I Saw An American Werewolf in London In Its Entirety For The Very First Time

Last night, I went to the Brattle Theatre to watch An American Werewolf in London. Although I have seen the movie on TV many times going back to the early 1980's, I have never seen it in its entirety. Somehow, I have always caught the movie after Jack Goodman (played by Griffin Dunne) is killed by the werewolf. 

So, for the first time, I saw the opening scene in the Moors with Goodman and David Kessler (played by David Naughton) hiking and stopping into The Slaughtered Lamb with the locals looking upon the two Americans with steel-eyed suspicion and contempt. This gave the film an entirely new context to me.

Seeing the film in its entirety gave a deeper understanding of the music chosen for the film. In all there are five songs in the movie all with the word moon in the title - Van Morrison's "Moondance", "Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival and three versions of "Blue Moon". The Bobby Vinton version is played during the opening credits, the Sam Cooke version is played during Kessler's dramatic transition into the werewolf with The Marcels' doo-wop version played during the closing credits. 

I also did not realize Frank Oz was in the film. Oz, best known for his work with The Muppets, also has a small role in another John Landis film The Blues Brothers starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. Speaking of Belushi and Aykroyd, I did not know Universal Pictures wanted Landis to cast Belushi and Aykroyd into the lead roles. It's not clear who would be who, but I imagine Belushi would have been Goodman while Aykroyd would have been Kessler. It might have been interesting, but Belushi had some pretty serious drug problems by this point and would be dead less than a year after the movie hit theaters. Besides, I think casting two relatively unknown actors as fishes out of water ultimately worked better. 

After all, An American Werewolf in London was a critical and commercial success. So, it has always been a mystery to me as to why David Naughton didn't become a bigger star and has been relegated to the "Where Are They Now?" list. Naughton was a likable, compelling leading man who had great chemistry with both Dunne and Jenny Agutter (who played Nurse Alex Price, Kessler's romantic partner) and could have been the centerpiece of many other movies to follow. But as in other areas of life, even with the best of intentions, things fall through.

But by all appearances, Naughton has had a satisfying life and career. Dunne has done well while Agutter has had a long career in the U.K.  I was delighted to learn that John Woodvine who portrayed Dr. Hirsch in the film (and who I remember from the Doctor Who series "The Armageddon Factor") is still alive and turns 94 later this month. He recently appeared in Enys Men alongside his daughter Mary Woodvine. 

One interesting tidbit in the closing credits. It bid congratulations to Prince Charles and Lady Diana on their wedding. As the kids say, "That didn't age well." However, the same cannot be said for the rest of An American Werewolf in London. It actually earned the inaugural Oscar for Best Makeup and would be the first of seven Oscars for Rick Baker in this category. 

And with that, beware the moon and stay on the road.