Blogfinger

Movie still by Paul Goldfinger. Blogfinger.net.  Click to enlarge.

Patrick Swayze recorded “She’s Like the Wind.

Dirty Dancing starred Patrick Swayze  (Johnny Castle)  and Jennifer Grey (Baby.)  It had all the favorite ingredients including a captivating love story, worrisome plot lines, tension,  a unique setting in the Borscht Belt of the NY Catskills, dancing–dirty and otherwise, and a wonderful soundtrack.

In the color photo above, he, a professional, is training one of the guests, Baby Houseman, a fledgling dancer, to perform in a dance sequence with him in front of an audience. But there were other consequences besides nifty overhead moves.

There is one revelation which you cinema fans may not recall.  The movie, shot in color, begins with the credits, but the background, filmed in black and white,  is a scene where the hotel staff, all young and excitable, do some “dirty dancing,” as they party late at night when they are off duty, thus setting the stage for the film.

It is an arousable sequence, and the use of a standard fifties tune by the Ronettes  adds to the believability of the scene.

Paul Goldfinger still shot from the opening sequence in Dirty Dancing. ©

Don’t fail to click on this You Tube:

I worked in a place just like that while I was in high school, and this movie is the best of its kind in re-creating an authentic  time and place.  Have I got stories for you!

You don’t have to be too smart to like this film–our contest winner is someone named “Never Promoted from 4th Grade.”   So, if this person would contact me with his real name and email, I will arrange for his prize.

This was an easy contest, but subsequent chapters will be more challenging.

Paul Goldfinger,  Editor Blogfinger.net