"Dirty Dancing" Commemorates 25th Anniversary - East Idaho News
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“Dirty Dancing” Commemorates 25th Anniversary

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GETTY E 080911 JenniferGreyPatrickSwayzeDirtyDancing?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1345541450758Ron Wolfson/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Twenty five years ago on Tuesday, moviegoers had the time of their lives.

Dirty Dancing, starring Jennifer Grey and the late Patrick Swayze, was released on Aug. 21, 1987.  Grey played Frances “Baby” Houseman, who in the 1960s visits upstate New York with her family and falls for her camp’s dance instructor, Swayze’s Johnny Castle.  Her character’s name is referenced in Swayze’s memorable line, “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.”

The film is also notable for its soundtrack — specifically, the song “(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life,” which won an Oscar in 1988 for best original song.

Longtime film critic Leonard Maltin says he personally doesn’t consider Dirty Dancing to be a classic, but he concedes, “The definition of a classic is something that has stood the test of time.  And in that sense it’s a classic, because people love and cherish and remember this movie.”

A follow-up film that recycled the plot of the original movie, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, was released in 2004.  A remake of the original, to be directed by Kenny Ortega of the High School Musical films, is due out sometime in 2014.

The 25th anniversary of Dirty Dancing will be commemorated with celebrations across the country, including one at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on Tuesday night with Grey.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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