Dirty Dancing - 5Star

This smash-hit movie rocketed Patrick Swayze to stardom

This smash-hit movie rocketed Patrick Swayze to stardom.

It's the summer of 1963, an idealised age of innocence in which it's possible to have the time of your life simply by learning to dance.

Jennifer Grey is a doctor's daughter whose family holiday perks up when she peeks in on the resort's staff doing their uninhibited style of hip-swivelling and Swayze is the instructor she gets to partner on and off the dance floor.

The corny plot, with stolen wallet, irate parents and all, may be dated, but the dialogue hits home and is a good deal more affecting than one might have expected.

But it's the sizzling dance sequences that have ensured this movie has stood the test of time.