Dirty Dancing

There was talk on the E! Hollywood Special about the Making of Dirty Dancing which still is considered by many women including a dear friend of mine in her fifties to be one of her favorite all time movies. Maybe the music, the dancing, or the melodrama around the plot of Baby Frances becoming a dancing sensation with Johnny Castle. Of course, this film established Jennifer Grey whose biggest role to date was the resentful sister in Ferris Beuller's Day Off. Patrick Swayze is perfectly cast as the heart throb leading man who sweeps baby away literally. Dirty Dancing has it all to become a Broadway or West End smash hit. It has the love story, the music, and most of all lots of dancing. Jennifer and Patrick could revive their roles easily. it is nice to see Jerry Orbach play a doctor instead of a police officer and Kelly Bishop as the mother. It all took place in the Catskills in the sixties where many Jewish families vacationed in the area during their summer vacations. At the end of the film, it is sad to see the hotel owner, Kellerman, be baffled by the next generation. It happened anyway! Most people prefer cruises and traveling through Europe than spending the summer in the Catskills. Those old grand hotels are becoming Indian gaming casinos. Let Broadway bring Dirty Dancing alive and well. After all, they could do it for Footloose and Saturday Night Fever, this should be a no brainer! I know that this film is one of the favorites that you don't get tired of after watching 800 times. There are people that have probably seen this film-a 1,000 times by now. Somehow watching the making and the story behind Dirty Dancing made me long for my childhood days as a thirteen year old. Dirty Dancing may not be the greatest film ever made in the history but its universal appeal still draws crowds and repeated watchers like the 800 club whose members have watched it so many times. I watch it fondly now with all the awkwardness of Baby's first days and her first true love with Patrick Swayze as heart throb, Johnny Castle. Nobody could have imagined this little film as a big hit then with the sixties music, two soundtracks, and even a tour in the late eighties. I hope they bring it to Broadway in a musical. It would work for the audience to be part of a film. No wonder it still attracts kids and even adults particularly women of all ages to watch it over and over again. Well, Australia and London both have had productions of Dirty Dancing. It looks like it will come to Broadway in 2007 just in time for it's 20th anniversary.

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.

One word sums up this film "Perfection". That's it really!! I saw this film in 1987 when it was released and was completely blown away and like Baby I fell in love with Johnny and Patrick Swayze. It has such classic lines as "I carried a watermelon" and "Nobody puts Baby in the corner" and too many others to mention. I loved the story, the characters, the setting, the dancing, and well … the music was phenomenal not one bad song in the whole soundtrack. It just shows that you don't have to spend a fortune to make a great film. Thank you to the cast and crew for making such a wonderful film which makes me smile like a Cheshire cat whenever I watch it.

OMG this has to be the crappiest film of them all. I mean it has to be seen to be believed. Who in their right mind would want to spend their summer at a camp with a bunch of sexually repressed twits and old ladies who can't dance? Almost seemed like an asylum. So what do we have here? A macho boy who can dance....a dumb cute spoiled girl who can't....another girl who can dance but finds out she is pregnant and can't dance with macho boy in the dance-off....nerd son of the owner of the resort who has the hots for dumb spoiled girl....clueless sister of dumb spoiled girl....Macho dancing boy teaches dumb spoiled girl to dance as good as him (yeah right)....both macho boy and dumb girl fall in love and do the dance-off and live happily ever after. Instant classic.....yeah right