As I write these words, I’m am sitting in Firefly Cove, a small gated community in Lake Lure, North Carolina. From where I sit, I can see the remnants of a stone wall, what’s left of the clubhouse where much of the movie “Dirty Dancing” was filmed. Here, just off Boys Camp Road, was the “stand-in” for the Catskills club where Baby danced with bad boy Johnny Castle.
Hard to believe it’s been 35 years since “Dirty Dancing” first debuted on screens. It’s now making a return to celebrate that longevity.
Jennifer Grey (the daughter of actor Joel Grey) made her mark in this 1987 romantic movie that co-starred Patrick Swayze. They had us singing “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.”
In this coming-of-age classic, we find 17-year-old Frances “Baby” Houseman (Grey) vacationing in the Catskills with her parents (Broadway legend Jerry Orbach and Kelly Bishop). There she meets sexy dance instructor Johnny Castle (Swayze). He teaches her how to mambo (i.e. dirty dance).
Johnny is accused of impregnating his regular dance partner (Cynthia Rhodes) and stealing a wallet, but Baby give him an alibi, showing the boy from the wrong side of the tracks that “there are people willing to stand up for other people no matter what it costs them.”
The climax comes when Baby and Johnny do the big dance number at the final talent show of the season, wowing everybody when Baby and Johnny successfully do that tricky lift move. And Baby’s dad has a change of heart, realizing that his “baby” has grown up.
Like you, I could see “Dirty Dancing” over and over. I think I had a crush on Jennifer Grey. I used to bump into her when I had lunch at Jerry’s café in New York’s SoHo district. We’d nod and smile, but never spoke. Nor danced.
I took a boat trip on Lake Lure a few weeks ago. The guide pointed out the lakeside house where Swayze staying during the filming. In the mornings, I was told, Swayze would stand bare-chested atop the boathouse practicing his dance moves. Passersby were astounded to witness this Adonis performing for them. He was largely unknown back then, but he quickly made a name for himself. Now gone, he left behind a looming legacy.
Today, Grey looks beautiful after her nose job, but audiences miss the delightful imperfections that made us not want to put Baby in a corner.
Each year, Lake Lure holds a Dirty Dancing Festival. And a resort in Pembroke, Virginia, where some other scenes were filmed, hosts three Dirty Dancing-themed weekends each year.
The song “(I’ve Had) the Time of My Life” was picked as one of American Film Institute’s 100 Best Songs.
Swayze was offered $6 million to reprise his role in a sequel, but turned it down. Despite the sizzling on-screen chemistry on the screen between, Swayze and Grey, in real life they really didn’t get along, according to published reports.
