The song “She’s Like the Wind” in the soundtrack of Dirty Dancing was practically as successful as the movie itself. It was performed mainly by Patrick Swayze, and he also co-wrote it with Stacy Widelitz in 1984.
Would the general public have loved it the same way if they knew the song wasn’t originally written for Baby? It was supposedly written for a character played by Jamie Lee Curtis in another Patrick Swayze movie, Grandview, USA, but plans on using it fell through. Swayze showed this song to the director, who was excited about using it. And what do you know? It hit no. 3 on the Billboard Top 100, and was listed at number 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Patrick Can Do Everything
Like some young men who want to excel at everything, Patrick Swayze wanted to be great at acting and doing his own stunts. He got the role of Johnny for being a confident and experienced dancer, and he wanted to perform his own stunts, too.
His stunt doubles must have had nothing much to do, except give him some tips and supervise over his tasks. It wasn’t easy, and Patrick Swayze knew what to expect. He fell repeatedly after failing to balance on top of a log, that it hurt his knee badly. He had to be brought to the hospital and the doctor recommended the fluids be drained to reduce the swelling.
A Tight Timeline
There were almost no agreeable circumstances surrounding the filming of Dirty Dancing, nothing much that would tell you the project was going to make it big any time soon. They were merely granted with a below average budget to shoot during summertime, when autumn was just around the corner.
The main stars couldn’t stand each other, the cast would fall victim to food poisoning, and they only had 44 days to complete their work. To finish it, they had to master all the dance steps, and they were left with only two weeks to rehearse. With such a horrendous setup, can you tell us why shouldn’t it be a failure?
No Close Ups
It would have been nice if there were close ups of the famous water lift scene. The audience would drool over imaginations of them closer to the screen, their emotions wafting through. But that just wasn’t possible. Due to the delays of the shoot, pushing into autumn, the weather was just too cold for it to be a pleasurable (or even tolerable) experience.
Jennifer Grey later on described it as “horrifically cold.” A close up shot would have meant for their lips to be visibly trembling, and blue. It would just ruin the lovers’ intimate moment and broken the illusion the audience was under that they were summer lovers.
A Strange Coincidence
Who knows why Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze had such a querulous attitude toward each other right at the very start of their professional relationship—from Red Dawn to Dirty Dancing. Swayze later on said they just couldn’t stand each other, and perhaps he couldn’t put his finger on exactly what made it feel so wrong.
But the two stars did have a past which one can describe as a strange connection. Jennifer is the daughter of Joel Grey, who originated the role of Master of Ceremonies in the musical Cabaret. He is also credited for the Broadway musical, Goodtime Charley, where, lo and behold, Patrick Swayze was part of the ensemble of dancers!