The American remake starred Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, and Edward Norton. It also featured a soundtrack composed by Quincy Jones and has gone on to achieve cult status since its release. (In reality, the three-minute scene required no fewer than three Beals stand-ins.The original “Italian Job” film starred Michael Caine as Croker along with Noël Coward, Benny Hill, Raf Vallone, Tony Beckley, Rossano Brazzi, and Maggie Blye. And reams were written about the revelation that Beals’ iconic end-of-film audition scene was actually performed by French-born Marine Jahan. Its central conceit of an 18-year-old female welder/dancer was widely mocked, too, though the story was said to be inspired by an actual 18-year-old welder/dancer named Maureen Marder (who later unsuccessfully sued for a share of the copyright).
The fairy tale suffered the inevitable backlashes, for a score that leaned heavy on the synthesizer and seemed to permeate every other movie released that year, for its torn-sweatshirt fashion, and for giving Beals a love interest twice her age. Previously: 30 reasons why we're still obsessed with 'Dirty Dancing,' 30 years later 'Top' secret: Why movies endure 30 years later It stuck around in theaters through October.
The movie’s music, rapidly cut style and more moving, less talking approach - The New Yorker chided it as “a series of rock videos” - moved it up to No. And its competition for the younger set included the just-released Max Dugan Returns (Matthew Broderick’s first film) and teen-bait The Outsiders. But Flashdance found footing with something none of these had: MTV. The movie hit screens the same day as the latest from Chuck Norris ( Lone Wolf McQuade, which claimed first place). 1982 holdovers Tootsie and E.T. were still top 10 box-office draws.
Producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer had yet to prove themselves as the power duo they quickly became (this was their first collaboration). When Flashdance arrived in theaters, success was not assured.
And TV actor Michael Nouri secured the male lead previously offered to Gene Simmons of Kiss (Nouri’s runner-up: Kevin Costner).įilming took place in Pittsburgh in the fall of 1982 music-based sequences were shot with MTV in mind, according the channel bio Inside MTV, and Paramount ran promotional spots on MTV and in dance clubs weeks ahead of the movie’s debut. Unknown Chicago actress Jennifer Beals won the sought-after starring role of Alex Owens over actresses like Kyra Sedgwick and Demi Moore. Director Adrian Lyne had made just one movie (the poorly received 1980 Jodie Foster drama Foxes), but he got the job first offered to Brian De Palma and David Cronenberg, among others. 'Dallas' turns 40: 40 ways to celebrate, from 'Who Shot J.R.?' to the dream seasonįlashdance had endured the requisite labyrinthine Hollywood development process, with an idea that had danced around for a few years, yielding a script ultimately credited to Thomas Hedley Jr. More: MTV is 36! Celebrate with these mind-blowing moments from the VMAs
That’s a lot of passion that MTV made happen.
That made it the third-biggest movie of 1983, behind Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and Terms of Endearment. It also spawned the hottest movie soundtrack since Grease (1978), temporarily knocking Michael Jackson’s Thriller from the top of the Billboard album chart and earning a Grammy album of the year nomination on its way to winning a best original song Oscar for Irene Cara’s fist-pumping Flashdance …What a Feeling (which beat out another Flashdance hit, Michael Sembello’s thigh-busting Maniac). The Cinderella story about a welder by day/dancer by night (Jennifer Beals) was a sleeper hit for studio Paramount, earning almost $100 million (double that worldwide) on a reported $8 million budget. Case in point: Flashdance, released 35 years ago this weekend (April 15), the first movie to latch on to the new channel as a marketing and storytelling tool, reaping a bonanza for both. Video may have killed the radio star when MTV arrived, but it breathed new life into both the film and music businesses.