Main Cast: Robert Morse, Anjanette Comer, Jonathan Winters, Rod Steiger, Dana Andrews, James Coburn
Release Year: 1965
Country: US
Run Time: 118 minutes
Plot
The satire in Evelyn Waugh's darkly comic novel The Loved One was originally double-edged. The book was not only an attack on the Southern California funeral industry but also a lampoon of Hollywood's "British colony," those clannish, cricket-playing English actors of years gone by who bemoaned the artificiality of Tinseltown while eagerly accepting the demeaning and insignificant movie roles they were offered. The film version of The Loved One, anxious to live up to its ad-campaign promise of containing "something to offend everybody," downplays the British-colony business (save for the presence of the magnificent Robert Morley) and pumps up the "death" gags. Innocent British poet Dennis Barlow (Robert Morse) falls in love with funeral-home cosmetician Aimee Thanatogenos (Anjanette Comer), who in turn is loved by prissy funeral director Mr. Joyboy (Rod Steiger). The latter lives with his obese mother (Ayllene Gibbons), whose eating sequence is far more hilarious (and more tasteless) than many of the film's calculatedly "black" jokes. A huge guest-star cast is headed by Jonathan Winters in a dual role as a funeral home manager and his covetous twin brother, who operates an elaborate pet cemetery. Musician Paul Williams is also on hand as a 13-year-old aeronautics genius who develops a method of sending corpses into "eternal orbit" (a plot device that Waugh neglected to include in his novel). Film historian William K. Everson has commented that The Loved One is one of the best and most underrated comedies of the 1960s. For others, especially those who might feel guilty chuckling at the sight of Anjanette Comer committing suicide with an embalming needle, it's purely a matter of taste...or lack of same. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Evelyn Waugh purists may bristle at the liberties taken in translated his macabre and morbidly amusing novel to the screen (sending corpses into space, indeed!), but if The Loved One varies from the novel in both plot and tone, it still shares the same blackly comic view of humanity. While Waugh was subdued and subtle in his depiction of the mortuary industry, director Tony Richardson and writers Terry Southern and Christopher Isherwood are much blunter and more obvious; indeed, at times there's a positively maniacal glee to the proceedings. But this ultimately works to the film's advantage, and if parts of the film are a bit much, on the whole the satire is presented to extremely good advantage. Even when the proceedings veer wildly off course, as they do on several occasions, the tangents are worth the ride. Viewers should be warned, of course, that The Loved One is not a very nice film. Those whose sensitivities are easily damaged should definitely look elsewhere (indeed, the film was advertised as having something to offend everyone), and a somewhat strong stomach is needed for a few moments. Some may argue as well that a strong stomach is needed to withstand Robert Morse, who is miscast in the pivotal role. It doesn't help that Morse is hopelessly American in a role that is written for a Brit, but Morse's unsuccessful struggle to find the character is more the problem. Fortunately, the rest of the cast, from the mordant John Gielgud to the creepy Rod Steiger to the deliciously arrogant Robert Morley, more than make up for Morse's shortcomings. A bit helter-skelter in places and definitely not for all people, The Loved One will nonetheless delight those who appreciate their comedies black and enjoy the skewering of sacred cows. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Sydney Z. Litwack - Art Director, Nat Tolmach - Costume Designer, Rouben Ter-Arutunian - Costume Designer, James Kelly - Costume Designer, Tony Richardson - Director, Hal Ashby - Editor, Antony Gibbs - Editor, Stuart H. Pappe - Editor, Brian Smedley-Aston - Editor, John Addison - Composer (Music Score), Emile LaVigne - Makeup, Rouben Ter-Arutunian - Production Designer, Haskell Wexler - Cinematographer, John Calley - Producer, Haskell Wexler - Producer, Neil Hartley - Producer, James W. Payne - Set Designer, Geza Gaspar - Special Effects, Christopher Isherwood - Screenwriter, Terry Southern - Screenwriter, Evelyn Waugh - Book Author
Young Englishman Dennis Barlow (Robert Morse) wins an airline ticket and visits his uncle Sir Francis Hinsley (John Gielgud) in Los Angeles. Hinsley has worked as a production staffer at a major Hollywood studio for over thirty years. His employer D.J. Jr. (Roddy McDowall) fires Hinsley, despite the old man’s faithful dedication to the company. Hinsley commits suicide by hanging himself. Dennis is swayed by a prominent member of the local English expatriate community to spend most of the money from his uncle's estate on a socially prestigious burial at Whispering Glades cemetery and mortuary where he soon meets Aimee Thanatogenos (Anjanette Comer), a hopelessly naive and idealistic cosmetician who says she was named after Aimee McPherson. Dennis lusts over but has no wish for a lasting relationship. Meanwhile, Aimee worships head embalmer Mr. Joyboy (Rod Steiger) who wants to marry her.
To raise money Dennis begins working at Happier Hunting Grounds, a local pet cemetery run by Henry Glenworthy (Jonathan Winters), who has also lately been fired by the studio. Dennis courts Aimee with plagiarized poetry, with which Joyboy soon discredits him. However, Aimee is put off at the thought of marrying Joyboy when she sees her boss' bizarre and unhealthy relationship with his morbidly obese mother whose only interest is food.
Aimee seeks spiritual help by mail from the Guru Brahmin (Lionel Stander), who turns out to be a drunken staff writer at a newspaper. She then flees to cemetery owner Reverend Wilbur Glenworthy (also played by Winters) who swiftly greets her with over the top sexual come ons. Wholly distraught, she commits suicide by embalming herself. Joyboy finds her dead body and Dennis shows up shortly thereafter to blackmail him into switching Aimee's body with that of a dead astronaut whose closed casket is meant to be put in a rocket and launched into space. After the televised funeral ceremony and with cash in hand, Dennis flies back to England.
Othello (1955) •It Should Happen to a Dog (1955) •"BBC Sunday Night Theatre" (1955) •"ITV Play of the Week" (1956) •"The Sunday-Night Play" (1960) •A Death in Canaan (1978) •The Penalty Phase (1986) •Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun (1988) •Women and Men: Stories of Seduction (1990) (with Frederic Raphael and Ken Russell) •The Phantom of the Opera (1990)
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