Dirty Dancing is a 1987 musical and romance film set in 1963, in which a teenage girl crosses over into womanhood both physically and emotionally, through a relationship with a dance instructor during a family summer vacation.

Directed by Emile Ardolino. Written by Eleanor Bergstein.

Johnny Castle

• Nobody puts Baby in the corner.
  • Note: ranked #98 in the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema.
• Sorry about the disruption, folks, but I always do the last dance of the season. This year somebody told me not to. So I'm gonna do my kind of dancin' with a great partner, who's not only a terrific dancer. Somebody who's taught me that there are people willing to stand up for other people no matter what it costs them. Somebody who's taught me about the kind of person I wanna be. Miss Frances Houseman.

Frances "Baby" Houseman

• [voiceover] That was the summer of 1963, when everybody called me "Baby", and it didn't occur to me to mind. That was before President Kennedy was shot, before the Beatles, when I couldn't wait to join the Peace Corps, and I thought I'd never find a guy as great as my dad. That was the summer we went to Kellermans.
• [when she sneaks into the employees-only party] I carried a watermelon. [realizes what she just said] I carried a watermelon?
• [to her father] I told you I was telling the truth, Daddy. I'm sorry I lied to you, but you lied too. You told me everyone was alike and deserved a fair break. But you meant everyone who was like you. You told me you wanted me to change the world, to make it better. But you meant by becoming a lawyer or a Doctor and marrying someone from Harvard. I'm not proud of myself, but I'm in this family too. You can't keep giving me the silent treatment. There are a lot of things about me that aren't what you thought. But if you love me, you have to love all the things about me, and I love you. I'm sorry I let you down; I'm so sorry, Daddy. But you let me down too.

Dialogue

Frances "Baby" Houseman: Have you had many women?

Johnny Castle: What? [laughs]

Frances "Baby" Houseman: Have you had many women?

Johnny Castle: Come on, Baby.

Frances "Baby" Houseman: Come on. I want to know.

Johnny Castle: No, no. [jumps out of bed and Baby smiles at him] Look, you've gotta understand what it's like, Baby: you come from the streets and suddenly you're up here, and these women are throwing themselves at ya, and they smell so good, and they really take care of themselves, [getting dressed] I mean, I never knew women could be like that, you know? And they're so rich, they're so goddamn rich, you think they must know about everything. And they're slipping their room keys in my hands, two and three times day, different women. So here I think I'm scoring big, and for a while you think, hey, they wouldn't be doing this if they didn't care about me, right?

Frances "Baby" Houseman: That's all right, I understand. You were just using them, that's all. [looks depressed]

Johnny Castle: No, no, that's not it. That's the thing, see, Baby, it wasn't like that, they were using me.

[Baby kisses Johnny and they fall back on to their bed]

Johnny Castle: What's your real name, Baby?

Frances "Baby" Houseman: Frances. For the first woman in the cabinet. [laughs]

Johnny Castle: Frances. That's a real grown up name.

Neil Kellerman: I love to watch your hair blowing in the breeze.

Frances "Baby" Houseman: Maybe my parents are looking for me.

Neil Kellerman: Baby, don't worry. If they think you're with me, they'll be the happiest parents at Kellerman's. I have to say it. I'm known as the catch of the county.

Frances "Baby" Houseman: I'm sure you are.

Neil Kellerman: Only last week, I took a girl away from Jamie, the lifeguard. And he said to her, right in front of me, "What does he have that I don't have?" And she said, "Two hotels".

Jake Houseman: [about Penny's illegal abortion] Was that what my money paid for?

Frances "Baby" Houseman: I'm sorry. I never meant to lie to you.

Jake Houseman: You're not the person I thought you were. I'm not sure who you are. But I don't want you to have anything to do with those people again.

Frances "Baby" Houseman: But, Daddy, can I just explain?

Jake Houseman: Nothing! You're to have nothing to do with any of them ever again! I won't tell your mother about this, right now I'm going to bed. And take that stuff off your face before your mother sees you!

Frances "Baby" Houseman: Johnny, I came here because my father-

Johnny Castle: No, I mean the way he saved her. I mean, I.... I could never do anything like that. That was somethin'. The reason people treat me like I'm nothin' is cause I'm nothin'.

Frances "Baby" Houseman: That's not true! You- You're everything!

Johnny Castle: You don't understand the way it is, I mean for somebody like me. Last month, I'm eating Jujubes to keep alive, and this month, women are stuffing diamonds in my pocket, I'm balancing on shit as quick as that, [clicks his fingers] I could be down there again.

Frances "Baby" Houseman: No, it's not the way it is! It doesn't have to be that way.

Johnny Castle: I've never known anyone like you before. You think you can make the world better. Somebody's lost, you find them. Somebody's bleeding-

Frances "Baby" Houseman: Yeah, I go get my daddy. That was really brave, like you said.

Johnny Castle: That took a lot of guts to go to him! You are not scared of anything.

France "Baby Houseman: Me? I'm scared of everything! I'm scared of what I saw. I'm scared of what I did, of who I am. And most of all, I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life.... the way I feel when I'm with you!

Frances "Baby" Houseman: They fired you anyway because of me!

Johnny Castle: And if I leave quietly, I'll get my summer bonus.

Frances "Baby" Houseman: So I did it for nothing. I hurt my family, you lost your job anyway! I did it for nothing!

Johnny Castle: No, not for nothing, Baby! Nobody has ever done anything like that for me before!

Frances "Baby" Houseman: You were right, Johnny. You can't win no matter what you do!

Johnny Castle: You listen to me; I don't want to hear that from you, you can!

Frances "Baby" Houseman: I used to think so.

[Last lines]

Jake Houseman: I know you weren't the one who got Penny in trouble.

Johnny Castle: Yeah.

Jake Houseman: When I'm wrong, I say I'm wrong. [to Baby] You looked wonderful out there.

Taglines

• Have The Time Of Your Life
• First dance. First love. The time of your life.
• Dancing to the beat of their hearts.

Cast

External links

• Dirty Dancing quotes at the Internet Movie Database
• Dirty Dancing at Rotten Tomatoes