Jenny Agutter
An American Werewolf in London (1981) is easily one of the most frightening films of its kind, yet manages to keep a dark sense of humor amid the slaughter. Fortified by an original and well crafted script & tight direction by John Landis, groundbreaking make-up/special effects (which brought Rick Baker his first Oscar), and an excellent cast that includes our scream queen, Jenny Agutter, the film is the high water mark in 80’s horror.
Although Jenny Agutter’s character utters nothing close to a scream, she deserves her place in the Scream Queen hall of fame due to an exceptional performance as Nurse Alex Price. Not only does she bring a strong character to life, but does it with a sincerity that brings true pathos to the final shot. She would not return to the horror genre until 1987.
One of the wonderful things about writing Scream Queens is the number of Screen Queens you run into. An Army brat born in Taunton, Somerset, England on 20 December 1952, she began acting in films early. At age 12 she appeared in East of Sudan (1964) which starred Anthony Quayle and Sylvia Sims. Here, she began a career that spans over 50 years and 114 screen credits to date, it is impossible to cover all of them, but the most important and unusual are well worth mentioning.
After East of Sudan, she appeared in a number of Television shows including, The Magical World of Disney (1966), Boy Meets Girl (1967), The Newcomers (1967-68) and The Railway Children Mini Series in a role that she reprized in a film version in 1970 (currently available on the Criterion Channel).
In 1971 she appeared in Walkabout before doing more TV work from 1971 to 1975 including the TV movie Shelly (1972) where she played Mary Shelly before appearing in Logan’s Run (1976) with Michael York and Farrah Fawcett. Walkabout follows two children lost in the Australian outback who are aided by an Aboriginal boy on his ritual separation from his tribe, his walkabout. A moving film directed by Nicolas
Roeg (Criterion Collection #10 & currently available on the Criterion Channel). This is one of her best early performances especially considering the original script was only 14 pages long and much of the film was improvised.
Logan’s Run had great box office but is a bit of a mixed bag and was not well received by the critics.
The fight between Jessica (Jenny Agutter) and Holly (Farrah Fawcett) was originally written to be longer, but was changed when the actresses pulled each others hair too violently. Fearing that if allowed to continue the women would end up in a real fight, director Michael Anderson cut the scene short.
Jenny Agutter & Farrah Fawcett fighting / Jenny Agutter and the hated green outfit
Agutter hated the green outfit that she had to wear in the film, and much later admitted that the reason she didn’t do Science Fiction conventions was because she feared someone would show up wearing that revealing garment.
Jenny Agutter & Donald Sutherland in The Eagle Has Landed (1976)
The Eagle Has Landed, also released in 1976 starred Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, Robert Duvall, and Jenny Agutter. The film boasted a stellar cast, but its director, John Sturges was at the end of his career and according to Michael Caine only took the job to fund his expensive fishing habit. Indeed, once shooting was done, Sturges left and did not return to supervise the editing to the possible detriment of the finished film. The film was edited by 5 time Oscar nominee, Anne V. Coates who won the Oscar in 1962 for Lawrence of Arabia and applied her skills to complete shaping the suspenseful, well written and performed script.
Agutter then did more TV work, including a movie and a two part guest shot on The Six Million Dollar Man (1977) before landing the role in Anthony Shaffer’s Equus directed by Sidney Lumet and featuring Richard Burton and Peter Firth. It was a difficult play to bring to the screen that tested Lumet’s brilliance, and he was aided by a seasoned cast that included Joan Plowwright, and Jenny Agutter. In spite of all the talent involved and a cinematic treatment of the source material, the film was a box office failure.
I will not dwell on the irony of going from Equus to a spaghetti western, but this is indeed what happened. Agutter starred with Fabio Testi and Warren Oats in the oddly titled China 8, Liberty 37 (1978).
In the same year as An American Werewolf in London (1981), Agutter appeared in a Disney film about a woman that teaches a deaf child after her own hearing impaired son dies. (Amy is available on Vudu to buy or rent).
For the remainder of the 80’s, Agutter appeared in many TV shows including, Magnum, P.I. (1985), The Two Ronnies (1986), Murder, She Wrote (1986), The Twilight Zone (1986 & 87), and a number of TV movies. In 1987 she made a return to horror in director Freddie Francis’ (known as both a talented cinematographer & director as well of winner of 2 Oscars in cinematography for Sons and Lovers 1960 and Glory 1989), Dark Tower which was not released until 1989, and was an unfortunate waste of talent in spite of a cast including Michael Moriarty, Carol Lynley, and Kevin McCarthy.
Agutter fared slightly better in the sequel to the successful Child’s Play, but this would be her last foray into horror. She has said that Child’s Play 2 was one of the worst film production experiences she ever encountered.
Turning back to TV work, Agutter continued working through the 1990’s & 2000’s including Poirot in 2006 and a Midsomer Murders episode in 2009. In 2012 the actress made an appearance in The Avengers, and in 2014, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. In 2018 she was part of a wonderful ensemble cast let by the enigmatic Bill Nighy in Sometimes Always Never (available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime).
Currently she is still working as a regular on the popular Call the Midwife (Netflix, 2012-Present/The show has been renewed for the 10th & 11th seasons). From the opening episode in season one, Agutter claims the role of Sister Julienne and all that goes with it as though she has lived it. As Sister Julienne, she is the head of Nonnatus House overseeing both the nuns and the midwives as they navigate the poverty of the East End. She is part of an ensemble cast that delivers flawless performances in a well developed, written, and produced series. It is truly a crown on a long and eventful ongoing career.
Facts, Rumors & Hearsay
WALKABOUT: Although Girl is 14 years old in the movie, Jenny Agutter was 16 years old when the film was in production.
Jenny Agutter’s initial interest in participating in the film was sparked by a desire to meet the Beatles, who were considered as potential financiers for it.
CHILD’S PLAY 2: Veronica Cartwright was considered for the part of Joanne before Jenny Agutter was chosen.
EQUUS: Peter Firth and Jenny Agutter would star together in the English TV series Spooks, but in the United States was called MI 5
SOMETIMES ALWAYS NEVER: The title refers to the Sometimes, Always, Never Three-Button Rule. When wearing a suit with three buttons a man should sometimes button the top button, depending on the style of the suit, always button the middle button, and never button the bottom button.
NEXT: Adrienne Barbeau
