The Loved One takes a look at the superficial rot in society and gleefully flashes a pair of fangs. This satire of Hollywood, the funeral industry and grand gestures hiding devious acts jabs at corruption and greed. It's full of cameos, some performed by actors who for the most part have glossy, uncomplicated personas, and all seem to relish getting a chance to show a little edge. Now available on Blu-ray from Warner Archive, this is an unusual, rebellious film.
Robert Morse stars as Dennis Barlow, a young, plagiarist poet who travels from the UK to Hollywood and takes up residence with his Uncle Francis (John Gielgud). When his elderly relative hangs himself after losing his longtime job at a move studio, the leader of the local British colony (Robert Morley) insists that their compatriot have a grand funeral.
Barlow goes to the luxurious Whispering Glades cemetery and mortuary, where movie star glamorous ladies in veils and low-cut dresses wear elegant smiles, but attend to their customers with vicious efficiency. They quietly turn away Jews and gently shame acceptable applicants into choosing the most luxurious and expensive accommodations for their loved ones.
Obsessed with the tragically naïve cosmetician Aimée Thanatogenos (Anjanette Comer), Dennis begins to spend a lot of time at Whispering Glades, where he meets the corrupt owner, the Reverend Wilbur Glenworthy (Jonathan Winters) and the unhinged, but professional head embalmer Mr. Joyboy (Rod Steiger), who also lusts after Aimée, imagining her as an addition to his bizarre life with his gluttonous bedridden mother.
Left with little inheritance, Dennis goes to work at the local pet cemetery, owned by Reverend Glenworthy's twin brother Henry (Winters), where he also meets the genius teen rocket builder Gunther Fry (a remarkable early performance by 23-year-old Paul Williams). While Joyboy and Dennis pressure Aimée for marriage, the Reverend plots to improve his profits by any means necessary. It is not a healthy atmosphere for anyone with a hint of morals.
The Loved One seems to have irritated many upon its release. Source novel author Evelyn Waugh didn't want to be associated with the film, but was days from his death upon its release. Several offended studio executives marched out of an early screening, which delighted director Tony Richardson who seems to have felt the arrow hit the right spot. While the sensual and cynical elements of this dark comedy do not have the same power to offend that they did upon the film's release, it is easy to see how the executive types could have been annoyed and the moral types clutching their pearls. You could apply the monsters here to any time; the message is evergreen.
Perhaps it is the actors who came out best here, simply because they seem to be enjoying their roles so much. In the leads Morse, Comer and Winters commit in a way that is palpable, you feel their belief in their characters. It was also fun to see the way Liberace, Tab Hunter and Milton Berle snagged the opportunity to play against type in a trio of bitter cameos. Other standout bit roles include Lionel Stander, Roddy McDowell and Barbara Nichols, all thoroughly understanding the spirit of the project. And then there is Steiger, clearly having the time of his life in a creepy, kooky and outrageous performance that was reportedly his favorite.
For a film about corruption, deception and losing faith, The Loved One is a lot of fun. Perverse in a way the times call for.
The picture looks amazing, mostly due to the work of producer and cinematographer Haskell Wexler, though the disc quality is also good.
Special features on the Blu-ray include a theatrical trailer and the featurette Trying to Offend Everyone, which features interesting interviews with Comer, Morse and Williams. I always like to hear Williams speak in particular; he's got a great sense of humor.
Many thanks to Warner Archive for providing a copy of the film for review. To order, visit The Warner Archive Collection.
While I'm normally wary of any film that has an explanation point in its title, I found the sixties comedies Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding! (1966) and Quick! Before it Melts (1964) to be a lot of fun. Both are newly released on DVD from Warner Archive.
Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding is both very much of its time and slightly ahead of the curve. It draws its laughs out of the horrors of attempted date rape, sexual objectification and an overbearing stage mother, but it also features a heroine who isn't shamed for becoming pregnant out of wedlock and who is celebrated for her independent nature.
Sandra Dee stars as young secretary Heather Halloran, who finds she's got a baby on board after a night of passion with her boss (an unpleasantly stiff George Hamilton). They are in love, and he has already proposed, but she has turned him down because of his stuffy ideas about keeping a wife in the home. Heather has other options though, her vocal coach, a friendly shoe salesman and a randy next door neighbor are all eager to take her to the altar (Dick Kallman, Dwayne Hickman and Bill Bixby respectively).
To further complicate matters, Heather's mother (Celeste Holm) has been on a lifelong quest to force her marginally talented daughter into a career as a singer. Heather fights this all the way through college, and then suddenly, oddly becomes interested in pursuing the stage, even though she is gainfully employed and apparently happy in her job-- expect for that whole sexual tension with the boss thing.
Though it is full of the sort of farcical humor and visual quirks (SO many comical freeze frames) that could sink a 1960s comedy, Doctor floats along giddily with good-natured goofiness. The cast members appear to be having fun, digging into the absurdity of their roles and playing slightly, and entertainingly over-the-top. Bixby is especially amusing; he seems to delight in the sexual amorality of his essentially good-hearted character. He demonstrates solid comic chops here.
As good as the supporting cast is, it is Sandra Dee who makes all the insanity work. I've always found her to be a remarkable star. She's got all the gloss of an adorably glamorous sixties ingénue, but veers from that role just enough to show a bit of grit and naughty glee. The perpetually perky Dee is perfectly suited to frothy flicks, but is never insubstantial herself. There are moments when a giggle slides into a warmer, more knowing laugh, or the look in her eyes hints at something darker within.
Dee is given a great character to work with too. She is seen to be in a predicament when she becomes pregnant, but is never judged for her sexual encounter. Even when she cuts loose in an effort to forget Hamilton, her actions are seen as amusing, rather than problematic. She smokes, drinks and parties, but she is never degraded.
It's an interesting comedy that tangles lightly with issues from a time of dramatic social change.
Quick! Before it Melts has a similar attitude about women and sex. The film approves of the former being barefoot and pregnant and the latter happening after marriage, but acknowledges that it can be exciting to explore other possibilities.
It stars Robert Morse and George Maharis as a journalist and photographer team who are sent to Antarctica to dig up stories. Morse is engaged, but susceptible to beauties like Tiara (Anjanette Comer) a mixed-race beauty with Maori blood he meets on a stopover in New Zealand. Maharis is a ladies' man, adored by every woman he meets and drunk on their charms himself.
Though the comedy can drag a bit in the early scenes, it's an amusing novelty, not above using the cutesy appeal of penguins, but also with a bit of a racy feel. The script keeps you on your toes, starting to lead you down a certain path and then making amusing diversions.
When Morse's boss, who is also father to his fiancée calls, he asks what he is doing, and the younger man bluntly answers, "I'm trying to seduce your daughter," to which the unfazed bossman replies that he hopes he has better luck than he did with his wife. There's also a charming love scene where Morse sighs to Comer, "You're so beautiful" and she groans, "I know, it's a bore," before she pulls him into a passionate kiss.
An unusual flick, with lots of second tier stars doing first rate work.
Many thanks to Warner Archive for providing a copies of the films for review. These are Manufacture on Demand (MOD) DVDs. To order, visit The Warner Archive Collection.
