Do you remember the dance ?
The phenomenally successful movie made heartthrobs of its stars Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze and even though it spawned a whole series of dance movies it has remained the best of them all. How well do you know your trivia? Take the quiz and find out.
1. When Johnny Castle asks Baby to tell him her real name, she answers “Frances.” Who was she named for?
a) The first woman in Cabinet
b) The country in Europe
c) The Houseman family’s beloved nanny
2. What famous line did Patrick Swayze attempt to have cut from his dialogue?
a) “Go back to your playpen, Baby.”
b) “Yeah, it takes a real saint to ask Daddy.”
c) “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.”
3. When was the lake scene shot?
a) In Summer
b) In Spring
c) In Autumn
4. Which American talk show host won himself the title of Dirty Dancing’s ‘Greatest Fan’?
a) Conan O’Brien
b) Larry King
c) Jay Leno
5. Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze didn’t always get along on the set. In which scene do audiences get a glimpse of that?
a) When Baby calls her Daddy to help
b) When Baby can’t stop giggling during dance practice
c) When Baby carries the watermelon into the party
Answers:
1.a) Frances Perkins was the U.S Secretary of Labour in the 1930s. A loyal supporter of her friend Franklin D. Roosevelt, she and Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes were the only original members to survive the entirety of his presidency. Incidentally, Eleanor Bergstein who wrote the script of Dirty Dancing was also named in honour of a famous female political figure connected to Frances Perkins – Eleanor Roosevelt. Growing up, Eleanor B was also nicknamed ‘Baby,’ and could be found boogying the night away in the Catskills. However, according to writer Sue Tabashnik, who wrote ‘The Fans’ Love Story,’ someone named Jackie Horner (you’ll see her name in the credits) actually lived Baby’s life – spending summers at Grossinger’s Hotel and later returning to work there as a dance teacher.
2.c) We’re not sure why Patrick hated the line but here is his explanation: “I hated that line, ‘Nobody puts Baby in a corner,’ and it was only because I didn’t understand what was behind it. I was thinking it’s time for Patrick Swayze a.k.a Johnny Castle to come back into the room and do his big dance number and it was only when I found what was behind that line, that it wasn’t about the big dance number with the girl you were never going to have because she would always be out of your league, it was about coming back to serve. There is an eastern adage, that only when one learns to serve can one truly be master. This kind of thought in looking beneath the surface was when that line worked for me….Up until that point that I found my background and passion as an actor, I hated that line. I was going to do everything in my power to get it cut.”
3.c) Johnny and Baby may have been living it up on their summer vacation, but not only wasn’t the shoot a holiday, it wasn’t even summer. According to Wendy Leigh in One Last Dance, as autumn arrived and trees began to wear their new colours, set decorators had to go around painting them back to green. However, rehearsing the lift sequence in the freezing lake turned the actors lips blue – which is why there are no close-ups of their wet faces.
4.a) In 1997, the headline on the Variety newspaper read: “Comic’s Obsession Lands ‘Dirty’ Pic on Big Screen”. Conan had convinced 80,000 of his fans to call the studio and request the re-release of Dirty Dancing to celebrate its 10th anniversary. He threatened to fire his trombonist if they failed, but according to Box Office Mojo, that 54-theater re-release earned the film over $500,000 – a tidy chunk of the film’s total lifetime domestic gross of nearly $64 million.
5.b) Its clear Grey is ticklish in the scene where Johnny and Baby are practicing dancing, and she keeps laughing when he runs his arm down hers. It wasn’t part of the script, and Swayze’s frustration was as genuine as her laughter. The filmmakers loved in and chose to leave it in. Grey’s falling over in this scene was also spontaneous.
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