer from a very different background. When his regular partner, Penny, is unable to perform, Baby steps in and learns the routines in time for an important engagement. The two grow close despite the social divide the hotel enforces between guests and employees, as well as other complications that threaten both the performance and their relationship.
Directed by Emile Ardolino from a screenplay by Eleanor Bergstein and produced by Linda Gottlieb, the film stars Jennifer Grey as Baby and Patrick Swayze as Johnny, with Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes, Jack Weston and Jane Brucker in supporting roles. It was Ardolino's first feature and the earliest of his four credited directing works, preceding Chances Are, 3 Men and a Little Lady and Sister Act.
Made for about 6 million dollars, the film became a substantial commercial success, earning roughly 215 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.1 from around 279,000 votes, and on TMDB a rating of 7.3 from more than 6,600 votes, while its critics' rating stands at 6.3 from 80 reviews. The gap between the critics' score and the audience scores suggests the film has connected more strongly with viewers than with reviewers.
What's left behind the scenes
- The scene where Johnny and Baby crawl across the floor towards each other was not planned for the film. The actors were simply fooling around and warming up before filming the dance number, but the director liked the footage so much that he decided to leave it in the film.
- The film was shot in the summer, but the rally scene was filmed in October. Since the leaves on the trees had already changed color, the film crew had to paint the leaves in the background, and if you look closely, you can notice a few missed spots.
- Throughout the film, Johnny and Baby consistently wear very contrasting colors: she in light tones, and he in very dark ones.
- The actors playing the main roles in the film – seventeen-year-old Baby and the 'youthful' Johnny – were actually 27 and 35 years old.
- The dance that Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey performed in the love scene was actually their dance from the audition and wasn't really intended to be included in the film.
- The film quote “Nobody puts Baby in a corner” ranked ninety-eighth in the American Film Institute’s ranking of famous movie quotes (out of one hundred).
- During rehearsals, the two dance teams were kept separate so they wouldn't see each other's practice sessions, which was necessary to foster a spirit of competition among the dancers.
- Patrick Swayze performed all the stunts himself. During the filming of the log scene, he fell repeatedly and injured his leg, causing it to swell.
- The relationship between the two leads was uneven. They had already experienced difficulties working together on John Milius's war drama *Red Dawn* (1984), but they pulled themselves together and passed the screen test. However, things soon returned to normal, and arguments began before filming each scene. The filmmakers feared that the actors would not be able to convincingly portray the romantic scenes, so producer and screenwriter Elinor Bergstein and director Emile Ardolino forced Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey to rewatch footage from the screen test. This helped and had the desired effect.
- Rehearsals repeatedly turned into disco parties involving almost the entire cast—even those who couldn't dance, such as Jack Weston. The dancing and drinking went on almost without interruption, and soon the actors and actresses began to identify with their characters. Elinor Bergstein took advantage of this and instructed the actors to improvise, but forbade any physical contact.
- The religious beliefs of the film's characters are never mentioned, but it is assumed that Jennifer Grey's character's family is Jewish.
- When Baby says in the film that her real name is Frances “in honor of the first woman in the cabinet,” she is referring to Frances Perkins, who served in the US Cabinet as Secretary of Labor.
- The weather during filming was unkind to the filmmakers – there were torrential rains and periods of unbearable heat (up to 41 degrees Celsius outdoors). Considering the presence of cameras and lighting equipment nearby, the temperature inside reached 49 degrees Celsius. According to choreographer Kenny Ortega, during one filming session, 10 people fainted from the heat over 25 minutes. Pola Truman, who played an older role, fell ill and had to be taken to the hospital. Shortly after, the temperature dropped to 4 degrees Celsius outside, which is when they filmed the famous bathing scene. Crew members were in coats, gloves, and warm shoes, while Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey had to undress and dive into the icy water.
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