As the words to the song "Shout" echoed across Alpha Delta fraternity's living room Saturday night, Chris Miller '63 and his friends "Mouse" and "Alby" sang along with the band. Students dressed in togas danced around the lead singer and beer flowed from tapped kegs.
No, this was not a scene from the 1978 movie "Animal House." Miller, the screenwriter of "Animal House," and his friends are no longer students at the College and the music was provided by the Anti-Dentites, not Otis Day and the Knights -- the band featured in what may be the defining fraternity film.
Miller, who is also the author of the novel "The Real Animal House," brought cameramen from Pangolin Pictures with him for the A&E Biography Channel's "30th Anniversary of Animal House Special," scheduled to air this summer.
The evening began with a performance by the Darmouth Aires, an all-male a capella group, followed by student bands the Anti-Dentites and Filligar. Pangolin Pictures cameramen were present early in the evening to film the party, and signs were posted on the doors informing students that by entering, any footage of them taken could be used. As a result, the atmosphere of the party was different than the fraternity's atmosphere on most Friday nights, according to Donnie Surdoval '10, a member of AD.
"We had a toga party, which we don't usually have, a lot of live music, a good number of alums, just little differences like that you don't see on a regular weekend," Surdoval said. "For the sake of the show and what they wanted to see it was a bit staged."
The cameras were entirely responsible for the party's staged nature, according to Pete Mathias '09, a member of AD whose band, Filligar, performed at the party.
"People understood they were going to be televised so there was a lot of behavior there that you wouldn't normally see," he said. "It went totally back to normal when the cameras left."
The Pangolin Pictures crew filmed the party and conducted interviews for the documentary, according to Dan Hilsinger '09, one of the fraternity's social chairs. They interviewed Miller and some current members Friday afternoon.
"There were some '08s, '09s and '10s with Chris [Miller] talking about if they thought "Animal House" had any effect on how people view the house now, what kind of residue that leaves, stuff like that," Hilsinger said.
AD has not changed significantly since when he was an undergraduate, Miller said at the party, adding that he had enjoyed meeting the current members of the house. In his day, AD was known as the rebellious fraternity, he said, and drinking occupied much of the time spent there.
"We rebelled against all the goody two-shoes, well-behaved Dartmouth stuff that was going on and we pissed on the dean's leg, you know?" he said. "There was a lot of guys talking about sports and cars and it was kind of Spartan I guess you would say."
Miller said he suspects coeducation has changed the way men at Dartmouth behave.
"The incredible, insane energy that would build up here among 3,000 men snowbound on this campus for weeks at a time and then women would show up and it was like a nuclear bomb of partying in here," Miller said. "I don't think you get that [anymore]."
Miller's friends Al Mayer '63, known as Alby in the movie, and Tom McDonough '61, "Mouse" in the film, also returned to AD Saturday night.
"Mouse and I are hoping for fame and fortune somehow if all of this turns into some bread," Mayer said, adding, "It's kind of early in the evening."
Other alumni were also in attendance, including John Engelman '68, AD's alumni advisor. During a college visit his junior year of high school, Engelman met Miller and his friends and immediately decided to come to Dartmouth, he said.
In addition to Friday's footage, the Biography Channel documentary will include interviews from many of the actors who starred in the movie.
"If you look at the movie, literally we've interviewed everyone who's still alive," Amelia Hanibelsz, the producer for Pangolin Pictures, said. "It's been fantastic for me, personally. This is a completely new experience."
