The Loved One (1965)

A young Englishman and aspiring poet (Robert Morse) arrives in Los Angeles to visit his Uncle (John Gielgud), an artist who now works in the film industry. After his Uncle's suicide, the nephew becomes entangled with a pretty cosmetician (Anjanette Comer), who works at the funeral home where the Uncle is to be buried. Based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh (adapted for the screen by Christopher Isherwood and Terry Southern) and directed by Tony Richardson (LOOK BACK IN ANGER). After the enormous success of Richardson's TOM JONES (1963), it was inevitable Hollywood would lure Richardson back to Hollywood (his previous American film SANCTUARY from 1961 was a failure). Waugh's book was a satire on the the American funeral industry, Los Angeles and the British expatriate community in Hollywood. The film is a mixed bag, there's so much on the movie's plate that the satire is hit and miss. But what's good is very good. Handsomely shot in B&W by Haskell Wexler (IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT), the high points exceed the weaker ones. Morse's English accent is poor so he never quite convinces but some of the other actors nail it. Notably, Rod Steiger as the mama's boy embalmer, both hilarious and repulsive as is Ayllene Gibbons as his gluttonous mother. The massive cast (many in small roles) include Dana Andrews, Milton Berle, James Coburn, Tab Hunter, Jonathan Winters, Liberace, Roddy McDowall, Robert Morley, Margaret Leighton, Barbara Nichols, Lionel Stander, Pamela Curran, Claire Kelly, Asa Maynor and Paul Williams.