WALL STREET and DIRTY DANCING ripped this gem off.

good call on Wall Street -- very similar dynamic with the son/father/flashy mentor scenario.

Though, I think that in coming of age movies it's not exactly revolutionary storytelling to have a son momentarily 'trading in' his dad and his dad's value for someone who is all sizzle and no steak.

Yeah, I never thought about the similarities with Wall Street but you make a good point, working class kid idolizes rich salesman and then attempts to emulate him, then he learns the salesman is a crook and a fraud. A beautiful blonde girl, a wise working class father, etc.

Dirty Dancing with the 1963 backdrop during the summer at a vacation spot.

But you could say that this film ripped off "Caddyshack". Essentially it's the same film with Ted Knight in the Richard Crenna role, a beautiful blond girl, rich country club environment, a large gambling event at the end of the film where the employee fills in for an injured team-mate. The colonel even had the same injury as Rodney Dangerfield. Chevy Chase essentially fills the father figure kind hearted mentor role in Caddyshack.

This type of story is very old though, basically a boy being seduced by the Dark Side, sort of like Star Wars which is based an ancient mythology.

As it was pointed out, a working class kid aspires to be like his big shot older "friend" so much that he goes against his father's wishes and then finds out his buddy is a lying fraud. Whether The Flamingo Kid did this kind of thing first or not, the similarities with Wall Street are hard not to notice. In fact, I would argue they're pretty much the same film apart from the setting and tone.

So with that said, I wouldn't be surprised if this underrated gem served as an inspiration for those infinitely more popular 80s movies. With Dirty Dancing? Not so much in the storyline but there's certainly some similarity in the aesthetic department.

Never end a sentence in a preposition.