When Dirty Dancing hit theatres on August 21, 1987, expectations were modest. In fact, early test screenings had been lacklustre - one rough-cut screening even found that a large chunk of the audience didn’t realise the film included a (then-daring) abortion subplot.
The film’s distributor was prepared to play it for a single weekend and then shuffle it off to home video. But, as the now-famous phrase goes, nobody was going to put Baby in a corner.
Against all odds, Dirty Dancing became a sensation and one of the highest-grossing films of 1987. Produced on a shoestring budget of about $4.5 million, it went on to earn around $214 million worldwide - a staggering success that launched its stars Swayze and Grey into bona fide 80s stardom
The film’s appeal was immediate and enduring. Set in the summer of 1963 at a Catskills holiday resort, Dirty Dancing follows Baby Houseman’s journey from naive teenager to confident young woman as she falls in love with Johnny, the resort’s working-class dance instructor. The chemistry between Grey and Swayze was palpable (even if the two actors had their behind-the-scenes tensions during filming) and resulted in some of cinema’s most iconic scenes - from the flirtatious rehearsal where Baby can’t stop giggling, to that triumphant final leap into Johnny’s arms during the climactic dance. Dirty Dancing earned positive reviews, with particular praise for the engaging performances and spirited choreography.
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This is one helluva deal.
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