Patrick Swayze returned to the main stage in the cult classic Road House. Two years after the Dirty Dancing star emerged into the spotlight with his magnetic mambo moves, the actor stepped into the role of a bouncer in 1989's Road House.
As the film's producer Joel Silver had predicted, the movie about the ways of these "coolers" would become the "best drive-in movie ever made." Here are 10 facts about the 80's action drama you should know!
10. The movie was not filmed in Missouri.
Though the plot is set in the town of Jasper, Missouri, Road House's infamous bar, The Double Deuce, was built for on-site filming in California. Some of the bar's interior footage was filmed in a real Anaheim bar that is now closed.
9. Swayze was not a fan of the legendary mullet.
As iconic as Swayze's mullet was, the actor referred to his Road House hairstyle as "the bane of my existence" in the biographical book One Last Dance.
8. Kelly Lynch over-prepared for her role.
Cast as the ER doctor Dr. Elizabeth Clay, AKA "Doc," Kelly Lynch researched her role by shadowing the medical team in a real emergency room to learn how to sew stitches. One script change later, Lynch was handed a staple gun on set and we never got to see Lynch put her skills to work.
7. The irresistible lure of Swayze and his arms.
The 1962 Otis Redding tune "These Arms of Mine" kicked off the initial love scene between Swayze and his costar Jennifer Grey. The signature track would make a reappearance in one of Road House's romantic scenes between Swayze and Lynch. What is it about Swayze's arms and his mullet?
6. The NYPD uses the movie's three simple rules during retraining.
Patrick, in the role of Dalton, lays down the three rules of the Double Deuce club. In 2015, New York Post exclusively reported that lecture portions of a mandatory, three-day retraining course for cops were being revamped with Road House as a training tool.
5. Swayze's hotness caused problems on set.
During shooting, a horde of middle-aged blonde women in a truck tried to pull up in front of the actor's trailer, in a wild attempt to speak with Swayze. During the film's river fight scene, a raft of Swayze fans cruised by. Another time, an extra, who was playing a waitress, was so lovestruck with the heartthrob she tripped and spilled her drinks on an unlucky extra nearby.
4. Red West was a friend of Elvis Presley's.
Red West, who performed as Red Webster, the owner of the auto parts store, was an old friend of The King. He not only attended the same high school as Presley but was also a member of his "Memphis Mafia."
3. Pain does hurt.
Aligning with all the rules of the Dalton one-liner "Pain don't hurt," Swayze bit the bullet by performing his own stunts, including the time Marshall Teague, in the role of Jimmy, smashed Swayze repeatedly with a prop log...and realized later that it was actually real, hard wood.
2. All the actors did their own stunts.
"You hear all that bullsh*t about 'It’s all stunt doubles' and all that sh*t. Well, it isn’t," Sam Elliott shared to the The A.V. Club. "All the actors, as far as I know, did their own fighting. I f**king got the sh** kicked out of me for the entire film."
1. No pain, no gain???
Lynch recounted her memories of making the movie's intimate scene with Swayze, explaining that "[she] was padded. No one knows, so it looks more painful than it was."
She added, "They really liked everything about the way that scene looked, with the blonde hair against the rocks behind me, but I was like, 'Isn’t this kind of… mean?' So they put a thin padding under my dress, so you can’t see it. But he’s still slamming me against the rocks, so I had to be careful not to hit my head. Thank God Patrick was so strong."
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