The Loved One details
| Format: | TBC DVD |
|---|---|
| Starring: | Robert Morse, Rod Steiger, Jonathan Winters, John Gielgud, Paul Williams, Dana Andrews, Milton Berle, James Coburn |
| Director: | Tony Richardson |
| Genre: | Drama - Comedy |
| Name | Discs | |
|---|---|---|
The Loved One |
TBC Feature |
DVD Information
| Rental release: | Not currently released |
|---|---|
| Main languages: | English |
Write your own review
Most helpful review
More camp than a Village People Convention.
By cqling (6 reviews) , 08 Apr 2013[Highly rated reviewer]
The opening sequences featuring James Coburn as an officious immigration officer; followed by a Hollywood studio planning meeting in which the team try to plan a ‘Jim’ Bond film with a more ‘human’ (and American) hero, set the scene for this Black Comedy. This, just before filming started on ‘Our Man Flint’: perfect. This film is more camp than a Village People Convention, camper than a Venture Scout Jamboree, camper than Christmas: from Roddy Mcdowall’s ‘son of DJ’ the studio owner, John Gielgud as ex-pat employee Sir Francis Hinsley, Liberace as Mr. Stroker the designer (waterproof, damp-proof and moisture-proof) coffin salesman to the show-stealer Rod Steiger as repressed homosexualist and pedophile, chief embalmer to the Whispering Glades Funeral Home, Mr. Joyboy. The film’s press release claims that it has ‘something to offend everybody’ but bearing the brunt of the humour is most definitely America although Britain and especially upper class ex-pats don’t come off too well either. If the overarching aim of the Pink Panther franchise was to extract French urine and Peter Medak’s ‘The Ruling Class’ was to perform the same function for the English upper classes then the main purpose of this film based on Evelyn Waugh’s novel ‘The Loved one: An American-English Tragedy’ is to take almost every largely accurate cliché about the U. S. and get as many laughs out of each as possible: Hollywood, Greed (Corporate and Individual), the Christian Right, the Death Industry, The Military Industrial Complex, Megalomania, Brashness, Vulgarity, Tastlessness. The scenes featuring Ayllene Gibbons as Mr. Joyboy’s 30 stone, bedridden, gluttonous, whole-pig-eating, mother are simultaneously stomach-churning and hilarious. Some of the performances are decidedly wooden, especially those of Jonathan Winters who plays both Henry and Wilbur Glenworthy, although this may have been deliberate on Tony Richardson’s part. The only way this movie could have been improved would have been to cast Peter Cook or Alan Bates in the lead, not that there is anything wrong with Robert Morse’s performance and I’m sure the producers had their (possibly commercial or satirical) reasons for casting an obviously American actor as an Englishman, but for this, I’d have awarded 5 stars.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (0)
All reviews
(1)More camp than a Village People Convention.
By cqling (6 reviews) , 08 Apr 2013The opening sequences featuring James Coburn as an officious immigration officer; followed by a Hollywood studio planning meeting in which the team try to plan a ‘Jim’ Bond film with a more ‘human’ (and American) hero, set the scene for this Black Comedy. This, just before filming started on ‘Our Man Flint’: perfect. This film is more camp than a Village People Convention, camper than a Venture Scout Jamboree, camper than Christmas: from Roddy Mcdowall’s ‘son of DJ’ the studio owner, John Gielgud as ex-pat employee Sir Francis Hinsley, Liberace as Mr. Stroker the designer (waterproof, damp-proof and moisture-proof) coffin salesman to the show-stealer Rod Steiger as repressed homosexualist and pedophile, chief embalmer to the Whispering Glades Funeral Home, Mr. Joyboy. The film’s press release claims that it has ‘something to offend everybody’ but bearing the brunt of the humour is most definitely America although Britain and especially upper class ex-pats don’t come off too well either. If the overarching aim of the Pink Panther franchise was to extract French urine and Peter Medak’s ‘The Ruling Class’ was to perform the same function for the English upper classes then the main purpose of this film based on Evelyn Waugh’s novel ‘The Loved one: An American-English Tragedy’ is to take almost every largely accurate cliché about the U. S. and get as many laughs out of each as possible: Hollywood, Greed (Corporate and Individual), the Christian Right, the Death Industry, The Military Industrial Complex, Megalomania, Brashness, Vulgarity, Tastlessness. The scenes featuring Ayllene Gibbons as Mr. Joyboy’s 30 stone, bedridden, gluttonous, whole-pig-eating, mother are simultaneously stomach-churning and hilarious. Some of the performances are decidedly wooden, especially those of Jonathan Winters who plays both Henry and Wilbur Glenworthy, although this may have been deliberate on Tony Richardson’s part. The only way this movie could have been improved would have been to cast Peter Cook or Alan Bates in the lead, not that there is anything wrong with Robert Morse’s performance and I’m sure the producers had their (possibly commercial or satirical) reasons for casting an obviously American actor as an Englishman, but for this, I’d have awarded 5 stars.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (0)
- < Prev
- 1
- Next >
