Flashdance (1983) on Netflix
Alex Owens welds steel in a Pittsburgh mill and dances at night at Mawby's, a neighborhood bar. She wants a career on stage but has no formal training.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb6.2/1065,163 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes37%
Trailer
Plot summary
Alex Owens is eighteen. She welds at a steel mill in Pittsburgh and lives in a converted warehouse with her dog, Grunt. At night she dances at Mawby's, a bar and grill, and she wants to become a professional dancer, though she has never had formal training. Nick Hurley, who owns the mill, sees her perform, and he pursues her once he learns she is on his payroll. Johnny C. offers her work at his club, Zanzibar. Her mentor, the retired ballerina Hanna Long, counsels her.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Flashdance (1983)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Most of Jennifer Beals' dancing was performed by a body double, the French actress Marine Jahan, while the breakdancing in the audition sequence was doubled by the male dancer Crazy Legs and the slow-motion dive was performed by professional gymnast Sharon Shapiro; the producers said Jahan's name did not appear because Paramount shortened the closing credits.
- A popular urban legend holds that "Maniac" was originally written for the 1980 horror film Maniac, with lyrics about a killer on the loose rewritten for Flashdance; the film's DVD special features discredit it, revealing the song was written for the film, with only two complete lyrics available when filming commenced.
- Jennifer Beals, Demi Moore and Leslie Wing were the finalists for Alex Owens. One story says Paramount president Michael Eisner asked women secretaries to pick their favorite after viewing screen tests; screenwriter Eszterhas claims Eisner instead asked two hundred of the most macho men on the lot which of the three young women they would most want to sleep with.
- The role of Nick Hurley was originally offered to Kiss founding member Gene Simmons, who turned it down because it would conflict with his "demon" image, and Kevin Costner, a struggling actor at the time, came very close to the role, which went to Michael Nouri.
- In June 2006 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed that Marder gave up her rights to the film when she signed a release in 1982; the judges said the agreement appears unfair in hindsight, as she received only $2,300 relating to a movie that grossed over $150 million, but found no evidence of fraud or duress.
- Beals said the look of the film's sweatshirt came about by accident, when the garment shrank in the wash and she cut out a large hole at the top so that she could wear it again.
- David Cronenberg turned down an offer to direct, as he felt he would have destroyed the film, as had Brian De Palma, who chose to direct Scarface instead; Lyne, whose background was primarily in television commercials, agreed to direct because he wanted enough studio confidence to get 9½ Weeks approved.
