The Loved One (1965)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Tony Richardson

Writers:

Evelyn Waugh (novel)
Terry Southern (writer) ...

Release Date:

11 October 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

The motion picture with something to offend everyone!

Plot:

Satire on the funeral business, in which a young British poet goes to work at a Hollywood cemetery.

Plot Keywords:

Funeral | Satire | Embalmer | Poet | Cemetery

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Robert Morse	...	Dennis Barlow
Jonathan Winters	...	Henry Glenworthy / Rev. Wilbur Glenworthy
Anjanette Comer	...	Aimee Thanatogenous
Dana Andrews	...	Gen. Buck Brinkman
Milton Berle	...	Mr. Kenton
James Coburn	...	Immigration Officer
John Gielgud	...	Sir Francis Hinsley
Tab Hunter	...	Whispering Glades Tour Guide
Margaret Leighton	...	Mrs. Helen Kenton
Liberace	...	Mr. Starker
Roddy McDowall	...	D.J. Jr.
Robert Morley	...	Sir Ambrose Ambercrombie
Barbara Nichols	...	Sadie Blodgett
Lionel Stander	...	The Guru Brahmin
Roxanne Arlen	...	Whispering Glades Hostess

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Norway:16 | UK:X | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Filmways Pictures

Trivia:

After WWII, Evelyn Waugh came to Hollywood to work on a movie adaptation of his novel "Brideshead Revisited". While in Hollywood he went to a funeral at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Waugh was offended by the pretense of both the American film industry and the American funeral industry, and wove the two together into the novel on which this film was based.

Quotes:

Dennis Barlow: Aimee, wait. Now... My dear girl, don't you realize? It's only been money that's been holding me back.
Aimee Thanatogenous: An American would despise himself for living off his wife.
Dennis Barlow: Yes, but you see, I'm English, and we have none of these prejudices in the older and more developed civilizations.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

Soundtrack:

Pomp and Circumstance

The Blackest of Black Comedies

It is hard to place any kind of meaningful description to this film because it takes cultural, social, and moral ideals and stomps on them. Additionally, the casting of the film goes against type, with Jonathan Winters, for example, as a dark, imposing religious force. The acting is superb, intense and, at times, intentionally campy and over-the-top. Each scene seems outrageous and, at times, ridiculous but inexorably moves the characters, and the audience, to a lip-biting conclusion.

Terry Southern, one of the credited screen writers, was also responsible for Kubrick's Dr Strangelove, Barbarella, Candy, Easy Rider, The Magic Christian, and many other wacky films. Knowing this may help to place it in some familiar context. Of all his films, though, this is the darkest.

If you are disturbed or offended by the funeral business, death in general, dead pets, or slightly veiled hints at necrophilia then you might want to give this one a miss. If you're brave and open-minded, however, I highly recommend this truly strange and wonderful film.