With the plans to remake the classic 1987 film “Dirty Dancing” now public, there will be lots of chatter about the original starring Patrick Swayzey and Jennifer Grey. Who should play the parts of Johnny and “Baby”? Should there be a remake at all? There are mixed feeling about the original itself – was the movie really that good or just schmaltz? The New Yorker magazine makes film critic Pauline Kael’s August, 1987 review of the original “Dirty Dancing” available here if you’re interested in a pro’s perspective or just want to tweak your memory>

By the way – just to put you more in tune with 1987, during that year:
Canada introduced the “Loonie”; Robert Bok was rejected for the Supreme Court; the Dow closed for the first time over 2500 and then tanked in October on Black Monday; Pat Robertson decided to run for U. S. President; Kiwanis Clubs voted to admit woman as members; President Reagan challenged Gorbachev to “tear down that wall”; Aretha Franklin was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; the IRA/Provos were still active; there was a wave of train and plane crashes and a tsunami in the Gulf of Alaska; the world population reached 5 billion; hearings held on Iran-Contra affair; the “The Simpsons” debuted on The Tracy Ullman Show; Andy Warhol, David Susskind, Rita Hayworth, Jackie Gleason, John Houston, Woody Hermand and dancing greats Bob Fosse, Michael Bennett and Fred Astaire all died. Locally, Bobby Kennedy was Lowell’s Mayor; the Tsongas Industrial History Center was created by cooperative agreement between University of Massachusetts Lowell and Lowell National Historical Park; there was a major fire in the old Lawrence Manufacturing Company Mill; voters elected Richard Howe, Brian Martin, Tarsey Poulios, Joseph Fitzpatrick, Bud Caulfield, Robert Kennedy, Gerald Durkin, Curtis LeMay and M. Brendan Fleming to the City Council in the November elections (incumbents Kelley, Kennedy and Coutu lost reelection bids); B. Joseph Tully resigned as City Manager to be replaced by Jim Campbell; Chet Atkins was the 5th District Congressman; “Massachusetts Miracle” fuels the Dukakis run for President.