The Loved One (film)

See also the novel: The Loved One

The Loved One
theatrical poster
Directed by	Tony Richardson
Written by	Evelyn Waugh (novel) Terry Southern Christopher Isherwood
Produced by	John Calley Haskell Wexler
Starring	Robert Morse Anjanette Comer Rod Steiger John Gielgud Liberace
Cinematography	Haskell Wexler
Edited by	Hal Ashby Brian Smedley-Aston
Music by	John Addison
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Running time	122 minutes
Country	Template:FilmUS
Language

The Loved One is a 1965 film about the funeral business in Los Angeles, which is based on The Loved One: An Anglo-American Tragedy (Template:Lty}), a short satirical novel by Evelyn Waugh. It was directed by British filmmaker Tony Richardson and the screenplay – which also drew on Jessica Mitford's book The American Way of Death (Template:Lty) – was written by noted American satirical novelist Terry Southern and British author Christopher Isherwood.

Plot

Young Englishman Dennis Barlow (Robert Morse) wins an airline ticket and visits his uncle Sir Francis Hinsley (John Gielgud) in Los Angeles. Hinsley has worked as a production staffer at a major Hollywood studio for over thirty years. His employer D.J. Jr. (Roddy McDowall) fires Hinsley, despite the old man’s faithful dedication to the company. Hinsley commits suicide by hanging himself. Dennis is swayed by a prominent member of the local English expatriate community to spend most of the money from his uncle's estate on a socially prestigious burial at Whispering Glades cemetery and mortuary where he soon meets Aimee Thanatogenos (Anjanette Comer), a hopelessly naive and idealistic cosmetician who says she was named after Aimee McPherson. Dennis lusts over but has no wish for a lasting relationship. Meanwhile, Aimee worships head embalmer Mr. Joyboy (Rod Steiger) who wants to marry her.

To raise money Dennis begins working at Happier Hunting Grounds, a local pet cemetery run by Henry Glenworthy (Jonathan Winters), who has also lately been fired by the studio. Dennis courts Aimee with plagiarized poetry, with which Joyboy soon discredits him. However, Aimee is put off at the thought of marrying Joyboy when she sees her boss' bizarre and unhealthy relationship with his morbidly obese mother whose only interest is food.

Aimee seeks spiritual help by mail from the Guru Brahmin (Lionel Stander), who turns out to be a drunken staff writer at a newspaper. She then flees to cemetery owner Reverend Wilbur Glenworthy (also played by Winters) who swiftly greets her with over the top sexual come ons. Wholly distraught, she commits suicide by embalming herself. Joyboy finds her dead body and Dennis shows up shortly thereafter to blackmail him into switching Aimee's body with that of a dead astronaut whose closed casket is meant to be put in a rocket and launched into space. After the televised funeral ceremony and with cash in hand, Dennis flies back to England.

Cast

• Robert Morse as Dennis Barlow
• Jonathan Winters as Henry & Wilbur Glenworthy
• Anjanette Comer as Aimee Thanatogenos
• Rod Steiger as Mr. Joyboy
• Dana Andrews as Gen. Buck Brinkman
• Milton Berle as Mr. Kenton
• Ayllene Gibbons as Joyboy's mother
• James Coburn as Immigration Officer
• John Gielgud Sir Francis Hinsley
• Alan Napier as a British club official
• Robert Easton as Dusty Acres

• Tab Hunter as Whispering Glades tour guide
• Margaret Leighton as Mrs. Helen Kenton
• Liberace as Whispering Glades funeral salesman
• Roddy McDowall as D.J., Jr.
• Robert Morley as Sir Ambrose Abercrombie
• Barbara Nichols as Sadie Blodgett
• Lionel Stander as the Guru Brahmin
• Bernie Kopell as Brahmin's assistant
• Paul Williams as Gunther Fry
• Chick Hearn as space-burial funeral announcer

Production

The film was shot in and around the Los Angeles area with Hollywood, the Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills,LAX and Burbank among the locations. Whispering Glades was drawn from Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale.

External links

• The Loved One at IMDb
• The Loved One at the TCM Movie Database
• The Loved One at AllMovie