Flashdance

They were not open about it not being Beals; I remember when the French girl came forward, it was a semi-scandal (even though it was REaLLY obvious to anyone who saw the music videos, which were on repeat on MTV)

I do my own stunts!!

If I recall correctly the stunt dancer/dancers, I think there was a guy who actually did the breakdancing spins as well, we’re not clearly attributed in the credits and if they were there at all they were deeply buried in the thank yous or some such place. Deception was part of the plan.

I assume the girl who did the ice skating had a skating double as well, they shot the sequence with lots of low lights shooting right into the camera and with lots of visual flares.

Cynthia Rhodes was gorgeous in this movie. Manhunt still slaps.

R4 I agree, I thought she was going to be the breakout star from this, and while her part in Dirty Dancing is strong and definitely one of the few adult performances in the movie she didn’t really launch much further.

This should have been an “Eldergays” thread.

R5 she'll always have Staying Alive. And being married to Richard Marx probably didn't hurt either.

Off-topic: Staying Alive is probably my favorite so-bad -it’s-good movie.

The gymnastics moves were done by UCLA gymnast Sharon Shapiro also uncredited. Marine Jahan was the stunt dancer but I never thought she was on the level of say Sandahl Bergman

The plot to this movie is ridiculous. Total wish fulfillment. A hot young girl just out of high school living in a big comfy loft by herself. Working as a welder (which needs a license) and moonlighting as an erotic dancer. Finds a sexy older man who takes care of. Wants to become a ballerina despite having no training and auditions to a prestigious dance school doing hip-hop moves. All with a body double that looks nothing like her. Yet it just works... The cinematography is one of my favorite in films. It makes Pittsburgh look gorgeous and the scene with the street kids breakdancing was one of the first to be shown in a major Hollywood film.

All three actresses from The Golden Girls performed their own dancing in this sequence. Betty White in particular is impressive with her athletic style of dancing. If they could do it, why couldn’t Jennifer Beals?

R8 it's one of mine too. I love the soundtrack.

Flashdance is ridiculous but, as r10 says, it just works. I think a lot of it is due to Adrian Lyne, who creates a very stylish film, and Beals is gorgeous and likable. It's ridiculous that Alex is so young and lives on her own in quite a spacious loft, but Beals has the advantage of looking mature for her age but not old and so it works. And Nouri being so much older should also be a turn-off, but they have nice chemistry.

And, of course, the music is great. Can't believe the film will be 40 years old next year. For me, Flashdance was one of the first films to really introduce the '80s visual style. I guess because it's always been called a music video for the big screen.

I remember Jessica Alba talking about how disappointed she was that Jennifer didn't do her own dancing. This was of course to promote that terrible Honey movie.

I love that Jennifer Beals was marketed as white (most likely the studio which didn't know she was mixed or told her to hide it) and got backlash for that. Yet Jessica Alba who is mostly white with partial Indigenous descent was marketed as a light-skinned black girl for Honey and got little-to-no backlash.

I love Romeo, the Donna Summer song in it.

(although I never get what the oh chukka part means.)

Similar to the ultra hottie Peter Tramm, filling in for Kevin Bacon in Footloose.

He was also a backup dancer for Cher and died of the AIDS.

I think he was married to Jennifer?

Oops, sorry Peter was married to Marine Jahan. Same diff.