The Loved One

source: The Loved One

Saw this movie for the first time back in 1977 while I was taking a film class. It was required to pass the course. I could not figure out why I did not see it before, it contains all the quality's which I like in a dark comedy. I feel that this movie is a must see for any dark comedy movie buff. The acting can be a bit campy at times, but this just adds to the fun of the movie. The story line is weird enough and the spoof on Hollywood and the glamor of Hollywood even after you die is great. If you ever get a chance, see this movie. It took several years of searching but I finally found a VHS copy of this film. I loaned it out to a friend and it disappeared, but the memories are still there.

It's the 60s and when a movie is set in a certain place, there's a decent chance it will be filmed there. It was a great stroke of luck for this movie's longevity that it received location photography. The B&W photography looks terrific! There's an art to black comedy. While there are certainly laughs in this; (A precarious, collapsing house. Aimee kicking the condemned sign and having it shoot out over the house. Roddy MacDowell receiving a goofy scalp massage.); the story is just too flimsy to carry on for 2 hours. Robert Morse is simply not very good and I never had any interest in the main plot line. Around the time Morse begins pursuing airhead Aimee, it becomes a long turnoff. I couldn't be bothered with whether such a dumb guy can win the bimbo. There isn't a moment of his pursuit that I care about. I also cannot get past what a homely dork he is. And if Morse can't do an English accent, just change the part. His poor attempt is a complete distraction. However funny audiences found Morse to be in the 60s, he just doesn't have an ounce of natural humor; He didn't get a single laugh out of me. That is not good when he's on screen so much. That's two strikes you can't recover from; a bad lead actor, and a dead plot line. Strike three is that every single character is a hopeless idiot. There are many times this feels like it's being oddball, strictly for the sake of being oddball. Only Liberace, as a deeply cynical casket salesman, rises to the occasion, gets the tone right and knocks it out of the park. No, Rod Steiger cannot do comedy. Rushmore takes the "two guys fighting over a girl" schtick and with good casting, a dry script and a point, delivers a comedy miracle.

Colorful cast ends up flailing about in this pushy mishmash of darkly comic ideas, written by Christopher Isherwood and Terry Southern from Evelyn Waugh's novel. Slim plot concerns young Robert Morse, newly arrived in Los Angeles to live with his uncle, suddenly faced with burying the man after his uncle unexpectedly commits suicide. What begins as a savage satire on the movie industry turns too soon into a spoof of the mortuary business, with all the pungency and bitter wit left behind in the story's first-act. Despite some smashing performances (particularly by John Gielgud and Liberace) and many offbeat ideas, the film fails to hang together. Director Tony Richardson, perhaps attempting to replant mod British irreverence in '60s California, gets an early rhythm going that is quite wonderful, but that promise continually leaks away until the film becomes ugly and ungainly. ** from ****

Well, let me tell ya - With its assurance of "containing something in its story to offend everyone" (literally) - I'd say that "The Loved One" completely fell flat on its stupid face by not living up to this false promise. You know, I really wish that "The Loved One" had succeeded in offending me. 'Cause, perhaps, that way I might have found something to actually like about this insufferably dry and totally uninspiring comedy. But, sorry, as it turned out, "The Loved One" was just too bloody stupid to offend, except, maybe, those who are brain-dead. Adapted for the screen from the Evelyn Waugh novel of the same name, I personally think Waugh's morbid piece of fiction translated terribly into this dull, 1965 motion picture. If you ask me, I'd swear that they were actually just making up the story as they went along. Now 50 years old, I found "The Loved One's" story to be grossly out of date, as well as being way too out of touch with reality, to ever appeal to a rational-thinking person like myself. It certainly didn't help matters much that all of the characters in this tale were a completely unlikable bunch. I mean, I don't mind eccentric characters, but when that eccentricity becomes annoying (as it did with this lot), it just grates on my nerves like you wouldn't believe. About the only thing that this lame-brained comedy could boast about (to its advantage) would be its list of cameo appearances from the likes of Dana Andrews, Tab Hunter, James Coburn and Milton Berle, to name but a few.

From the moment Morse's plane touches down in LA, we hear choral strains of America the Beautiful; then, for the next two hours, the movie goes about deconstructing that optimistic note. LA comes in for special ridicule, but so do national institutions. Pentagon brass are bribed into converting Earth's gravitational belt into an orbiting graveyard-- not exactly standard operating procedure. Then there's organized religion's Blessed Reverend who shifts entrepreneurial gears faster than an Enron CEO, but with much better success. And when worker-bee Aimee's virginal illusions are finally shattered by the randy reverend (Winters), she chooses a beautiful death over an unfiltered life. Now she can join the godlike statuary in the eternal beauty that Whispering Glen peddles. Illusion, the movie appears to say, is what ultimately counts in this land of manufactured dreams. The black humor was considered outrageous at the time, especially the mincing Joyboy and his beached-whale of a mom. In those days, "gay" still meant "joyously spirited" and Liberace's sudden appearance with the girls amounted to a new kind of "coming out". The black humor here follows Dr. Strangelove of the preceding year, but lacks the latter's coherence and wallop. This is a movie of bits and pieces-- oblivious Aimee swinging high above the LA precipice; gross-out Mom inspiring gobs of John Waters movies; gate-keeper Coburn thinking poet equals subversive; the Blessed Reverend toting up profits by getting rid of the "stiffs". There are other moments, often hilarious. Nonetheless, the movie doesn't so much culminate as finally peter out. And when the film's final words advise Morse "to go left", we may be getting more than a compass bearing. As another reviewer points out, this is a film ahead of its time. In fact, it may well be a milestone on the way to the general irreverence of the late 60's when no topic was off- limits. 1965 was a transitional period between the convention-bound 50's and the rebellious upsurge still two years away. A more detailed history would, I think, include The Loved One as a key step in the iconoclasm to come. Though much of the initial punch has been lost, the film still has its moments. Besides, I often get a whiff of the Blessed Reverend whenever I hear the dulcet tones of aggressive sanctimony, which these days is all too often.

There are those who would have you believe that The Loved One is some sort of ingenious satire or comedic classic. Forget that! It is a boring, disconnected little movie with very little to sell. The first and foremost disaster of this flick is its primary star, Robert Morse. Never have I seen Morse perform any role convincingly or with any trace of humor or comic ability. This picture could well be his worst outing, in which his talentless persona is on screen most of the time. John Gielgud plays John Gielgud, as always. Jonathan Winters disappoints in a dual role as the heavy and his relative, a light heavy. It is rare for Winters to fail, and says a good deal about direction, or lack of it. The remaining cast, which includes James Coburn, Rod Steiger, Milton Berle, Robert Morley, Tab Hunter, and Anjanette Comer, all crash and burn on the total lack of a script or plot (no pun intended), and the absence of any skilled direction. Liberace alone comes through with an understated and humorous performance; humorous but not funny. The black & white film format is not used to advantage, and just makes the Loved One look like a cheap-jack B-movie. One to avoid.

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!

Tony Richardson's "The Loved One" was seen recently courtesy of TCM. The film seems to have been forgotten by MGM, who didn't promote it the way it deserved when it was released. It's a tribute to Mr. Richardson that "The Loved One" should be discovered by appreciative fans that haven't have a chance to see this masterpiece by one of the cinema's most under appreciated master: Tony Richardson. This acerbic satire about the funeral business was written by Evelyn Waugh, an Englishman who saw the excesses about the art of preparing "the loved ones" for their final send off into eternity. The magnificent screen play is credited to Terry Southern and Christopher Isherwood, although other writers were also involved in its adaptation. The brilliant black and white cinematography by Haskell Wexler still has original crispness in the copy that was shown, which might have been because of a DVD format we saw. The story is seen through Dennis Barlow,a young Englishman who comes to L.A. for a visit. He looks for his uncle, Sir Francis Hinsley, who works for a movie studio. Sir Francis moves among the English expatriates that had a love/hate relationship with the film industry, but who had better lives than in England. At least, in Los Angeles, they were seen as a rarity with tremendous panache, in sharp contrast with the uneducated heads of studios and so-called stars. When Sir Francis dies in tragic circumstances, the Brits decide to appoint young Dennis to select the proper way to bury him. That's how Dennis comes to Whispering Glades, the ultimate resting place for the privileged and the famous. To say he suffers culture shock, is to put it mildly. Nothing prepares him for the excesses he sees in the place, that is being run by the mysterious Rev. Wilbur Glenworthy. It's here that he meets and falls in love with Aimee, the girl that is promoted to be the first woman embalmer. He is shown about what to order by the unctuous Mr. Sarles who wants him to pick the best the place has to offer. Dennis is also puzzled by the way the embalmer, Mr. Joyboy, has prepared Sir Francis for his friends to see him at the place. Dennis, not having a job, is recruited by Henry Glenworthy in helping with the pet cemetery. He meets enough weirdos to last a lifetime. Henry, a businessman himself, decides to add a novel way to send the pets skyward by hiring young Gunther. The devilish Rev. Wilbur sees the invention and wants it for Whispering Glades. In an incredible finale, young Gunther achieves greatness by creating the send off to end all send offs. The amazing thing about "The Loved One" is the performances Tony Richardson got out of all the actors in the film. Robert Morse is Dennis, a naive in the land of fantasy. Jonathan Winters playing dual roles of Henry and Wilbur Glenworthy, is in top form. Rod Steiger as the mad embalmer, Mr. Joyboy, has one of the best moments of his career. Anjanette Comer shows an affinity for Aimee. John Gielgud makes a wonderful Sir Francis. Paul Williams is young Gunther. But Liberace, who wasn't known as an actor, makes a devastating appearance as the salesman in the Whispering Glades showroom, the man who wants to offer nothing but the best for "the loved one" in his final appearance. One can only wish "The Loved One" is seen by a lot of movie fans, as this is a tribute to the man who directed it: Tony Richardson.

There are few films I can recommend this highly. Morse is memorable as the hapless Englishman, trying to understand this peculiar American commercial funeral institution and the nearly fanatical devotees to the Jonathan Winters' Blessed Reverend. The tawdry nature of the corporate funeral industry gradually unfolds in this fantastic study of our fixation with marketing everything, even death. Jonathan Winters, Rod Steiger is brilliant as Mr. Joyboy, the effete chief embalmer, and the film features such huge talent as John Gielgud and Robert Morley as well as a cameos by Milton Berle, Roddy McDowell, Tab Hunter, and Liberace as the smarmy casket salesman. Look for a very young Paul Williams and...is that James Coburn? Yes, yes it is. Be advised that there are some dubbing and sound issues common to films of this era, but if you're more concerned with a/v than story and humor, you should be off looking at...I dunno, something from George Lucas. This film's greatest flaw is that it's hard to find on VHS and doesn't exist on the DVD.