The 1987 romantic drama dance film “Dirty Dancing” has become a cult classic, inspiring many others to learn dance, even imitating the movie’s moves, especially that iconic lift.
Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey play the lead roles of Frances “Baby” Houseman (Grey) and Johnny Castle (Swayze). It’s about a young woman who falls in love with a dance instructor at a vacation resort.
If you haven’t seen it, go ahead and watch the flick.
As is with any film, there are a lot of bloopers from filming and a few scenes that were cut from the released version. For reasons unknown to most, some of these scenes never make it to the big screen.
Only to be released separately for consumers to see.
Case in point, this deleted scene of Swayze and Grey in character where Johnny Castle is seemingly teaching Frances Houseman a few steps for their performance at the Sheldrake.
Director Emile Ardolino insisted on getting actors who could dance.
Swayze was cast after Grey seemingly had amazing chemistry with him as compared to other actors offered the role.
Dirty Dancing may not have been such a hit had other actors played their roles.
And Swayze could definitely dance. He had a strong fluid motion to his body, which certainly adds to his good looks and charisma.
Not many actors today can say they can dance.
A viewer made the same observation saying,
“It’s always such a delight to watch Patrick Swayze dance. He moved so beautifully and effortlessly. He was a natural.”
After the film’s release, its popularity continued to grow, becoming the number-one video rental of 1988.
It is the first film to sell a million copies on video and when the film was re-released in 1997, Swayze received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He definitely danced after that one!
Videos continued to sell at the rate of over 40,000 per month. In 2005, the film was selling a million DVDs per year, with over ten million copies sold in 2007.
Do you think this deleted scene adds or detracts from the movie’s charm?
The film does depict Grey as a rich kid with Swayze a simple worker at the resort. They become close due to circumstances and eventually begin dancing together.
Watch Swayze closely. It’s almost like he’s not even acting. He’s such a natural when it comes time for him to dance that he just becomes his natural self.
“The fact that in this world Johnny had to take time out of his day like a real teacher to make a sign is hilarious to me for some reason lmao and also the fact that baby is wearing her cardigan over her get-up is just so on brand for her character. I love this deleted scene, it just says a lot about both of their characters in such a short snippet.”
This is the film itself in a minute’s worth of footage.
And you really need to watch it. It will make you want to get up and dance.
There’s a reason it’s become such a beloved classic and this deleted scene just adds to the film’s charm.