Movie Music Monday – Love At First Bite – Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian

Today the tannest man in show business celebrates his 85th birthday. I am, of course, talking about George Hamilton. He is no stranger to television and movies. His film career started way back in 1959 when he started in Crime and Punishment USA

He played many serious roles both on television and in the movies. In 1979, however, he starred in the hit Love at First Bite, where he showed that he could also do comedy.

Admittedly, the set up of the film is kind of silly: The Communist regime of Romania ejects the Count from his ancestral home, he and his manservant Renfield (Arte Johnson) go in search of the current incarnation of Mina Harker (Dracula’s true love). This incarnation is a fashion model named Cindy (Susan Saint James) who lives in New York City. The comedy ensues when the incurably romantic Count finds it difficult to adjust to life in the Big Apple in the late 1970s.

Richard Benjamin is pretty funny as Cindy’s psychiatrist, Dick Shawn (who is always great) plays a NYPD Lieutenant, and there are funny appearances from Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford.

One of the best scenes in the movie is when Dracula and Cindy dance at a disco. The song that they dance to is I Love the Nightlife (Disco Round) by Alicia Bridges.

The song was recorded in 1978 and was released as the first single from her debut album. It went to number 2 on the Disco charts and became a crossover hit, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.

The song is forever connected to the movie. Which is why I find it odd that the 2007 DVD release of the movie features a different song in the relevant scene! I don’t even know what song they used or why Bridges song was cut. Thankfully, the 2015 release by Shout Factory restores the original song to the scene.