Patrick Swayze had to convince Jennifer Grey to be in this film because she disliked him so much while filming Red Dawn (1984).

Patrick Swayze was offered $6 million to reprise Johnny for a sequel. Swayze wasn't a fan of sequels and turned it down.

Johnny Castle was originally an Italian. This was changed when Patrick Swayze was cast.

Relations between the two main stars varied throughout production. They had already had trouble getting along in their previous project, Red Dawn (1984), and worked things out enough to have an extremely positive screen-test. Still, that initial cooperation soon faded, and they were quickly "facing off" before every scene. There was concern among the production staff that the animosity between the two stars would endanger the filming of the love scenes. To address this, Eleanor Bergstein and Emile Ardolino forced the stars to re-watch their initial screen-tests, the ones with the "breathtaking" chemistry. This had the desired effect, and Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey were able to return to the film with renewed energy and enthusiasm.

Patrick Swayze insisted on doing his stunts. During the log scene, he kept on falling off the log and injured his knee so badly he had to have fluid drained from the swelling.

The song "She's Like The Wind", originally written for Grandview, U.S.A. (1984), was later used in this movie instead.

Voted #2 Must See Movie of all time by listeners of Capital FM in London.

Cynthia Rhodes (Penny Johnson) was the first to be cast.

Throughout the film, Johnny and Baby always wear contrasting colors, Baby in very light colors, and Johnny in black or something very dark.

The film was re-released in 1997 solely due to a petition led by late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien in which he asked viewers to send letters calling for the film's re-release. When exhibitors finally agreed, O'Brien joked that he actually didn't like the movie all that much.

The film was set in the summer, yet the lake scene where they were practicing the lift was filmed in October. Since the leaves were already turning, they had to paint the leaves in the background. If you look closely you can see where they missed a few in one spot.

The dancing that Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey do during the love scene was actually the same dance that they did for the screen tests. It was not originally supposed to be in the film.

In the scene where Johnny and Baby are practicing dancing, and she keeps laughing when he runs his arm down hers, it was not part of the scene, she was actually laughing and his frustration was genuine. They left it because it was effective. Her falling over in this scene was unplanned too.

The very famous scene where Johnny and Baby are practicing their dancing and they are crawling towards each other on the floor wasn't intended to be part of the film; they were just messing around and were warming up to do the real scene, but the director liked it so much he kept in the film.

Although they barely dance during the movie, Jerry Orbach and Kelly Bishop (Baby's parents) were both well-known as Broadway singers and dancers. In fact, their most famous Broadway musicals - "A Chorus Line" for Bishop and "Chicago" for Orbach - had engaged in a famous rivalry for box office and awards when they opened within months of each other in 1975.

The lake practice scene was filmed at Lake Lure in the mountains of North Carolina in October. There are no close-ups because the actors were so cold that their lips were blue.

Val Kilmer was initially offered the lead but declined.

Billy Zane was considered for the lead role, but he didn't dance well.

The movie's line "Nobody puts Baby in the corner." was voted as the #98 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).

Baby tells Johnny that her real name is "Frances, after the first woman in the cabinet." Frances C. Perkins was the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1947. She was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during his first term, and served throughout all four of his terms and two years into Truman's presidency.

The song "She's Like The Wind" was co-written by Patrick Swayze with Stacy Widelitz and sung by Patrick Swayze.

Jennifer Grey, at 27, was 10 years older than the character of Baby. During her audition, she had 5 minutes to prove she could play younger, and that she had the moves for the role.

According to the book "The Catskills Alive" by Francine Silverman, Jackie Horner was the prototype for the Penny Johnson character.

At the beginning of the film, it is said that Baby will attend Mount Holyoke College in the fall. Her namesake, Frances Perkins, was a graduate of Mount Holyoke, Class of 1902.

Toward the end of the movie, Lisa, Mr. Kellerman, and several others sing an anthem to the Kellerman's resort ("Join hands and hearts and voices/ Voices, hearts and hands...") in the talent show. This song's lyrics were written for the movie, but the tune is a traditional one (known variously as "Amici" or "Annie Lisle") that has been used as the basis for the alma maters for many well-known American universities, including Cornell University, The University of Alabama.

Continuity

Before the final show/dance, Baby is sitting on her bed getting ready. She is wearing a no-seam bra (not available at the time) and rolling up stockings before putting them on when her sister comes in. When Baby is at the party/final dance, she is wearing a backless dress (no bra) and when dancing, she is wearing pantyhose instead of the stockings (and necessary garter-belt) that she was preparing earlier.

In the last dance scene, when Johnny jumps off the stage and goes to the back of the auditorium to get the other "dirty dancers" his hair is alternately wet/dry between shots.

Johnny puts his records back twice after talking to Neil.

Size of the hole in Johnny's back window changes between shots.

Johnny gets his pants dirty by sliding across the floor, yet they are clean in the next shot.



Factual errors

Lisa says to Baby "You wouldn't care if I screwed the whole army as long as I was on the right side of the Ho Chi Minh trail." The Ho Chi Minh trail was not well known in the United States until 1965, not 1963 and definitely not by Lisa who is not interested in politics.

As Johnny & Baby return from performing at the Shelldrake, Billy stops Johnny telling Johnny that the visiting Doctor who performed Penny's Procedure went horrible. Johnny asked why he didn't call an Ambulance. Billy responded that Penny made me promise. Ambulances weren't as highly regarded as an Emergency Medical Service until the 70's.



Incorrectly regarded as goofs

When Johnny locks his keys in the car he breaks the rear window to open the passenger side door. He then circles around to the driver?s door and opens it. Baby can actually be seen reaching across the seat and unlocking the door while Johnny walks around the car.

In the last scene when Johnny and Baby start the dance, everyone in the audience is seated in a chair. However at the end of the scene there are no chairs on the floor. However, you see some of the male dancers stop dancing and begin moving all the chairs for everyone to join in dancing.

When Johnny and Baby are driving back to from the other hotel some people have claimed that "you can clearly see that the car is still in 'park'". In reality it is a 1957 Chevy Belair Sport Coupe with a 3-spd manual transmission (three-on-the-tree). The gearshift is in second gear (up and away from driver).

The final dance landmark song "(I've had) The Time Of My Life" was recorded with obvious 1980s synthesizer sounds; it could not have been recorded or played by the on-stage band in 1963 because the technology to make the sounds didn't exist. However, given the song's prominent role in the film, this was presumably a deliberate creative choice by the filmmakers and not an unintentional goof.

Johnny is from Philadelphia so he should have had a Pennsylvania plate on his car. Instead, he had an "SP" New York license plate that was only issued in Saratoga Springs, New York. However, he could be driving a borrowed, rented, or recently purchased car; the vehicle's background is not explained in the film.



Revealing mistakes

When Johnny first slides on the ground towards the camera, you can see his kneepads in the light.

When Baby is painting the "end of the season" show's set, there is no paint on her brush which looks clean and unused.

The film was set in the summer, yet the lake scene where they Johnny and Baby practice the lift was filmed in October. Since the leaves were already turning, the crew had to paint the leaves in the background. If you look closely you can see where they missed a few in one spot.

When Baby and Johnny are driving to the lodge, you see their silhouettes in the car, but not their faces. It's obviously a stunt double wearing a very bad big wig.

After Baby's family arrives at Kellerman's, Lisa's hair ribbon is gone. When the Housemans are learning how to conga the ribbon is back again, only this time it's wrapped around her head like a headband instead of pulled back into half a pony tail.



Anachronisms

When Baby and some of the other girls are practicing their dance routines, many of them are wearing 1980's style workout and aerobics clothing that was not in style in the early 60's.

When Johnny and Baby first dance with the other staff, Otis Redding's "Love Man" is playing. The film takes place in 1963 but Redding didn't record the song until 1967, shortly before his death. In fact, "Love Man" was recorded in the same session as "Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay" and wasn't a hit until the following year.

Driving to the resort at the beginning of the movie, the road has solid center lines which are yellow. In the early '60s centerlines were white, not yellow.

At the bar some of the extras are drinking Miller beer bottles or cans that are of the current (late 1980's) style that were not correct for 1963.

Baby (and several other women in the film, actually) sports an obviously '80s "big hair" perm, something that wasn't in-vogue in 1963. Many women during that era went for straight-hair dos or the "Jackie O" bob look.



Crew or equipment visible

In the scene where Johnny is teaching Baby how to dance on a log of wood over a river, the safety mats for the actors are visible on the river bed for a quick second.



Errors in geography

Supposedly set in Upstate New York, film was shot in Virginia and North Carolina. The trees and bushes do not look like Upstate New York.