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	...	General 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:

Approved

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, Director Tony Richardson claimed to be a great admirer of Evelyn Waugh's, and that he had been upset by Waugh's antipathy towards this movie, 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

Henry's voice says "Will", whereas his mouth appears to say "Jack".

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Quotes

Dusty Acres: You just turn him loose, D.J. Junior, and I'll try to ride him.

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Connections

Featured in Tell Them Who You Are (2004)

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Soundtracks

Isoldes Liebestod
Composed by Richard Wagner

User Reviews

Not Much Joy Here, Boy

Maybe in its time this film was provocative and entertaining. The decade of the 1960s was known for its cinematic audacity and spunk, descriptions befitting the film's underlying concept. But what seems daring and futuristic today can look stunningly grotesque when the future actually arrives. And forty years after it was made, "The Loved One" just seems ... bizarre.

We're led to believe that the film lampoons the funeral and burial industry. And part of the film's first half does just that. Here, humor derives partly from dialogue, especially as it relates to burial terminology. Our casket salesman, Mr. Starker (Liberace), explains to the film's protagonist: "I can give you our eternal flame in either perpetual eternal or standard eternal". Then he asks: "propane or butane, Mr. Barlow?" Marvelous. And part of the humor is visual, as we watch the finicky embalmer, Mr. Joyboy (Rod Steiger), trying out various expressions on the loved one's face.

But the funeral and burial industry satire consumes less than half of the film's two-hour runtime. The rest of the plot is a mishmash of assorted gags, skits, and pranks, strictly tangential to the stated concept. You get the feeling that the script was written by a committee. Some of this plot tangle derives from too many celebrity cameos. These actors (James Coburn, Milton Berle, Tab Hunter, and many others) appear in a scene or two, then vanish, to be replaced later by others, none of whom are essential to the plot.

Probably the best elements of the film are its B&W cinematography and the production design. Outdoor scenes at Whispering Glades are visually lush. And the interior is interestingly ornate, although far more Gothic than any funeral home I've ever been in.

The film's casting and acting for major roles get mixed grades from me. Robert Morse as the protagonist, Sir John Gielgud as his uncle, and Rod Steiger as the embalmer are all fine. But as much as I like Jonathan Winters, his performance here, for whatever reason, just does not work; I found it grating and annoying.

If I had seen this film when it first came out, I might have had a more favorable impression of it. And, to repeat, it does have a certain charm, if only sporadic. But so much has happened in the last forty years, and there's been so many changes in America's culture, "The Loved One", for all its intended courage and boldness in 1965, now seems, for the most part, just puerile and pointless.