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The Loved One [1965] (REGION 1) (NTSC)


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Very funny look at dying
Review date: 2008-10-11 Rating: 10 out of 10

This hilarious satire on the funeral business (both human and animal) features a big cast of famous Hollywood stars. Robert Morse stars as Dennis Barlow, newly-arrived in L.A. from England and living with his uncle (John Gielgud). When his uncle promptly dies, Dennis must make the final arrangements for his "loved one." This brings him to the wildly gaudy "Whispering Pines" cemetery, run by an unscrupulous Blessed Reverend (Jonathan Winters) and staffed by a beautiful cosmetician and an eccentric embalmer (Rod Steiger).

The laughs keep coming in this black comedy that is, at times, irreverent and even grotesque. It's fun to see people like Milton Berle and Liberace pop up in scenes guaranteed to make you either guffaw or shudder, depending on how you feel about the American death business. Robert Morse (just before his starred in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying) is very funny and likeable even though his British accent comes and goes - or maybe because of it. His wide-eyed innocence and cleverness connects all the wacky subplots. Steiger is unforgettable as the fussy, mother-loving embalmer, all the funnier because he usually played such serious, dramatic parts.

This is probably not a good choice for someone going through the grief process, but everyone else will find this macabre story wickedly funny. It was advertised as "the movie with something to offend everyone" (pet lovers may cringe a bit), and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

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Reviews


Hang On People, You Are About To Be Entertained
Review date: 2007-02-19 Rating: 10 out of 10

'After WWII, Evelyn Waugh came to Hollywood to work on a movie adaptation of his novel "Brideshead Revisited". While in Hollywood he went to a funeral at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Waugh was offended by the pretense of both the American film industry and the American funeral industry, and wove the two together into the novel on which this film was based. IDMB

Prepare yourself, this is a movie for the ages and will live on with a cult following. This is also a movie that begs for an audience to share the laughs and discuss the details. Gather your friends and neighbors, drinks and snacks, and set in for a long winter's night. This movie is done in black and white, and is reminiscent of 'Dr Strangelove'. Like 'Dr Strangelove' it must be seen several times so as not to lose the details. Recently HBO had a series "Six Feet Under' which gave us a realistic portrayal of the funeral business.'The Loved One' gives us a skewered portrayal of the funeral business, a humorous parody.

Robert Morse plays Dennis Barlow, a gawky Englishman, who has won a ticket to LA and has come to see his uncle, John Gielgud. His uncle dies unexpectedly, and the bizarre English community headed by Robert Morley expects a funeral befitting their man. It takes place at The Whispering Glades Memorial Park (the real Forest Lawn, one of the most overdone funeral grounds to be seen). Barlow falls in love with one of the beautician/guides, Anajette Comer. As the film moves along, Dennis meets Jonathan Winters, who plays two roles, and is as funny as usual. Barlow becomes involved in the funeral business of animals and humans. Rod Stieger steals the movie IMO, as he plays a mortician who brings the dead to life, so to speak. They look better dead than they ever did alive. Varied and bizarre characters weave in and out of the movie. Roddy McDowell Dana Andrews, Milton Berle, James Coburn, Tab Hunter, Liberace in the role of his life and Margaret Leighton. There is no shortage of talent, and they are around every corner. Tony Richardson as Director, and Terry Southern and Christopher Isherwood, script writers personafied, finish this extraordinary bill.

"The Loved One's "anything goes" sensibility (the dinner scene with Joyboy and his obese mother would not be out of place in a John Waters movie). By turns creepy and grotesquely funny, The Loved One will bury you." --Donald Liebenson

The macabre hilarity and the sometimes burlesque side gave this film a laugh a minute appeal. The opening scenes are rich, but we are in no way prepared for this unpredictably funny movie. Hang on, people, you are about to be entertained! Highly Recommended. prisrob 2-01-07


Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Dana Andrews
Milton Berle
Anjanette Comer
Robert Morse
Jonathan Winters

Creators:
Robert Morse (Primary Contributor)
Jonathan Winters (Primary Contributor)
Haskell Wexler (Cinematographer)
Haskell Wexler (Producer)
John Calley (Producer)
Neil Hartley (Producer)
Christopher Isherwood (Writer)

Director(s):

Recording label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
EAN: 0012569678224
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Closed-captioned, Colour, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC,
Release date: 2006-06-20
Universal product code (UPC): 012569678224
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Region code: 1
Running time: 122 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1965-10-11
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)

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