The Loved One (1965)

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

Director:

Tony Richardson

Writers:

Evelyn Waugh (novel), Terry Southern (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert Morse, Jonathan Winters, Anjanette Comer

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Morse	...	Dennis Barlow
Jonathan Winters	...	Wilbur Glenworthy / Harry Glenworthy
Anjanette Comer	...	Aimee Thanatogenous
Rod Steiger	...	Mr. Joyboy
Dana Andrews	...	Gen. Brinkman
Milton Berle	...	Mr. Kenton
James Coburn	...	Immigration Officer
John Gielgud	...	Sir Francis Hinsley
Tab Hunter	...	Guide
Margaret Leighton	...	Mrs. Kenton
Liberace	...	Mr. Starker
Roddy McDowall	...	D.J. Jr.
Robert Morley	...	Sir Ambrose Ambercrombie
Barbara Nichols	...	Sadie Blodgett
Lionel Stander	...	The Guru Brahmin

Storyline

Newly arrived in Hollywood from England, Dennis Barlow finds he has to arrange his uncle's interment at the highly-organised and very profitable Whispering Glades funeral parlour. His fancy is caught by one of their cosmeticians, Aimee Thanatogenos. But he has three problems - the strict rules of owner Blessed Reverand Glenworthy, the rivalry of embalmer Mr Joyboy, and the shame of now working himself at The Happy Hunting Ground pets' memorial home.

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Plot Keywords:

funeral | embalmer | death | funeral home | satire | 

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Taglines:

From The Man Who Made "Tom Jones"!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 October 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los seres queridos

Filming Locations:

Fish Shanty Restaurant, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmways Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System) Mono (Ryder Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In his posthumously published memoirs, Tony Richardson claimed to be a great admirer of Evelyn Waugh's, and that he had been upset by Waugh's antipathy towards this film, which he said was caused by a misunderstanding over which he had had no control. However, before filming began, Richardson was widely quoted as having called Waugh's novel "thin and dated", and some antipathy to it can be inferred by his hiring Christopher Isherwood to work on the screenplay. Isherwood and Waugh had been literary rivals during the 1930s, and Isherwood was unlikely to have forgotten Waugh's savage criticisms of him, particularly after he and W.H. Auden left for America at the start of World War II (Auden and Isherwood were transparently the models for the derided characters of "Parsnip" and "Pimpernel" in Waugh's wartime novel, "Put Out More Flags").

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Goofs

When Dennis opens the refrigerator in the office of the pet cemetery, two dead dogs can clearly be seen on the top and bottom shelves. Dennis leaves the refrigerator door open while he turns and sets a drink down. When he turns back, the refrigerator interior shows something covered in paper on the top shelf and a dead cat curled up on the bottom shelf.

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Quotes

Dennis Barlow: They told me, Francis Hinsley, they told me you were hung. With red protruding eyeballs and black protruding tongue.

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Connections

References The Outer Limits: The Sixth Finger (1963)

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Soundtracks

Pomp and Circumstance
By Edward Elgar

User Reviews

top-10 comedy

As a follow-up to the hugely popular "Tom Jones" the iconoclastic director Tony Richardson chose a modern Evelyn Waugh darkly satiric novel that was ostensibly about the funeral business but in Richardson's (& Terry Southern's) hands became a savagely funny commentary on Hollywood and America as well. The cast is awesome--even disregarding some of the cameos like Milton Berle, Liberace, and Tab Hunter--particularly good are Gielgud, Jonathan Winters in a fabulous dual role, Rod Steiger as the immortal Joyboy, and Roddy McDowell. Hilarious! The leads are strangely effective: Bobby Morse doing the knowing nebbish character that he perfected in the mid-60s, and Anjanette Comer as the aptly-named Amy Thanatogenis. One of my alltime favorite comedies, I've seen it close to 20 times since 1965...For anyone who ever had to save up for "Mom's big tub." Increpitable!