Dirty Dancing Emile Ardolino

Pre-production

Dirty Dancing is based in large part on screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein's own childhood: she is the younger daughter of a Jewish doctor from New York and had spent summers with her family in the Catskills where she participated in "Dirty Dancing" competitions; she was also nicknamed "Baby" herself as a girl.[8][9] In 1980, Bergstein wrote a screenplay for the Michael Douglas film It's My Turn; however, the producers cut an erotic dancing scene from the script, prompting her to conceive a new story that took inspiration from her youth dance competitions.[8] In 1984, she pitched the idea to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) executive Eileen Miselle, who liked it and teamed Bergstein with producer Linda Gottlieb. They set the film in 1963, with the character of Baby based on Bergstein's own life and the character of Johnny based on the stories of Michael Terrace, a dance instructor whom Bergstein met in the Catskills in 1985 while she was researching the story.[10] She finished the script in November 1985, but management changes at MGM put the script into turnaround, or limbo.[11]

Bergstein gave the script to other studios but was repeatedly rejected until she brought it to Vestron Pictures. While honing their pitch to Vestron, Gottlieb had agreed to cut the proposed budget in half. Bergstein and Gottlieb then chose Emile Ardolino as the film's director;[12] Ardolino had never directed a feature film, but was extremely passionate about the project after reading the script while he was on jury duty.[13] The team of Gottlieb, Bergstein, and Ardolino then presented their vision for the film to Vestron's president, Jon Peisinger, and the company's vice president for production, Mitchell Cannold. By the end of the meeting, Peisinger had greenlit the project to become Vestron's first feature film production. The approved film was budgeted at the relatively low amount of $5 million, at a time when the average cost for a film was $12 million.[14]

For choreographer, Bergstein chose Kenny Ortega, who had been trained by Gene Kelly.[15] For a location, they did not find anything suitable in the Catskills (as many of the Borscht Belt resorts had been shut down at that point), so they decided on a combination of two locations: Lake Lure, North Carolina, and the Mountain Lake Hotel near Pembroke, Virginia, and with careful editing made it look like all shooting was done in the same area.[16]

Casting

Director Ardolino was adamant that they choose dancers, such as Swayze, who could also act,[17] as he did not want to use the "stand-in" method that had been used with Flashdance (1983).[18]

For the female lead of Frances "Baby" Houseman, Winona Ryder, Sarah Jessica Parker and Sharon Stone were considered.[19][20] Bergstein chose the 26-year-old Jennifer Grey, daughter of the Oscar-winning actor and dancer Joel Grey (Cabaret (1972)). Grey was paid $50,000 for her role.[21] The producers then sought a male lead, initially considering 20-year-old Billy Zane, though initial screen tests when he was partnered with Grey did not meet expectations.[22] Val Kilmer and Benicio del Toro were also considered for Johnny.[19] The next choice was 34-year-old Patrick Swayze, who appeared in Grandview, U.S.A. (1984) and had co-starred with Grey on Red Dawn (1984). He was a seasoned dancer, with experience from the Joffrey Ballet.[23] The producers were thrilled with him, but his resume read "No dancing" after a knee injury. However, Swayze read the script, liked the multi-level character of Johnny, and took the part anyway. After this, Johnny's heritage was changed from being Italian to Irish. Grey was initially not happy about the choice, as she and Swayze had difficulty getting along on Red Dawn, but when they did their dancing screen test, the chemistry between them was obvious. Bergstein described it as "breathtaking".[24] Other casting choices were Broadway actor Jerry Orbach as Dr. Jake Houseman, Baby's father; and Jane Brucker as Lisa Houseman, her older sister.

Bergstein, as the film's writer, also attempted to cast her friend, sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer, to play Mrs. Schumacher (and Joel Grey as Dr. Ruth's husband).[25][26] However, Westheimer backed out when she learned the role involved her playing a thief.[27][28][26] The role went instead to 89-year-old Paula Trueman.

Another role went to Bergstein's friend, New York radio personality "Cousin Brucie" Morrow. She initially wanted him to portray the social director, but then later asked him to play the part of the magician. Morrow himself could be heard at different parts of the movie as a New York area DJ (at the time of the film's setting he was working at WABC, a top 40 station), and served as period music consultant. The role of the social director went to the then-unknown Wayne Knight (later of Seinfeld and 3rd Rock from the Sun fame).[29]

The part of Baby's mother was originally given to Lynne Lipton, who is briefly visible in the beginning, when the Houseman family first pulls into Kellerman's (she is in the front seat for a few seconds; her blonde hair is the only indication), but she became ill during the first week of shooting and was replaced by actress Kelly Bishop, who had already been cast to play resort guest Vivian Pressman. Bishop moved into the role of Mrs. Houseman, and the film's assistant choreographer Miranda Garrison took on the role of Vivian.[30][31] (When Baby is dancing in the final scene, the line that her mother says to Jerry Orbach, "She gets that from me ..." is a wink to the fact that Kelly Bishop was in the original cast of A Chorus Line winning a 1976 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance, using the name at that time of Carole Bishop, and had been a professional dancer.)

Filming

Principal photography for Dirty Dancing took place in Lake Lure, North Carolina, and Mountain Lake, Virginia.[32] Scenes in Lake Lure were filmed at a former Girl Scout Camp called Camp Occoneechee, which is now a private, residential community known as Firefly Cove.[33] These scenes included the interior dancing scenes, Baby carrying the watermelon and practicing on the signature stairs, Johnny's cabin,[34] the staff cabins, the golf scene where Baby asks her father for $250 and the famous "log" scenes.[35] The climactic lift scene was filmed in the ballroom of the Lake Lure Inn. Scenes filmed at Mountain Lake included dining scenes, Kellerman's Hotel, the beach games, the Houseman family's cabins, the water lift scene[36] and Penny crying in the kitchen.

Filming started for Dirty Dancing on September 5, 1986,[34] and lasted just 43 days.[37] The production had to battle bad weather, including outside temperatures of 105 °F (41 °C).[38] With the camera and lighting equipment needed for filming, the temperature inside could be as high as 120 °F (49 °C).[38] According to choreographer Kenny Ortega, 10 people passed out within 25 minutes of shooting one day.[38] Paula Trueman collapsed and was taken to the local emergency room to be treated for dehydration.[38] Patrick Swayze also required a hospital visit; insisting on doing his own stunts, he repeatedly fell off the log during the "balancing" scene and injured his knee so badly he had to have fluid drained from the swelling.[38]

Delays in the shooting schedule pushed filming into the autumn, which required the set decorators to spray-paint the autumn leaves green.[38] The weather became cold, causing the lake's temperatures to drop to near 40 °F (4 °C) for the famous swimming scene, which was filmed in October.[39] Despite her character's enjoyment, Grey later described the water as "horrifically" cold, and she might not have gone into the lake, except that she was "young and hungry".[38]

Relations between the two main stars varied throughout production. They had already had trouble getting along in their previous project, Red Dawn (1984),[40] and worked things out enough to have an extremely positive screen test, but that initial cooperation soon faded, and they were soon "facing off" before every scene.[41] To address this, producer Bergstein and director Ardolino forced the stars to re-watch their initial screen-tests—the ones with the "breathtaking" chemistry.[41] This had the desired effect, and Swayze and Grey were able to return to the film with renewed energy and enthusiasm.[30]

Some of the scenes in the film are improvised. For example, the scene where Grey was to stand in front of Swayze with her back to him and put her arm up behind his head while he trailed his fingers down her arm. Grey was exhausted at the time and found the move ticklish, and could not stop giggling each time Swayze tried it, and he became annoyed.[42] The footage was found in the editing room and the producers decided the scene worked as it was and put it into the film, complete with Grey's giggling and Swayze's annoyed expression.[42] It became one of the most famous scenes in the movie, turning out, as choreographer Kenny Ortega put it, "as one of the most delicate and honest moments in the film."[24]

Post-production

The shooting wrapped on October 27, 1986, both on-time and on-budget. No one on the team, however, liked the rough cut that was put together, and Vestron executives were convinced the film was going to be a flop. Thirty-nine percent of people who viewed the film did not realize abortion was the subplot. In May 1987, the film was screened for producer Aaron Russo. According to Vestron executive Mitchell Cannold, Russo's reaction at the end was to say simply, "Burn the negative, and collect the insurance."[43]

Further disputes arose over whether a corporate sponsor could be found to promote the film. Marketers of the Clearasil acne product liked the film, seeing it as a vehicle to reach a teen target audience. However, when they learned the film contained an abortion scene, they asked for that part of the plot to be cut. As Bergstein refused, the Clearasil promotion was dropped. Consequently, Vestron promoted the film themselves and initially aimed for a July premiere[44] before setting the premiere on August 16, 1987. The Vestron executives had planned to release the film in theaters for a weekend, and then home video, since Vestron had been in the video distribution business before film production.[5]