{"id":10052,"date":"2019-03-30T23:29:56","date_gmt":"2019-03-31T03:29:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=10052"},"modified":"2019-12-29T23:41:46","modified_gmt":"2019-12-30T04:41:46","slug":"richardson-1965-the-loved-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=10052","title":{"rendered":"(Richardson 1965) The Loved One"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/a>This is the kind of film that should be seen by hap\u00adpen\u00adstance. A delib\u00ader\u00adate view\u00ading can\u2019t match the deli\u00adcious plea\u00adsure of stum\u00adbling upon it by chance. I real\u00adly should\u00adn\u2019t even be telling you about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1947, the British nov\u00adel\u00adist Eve\u00adlyn Waugh was approached by Hol\u00adly\u00adwood for a pos\u00adsi\u00adble film\u00ading of his nov\u00adel Brideshead Revis\u00adit\u00aded<\/em>. The book\u2019s two essen\u00adtial com\u00adpo\u00adnents were a heavy dose of the mys\u00adti\u00adcal upper-class Catholi\u00adsism which exists only in Eng\u00adland and bears no resem\u00adblance to Catholi\u00adcism any\u00adwhere else, and a steamy homo\u00adsex\u00adu\u00adal yearn\u00ading that man\u00adages to nev\u00ader men\u00adtion homo\u00adsex\u00adu\u00adal\u00adi\u00adty. The idea that this would have been made into a film even vague\u00adly resem\u00adbling the orig\u00adi\u00adnal was ludi\u00adcrous, but Waugh was hap\u00adpy to let Hol\u00adly\u00adwood give him an all-expense-paid trip to Los Ange\u00adles to hag\u00adgle. Waugh had no inten\u00adtion of going through with the deal. Waugh was a snob \u2014 he was revolt\u00aded that \u201clow\u00ader-class\u201d ser\u00advice peo\u00adple spoke to him as an equal, detest\u00aded Amer\u00adi\u00adcan infor\u00admal\u00adi\u00adty, and com\u00adplained about every\u00adthing. But snobs often write the best satire (think Thack\u00ader\u00aday), as they have no com\u00adpunc\u00adtions about hurt\u00ading peo\u00adple\u2019s feel\u00adings. Hol\u00adly\u00adwood is a bizarre, arti\u00adfi\u00adcial, and goofy place even for Amer\u00adi\u00adcans, and Waugh found plen\u00adty of mate\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal for his next satir\u00adi\u00adcal nov\u00adel, The Loved One<\/em>, which appeared in 1948. He was par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00aded by Amer\u00adi\u00adcans\u2019 pecu\u00adliar atti\u00adtudes towards death and (to a Brit) weird funer\u00adal cus\u00adtoms. The plot is sim\u00adple: A young Eng\u00adlish\u00adman with a posh edu\u00adca\u00adtion but no par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar ambi\u00adtion wins a trip to Hol\u00adly\u00adwood, and stays with an Uncle who is a stal\u00adwart in the expat British com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty in the film stu\u00addios. His host com\u00admits sui\u00adcide, leav\u00ading him to fend for him\u00adself on this alien plan\u00adet. Attend\u00ading to his uncle\u2019s funer\u00adal, he becomes involved with Aim\u00e9e Thanatogenos, an embalmer work\u00ading at Whis\u00adper\u00ading Glades Ceme\u00adtery, a spec\u00adtac\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly vul\u00adgar Dis\u00adney\u00adland of Death cre\u00adat\u00aded by the mega\u00adlo\u00adma\u00adni\u00adac Blessed Rev\u00aderend Glen\u00adwor\u00adthy. He encoun\u00adters an assort\u00adment of lunatics, all of them dis\u00adplay\u00ading extreme ver\u00adsions of Amer\u00adi\u00adcan cul\u00adture that Waugh found offen\u00adsive and laugh\u00adable. As in many of Waugh\u00ad\u2019s books, and many of the same ilk, the \u201chero\u201d dis\u00adplays no notice\u00adable virtues oth\u00ader than not being one of the loonies. <\/span><\/p>\n

Tony Richard\u00adson, a British direc\u00adtor who had scored big with crit\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly acclaimed and finan\u00adcial\u00adly suc\u00adcess\u00adful films (Look Back in Anger; The Enter\u00adtain\u00ader; A Taste of Hon\u00adey; The Lone\u00adli\u00adness of the Long Dis\u00adtance Run\u00adner; Tom Jones<\/em>) filmed the book in 1965. The script was writ\u00adten by the wild\u00adly unlike\u00adly com\u00adbi\u00adna\u00adtion of Ter\u00adry South\u00adern and Christo\u00adpher Ish\u00ader\u00adwood. South\u00adern is not much read now, but in 1965 he was in lit\u00ader\u00adary vogue, and usu\u00adal\u00adly paired with Kurt Von\u00adnegut as a satirist. Ish\u00ader\u00adwood was a gay play\u00adwright and nov\u00adel\u00adist who had chron\u00adi\u00adcled the sex\u00adu\u00adal under\u00adground of Weimar Ger\u00admany, and would lat\u00ader reach a wide audi\u00adence with Cabaret<\/em>. Waugh had vicious\u00adly car\u00adi\u00adca\u00adtured Ish\u00ader\u00adwood in one of his nov\u00adels, but in that cat\u00adty lit\u00ader\u00adary crowd such things appar\u00adent\u00adly did not mat\u00adter much. The film script sticks fair\u00adly close to the book, but adds a some scenes that make it fit in bet\u00adter with 1965. These addi\u00adtions would, I sus\u00adpect, have been fine with Waugh. Visu\u00adal\u00adly, the film is a feast. Every shot fills the eye with details just as fun\u00adny as the sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtions and the dia\u00adlog. Every cut serves a satir\u00adic pur\u00adpose. But the real bonan\u00adza is the cast\u00ading. Aim\u00e9e Thanatogenos is played to per\u00adfec\u00adtion by Anjanette Cormer, whose remark\u00adable tal\u00adent was nev\u00ader well-used by Hol\u00adly\u00adwood. The Eng\u00adlish hero is played by Robert Morse, one of the few Amer\u00adi\u00adcan actors at the time who could con\u00advinc\u00ading\u00adly play an Eng\u00adlish\u00adman \u2014 while the vul\u00adgar Amer\u00adi\u00adcan film mogul is played by Rod\u00addy Mac\u00adDowall, then still best known as a for\u00admer Eng\u00adlish child star. Lib\u00ader\u00adace turns in a hilar\u00adi\u00adous per\u00adfor\u00admance as a funer\u00adal direc\u00adtor \u2014 he real\u00adly missed a chance to be a great com\u00adic film actor. Jonathan Win\u00adters plays both the Rev\u00aderend Glen\u00adwor\u00adthy and his incom\u00adpe\u00adtent twin broth\u00ader, mak\u00ading each char\u00adac\u00adter a gem. Rod Steiger chews the scenery with the moth\u00ader-obsessed and near\u00adly psy\u00adchot\u00adic Mr. Joy\u00adboy. Paul Williams is a child rock\u00adet sci\u00aden\u00adtist. The actu\u00adal Hol\u00adly\u00adwood Eng\u00adlish Con\u00adtin\u00adgent (reg\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly cast as \u201cLords and but\u00adlers\u201d) essen\u00adtial\u00adly play them\u00adselves: John Giel\u00adgud, Robert Mor\u00adley, Alan Napi\u00ader. Mil\u00adton Berle, James Coburn, Mar\u00adgaret Leighton, Bar\u00adbara Nichols, Lionel Stander, and Bernie Kopell do well-craft\u00aded bits. There are numer\u00adous Hol\u00adly\u00adwood in-jokes that the audi\u00adence could hard\u00adly have been expect\u00aded to catch. For exam\u00adple, the cow\u00adboy film star who is being absurd\u00adly voice-coached by the stu\u00addio to play an Eng\u00adlish Lord is played by Robert Eas\u00adt\u00adon. Eas\u00adt\u00adon was him\u00adself a voice coach, and one of the worlds great\u00adest author\u00adi\u00adties on Eng\u00adlish dialects. Many in the cast were clos\u00adet\u00aded gays. Tab Hunter plays a tour guide! <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s extra\u00ador\u00addi\u00adnary that this satir\u00adi\u00adcal film, made 54 years ago, based on a book writ\u00adten 71 years ago, remains rel\u00ade\u00advant and bit\u00ading\u00adly funny.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the kind of film that should be seen by hap\u00adpen\u00adstance. A delib\u00ader\u00adate view\u00ading can\u2019t match the deli\u00adcious plea\u00adsure of stum\u00adbling upon it by chance. I real\u00adly should\u00adn\u2019t even be telling you about it. In 1947, the British nov\u00adel\u00adist Eve\u00adlyn Waugh was \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[946,1502,948,1499],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-b-reading","category-bh-reading-2019","category-d-viewing","category-dh-viewing-2019"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10052"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10059,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10052\/revisions\/10059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}