DIRTY DANCING!

"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 summer we went to Kellerman's". ---Jennifer Grey (Frances "Baby" Houseman's narration)

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The tagline for this movie when it was released in 1987 was "Have the Time of Your Life". Among my many "crushes" readers of this BLOG of mine have had to suffer through is the flame I've held with millions of other guys for the lovely Jennifer Grey. [Any guy who has a pulse and watches this movie will understand]. The new DVD version of this film contains outtakes and Jennifer's actual audition for the role, which was really quite impressive to watch. She is a first-rate actress. I only hope we get to see more film projects with her. Jennifer, by the way is the daughter of Broadway dancer Joel Grey. A little trivia: George Stephanopolous the television political commentator once dated Jennifer, but both ended up marrying someone else (George, this girl is a Dream!). This is always a FUN movie to go back and watch. And who couldn't use a little FUN these days, right? Okay!

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Here's the Plot: Basically, it's time for "Summer Family Camp" in the Catskills during 1963. Frances "Baby" Houseman (Jennifer Grey) and her family are on vacation. In a "coming of age" story with Romance and Drama in good measure, "Baby" falls in love with a frustrated but talented dance instructor named Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze). If I could dance like Patrick, I'd consider passing myself off as "Michael Castle" and move to the Catskills! No, wait! Just kidding!! Geez. The concept of "Summer Camp" by this time has begun to tarnish, as it's target audience has shifted it's attention to other forms of entertainment and this is likely the final season for the camp. The movie's plot along with the actual dancing and the irresistible soundtrack of Rock and Roll including the movie's Theme song (performed by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes) will have you up and out of your chair dancing in front of the television.

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The intimacy of the dance steps was riske' for early 1960's era camp goers and thus, the sexiness of the movie itself with the body language and the driving rhythms of a great soundtrack will win you over and allow you to "forget" about your troubles for an hour or two! Directed by Emile Ardolino; Written by Eleanor Bergstein; CAST: Jennifer Grey....Frances 'Baby' Houseman; Patrick Swayze....Johnny Castle; Jerry Orbach....perfectly cast as Dr. Jake Houseman; Cynthia Rhodes....Penny Johnson; Jack Weston....Max Kellerman;Jane Brucker ....Lisa Houseman; Kelly Bishop....Marjorie Houseman; Lonny Price....Neil Kellerman....Max Cantor. "Baby" discovers that when Castle isn't teaching at the camp, he keeps his sanity in check by "Dirty Dancing" with the other dancers. When fate deals a jarring blow, "Baby" makes an admirable decision to help Johnny. As the summer season comes to a close, "Baby" and Johnny must come to grips with love, responsibility, expectations and where life will take them from here.

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How about some Really cool Trivia? In the scene where Johnny and "Baby" are practicing dancing, and Jennifer Grey keeps laughing when Patrick Swayze runs his hand down her left arm, it was NOT part of the scene. She was actually laughing and his frustration was genuine! The Director chose to leave it in because it was effective. Jennifer falling over in this scene was unplanned too. The very famous scene where Johnny and "Baby" are practicing their dancing and they are crawling towards each other on the floor wasn't intended to be part of the film either; they were just messing around and were warming up to do the real scene, but the director liked it so much that this too was left in the film. During the filming of the Final dance, Swayze injured his knee badly after landing a jump, and yet continued on as if nothing was wrong. He was in agonizing pain. The film was shot on a shoestring budget after Jennifer Grey lost the lead role in the movie "Flashdance". Filmed in Virginia and North Carolina, the film is an amazing testament to the esprit de corp of Director Emile Ardolino, Choreographer Kenny Ortega and Assistant Choreographer Miranda Garrison with Actors Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze and Cynthia Rhodes. Finally, Jennifer Grey was 27 years old when this film was made. For the audition of the role of "Baby", she was allowed only 5 minutes to transform herself into a 17-year old girl.

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Awards: Grammy & Oscar for Best Music/ Original Song: "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", [Music by" Frankie Previte, John DeNicola and Donald Makowitz. Lyrics by Frankie Previte]. Performed by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes.

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While a 1960's era movie, some of the music from the 1980's is used to great effect! "Hungry Eyes" performed by Eric Carmen and "She's Like the Wind" performed by Patrick Swayze also came out of the film as hit singles. I hope you sincerely enjoy this movie---one and all!

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For Jerry Orbach 1935-2004