Issue of the day: The return of Dirty Dancing?

DIRTY Dancing is a silver screen offering that is more than 30 years old, but remains as popular as ever and now a new movie is in the works.

Dirty Dancing?

The 1987 movie tells the story of 17-year-old Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman, played by Jennifer Grey, who holidays at a resort in the Catskills in New York with her parents and falls for one of the professional dancers, Johnny Castle, played by Patrick Swayze. The plot sees her learning a final dance to perform with him, without her disapproving parents’ knowledge.

It’s a classic?

Dirty Dancing was the first movie to sell more than one million copies on home video back in the day when that was a thing. It also sold more than 32 million copies of the soundtrack.

There were some iconic songs on that album?

Accompanying the movie – set in 1960s America – tracks included In the Still of the Night by The

Five Satins, Eric Carmen’s Hungry Eyes, (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, which won an Oscar for best song, and She’s Like the Wind, by the movie’s late star, Swayze, who co-wrote and performed the song.

“Nobody puts baby in the corner…”

The movie’s iconic line is uttered by Swayze’s character as he pulls Baby, who is sitting with her parents at a table in the corner, up to perform the final dance. It has now become a part of pop culture expression; a way of articulating the importance of not allowing anyone to stop you from expressing your true talents.

It wasn’t smooth sailing?

In an interview with the American Film Institute, Swayze said Grey was “gifted” but admitted his “frustration at trying to keep this girl serious, trying to keep her from crying, trying to keep her focused to get past her fear and her ego”, adding that “it really was a teaching situation”.

And the secret to the little movie’s big success?

Swayze said, “It’s got so much heart, to me. It’s not about the sensuality; it’s really about people trying to find themselves. On a certain level, it’s really about the fabulous, funky little Jewish girl getting the guy because of what she’s got in her heart”.

Adaptations?

In 2004, the film was adapted as a stage musical, while in the same year, a prequel, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, was released in which Swayze, who died in 2009 at the age of 57, was paid $5 million to appear in a cameo role. The prequel made about $28M worldwide, with the original making more than $218 million.

Now?

A new movie is afoot, starring and executive produced by Grey, now 60. The new dance film is currently in pre-production.

Swayze?

The producers are keeping quiet on the finer points of the film, although fans have taken to social media to lament Swayze’s loss and also to express hope Grey will bring back her original character.