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. 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. She finished the script in November 1985, but management changes at MGM put the script into
turnaround, or limbo. 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; 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. For choreographer, Bergstein chose
Kenny Ortega, who had been trained by
Gene Kelly. 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.
Casting Director Ardolino was adamant that they choose dancers, such as Swayze, who could also act, as he did not want to use the "stand-in" method that had been used with
Flashdance (1983). For the female lead of Frances "Baby" Houseman,
Winona Ryder,
Sarah Jessica Parker and
Sharon Stone were considered. 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. 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.
Val Kilmer and
Benicio del Toro were also considered for Johnny. 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". 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). However, Westheimer backed out when she learned the role involved her playing a thief. 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. (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 , Virginia, the filming location of the Kellerman's Hotel
Principal photography for
Dirty Dancing took place in
Lake Lure, North Carolina, and
Mountain Lake, Virginia. Scenes in Lake Lure were filmed at a former Boy Scout Camp called Camp Chimney Rock, which is now a private, residential community known as Firefly Cove where only the stone steps where Baby practiced still exist. the staff cabins and the dances on a log. The final dance scene was filmed at the camp gymnasium, which no longer stands. The golf scene where Baby asks her father for $250 was filmed at Rumbling Bald Golf Course. and Penny crying in the kitchen. Filming started for
Dirty Dancing on September 5, 1986, The production had to battle bad weather, including outside temperatures of . With the camera and lighting equipment needed for filming, the temperature inside could be as high as . 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". 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. To address this, producer Bergstein and director Ardolino forced the stars to re-watch their initial screen-tests—the ones with the "breathtaking" chemistry. 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. During production, the film dailies kept getting held up by authorities at the Canadian border, who thought the film was a pornographic production due to the title, leading Bergstein to consider renaming it to
I Was a Teenage Mambo Queen.
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. 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." 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 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. ==Reception==