History Film / TheLovedOne

* SheCleansUpNicely: Aimée is quite a stunner when she lets her hair down and doesn't wear that ridiculous Whispering Glades white dress and veil outfit.
* SpiritualSuccessor: Terry Southern's writing contributions continued the irreverent satire he brought to ''Film/DrStrangelove''. He even re-used the concept of a military commander named Buck. Tony Richardson clearly takes a lot of his directorial cues here from Creator/StanleyKubrick's work on ''Strangelove'' and ''Literature/{{Lolita}}''.

* BlackComedy: Already present in the book, but the film takes it up to eleven.
* BlackComedyRape: Attempted by [[spoiler:Rev. Glenworthy on Aimée]].

* TheCameo: Quite a few.

* FatBastard: Joyboy's mother.

* LargeHam: Rev. Wilbur Glenworthy, with a side of SesquipedalianLoquaciousness.

* BlackComedy: Already present in the book, but the film takes it UpToEleven.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_loved_one_1965_film.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:"I can give you our eternal flame in either Perpetual Eternal or Standard Eternal."]]

But with Terry Southern on-board as co-writer, fresh off ''Film/DrStrangelove'', it adds plenty more characters, hijinks and irreverence. A notable change from the book is the expansion of the character of the owner of the Whispering Glades Memorial Park, Reverend Wilbur Glenworthy (Creator/JonathanWinters), a classic shameless huckster who wraps himself up in piety while chasing money. After his brother Henry ([[ActingForTwo also Jonathan Winters]]) loses his job at a film studio, Wilbur sets him up to work at The Happier Hunting Ground, a pet mortuary that the Reverend secretly runs on the side.

The film keeps the basic outline of the book: wannabe English poet Dennis Barlow (Robert Morse) visits Los Angeles and becomes wrapped up in the crazy, often grotesque business of funerals and burials in Southern California, eventually becoming a rival of star mortician Mr. Joyboy (Rod Steiger) for the affections of quirky corpse cosmetician Aimée Thanatogenos (Anjanette Comer).

''The Loved One'' is a 1965 BlackComedy film directed by Tony Richardson (as his follow-up to ''Film/TomJones''), based on the [[Literature/TheLovedOne short novel]] by Creator/EvelynWaugh.

But with Terry Southern on-board as co-writer, fresh off ''Film/DrStrangelove'', it adds plenty more characters, hijinks and irreverence. A notable change from the book is the expansion of the character of the owner of the Whispering Glades Memorial Park, Reverend Wilbur Glenworthy (Creator/JonathanWinters), a classic shameless huckster who wraps himself up in piety while chasing money. After his brother Henry (also Creator/JonathanWinters) loses his job at a film studio, Wilbur sets him up to work at The Happier Hunting Ground, a pet mortuary that the Reverend secretly runs on the side.

[[quoteright:275:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_loved_one_movie_poster_1965_1020248974.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:275:"I can give you our eternal flame in either Perpetual Eternal or Standard Eternal."]]

''The Loved One'' is a 1965 BlackComedy film, based on the [[Literature/TheLovedOne short novel]] by Creator/EvelynWaugh, directed by Tony Richardson (his follow-up to ''Film/TomJones'').

* BigEater: Mrs. Joyboy.

* MamasBoy: Mr. Joyboy has a disturbingly unhealthy relationship with his mother.

Famously marketed as "The motion picture with something to offend everyone!", its bizarre humor was a too far ahead of its time and it became a BoxOfficeBomb, but is now considered a CultClassic.

* SheCleansUpNicely: Aimée is quite a stunner when she lets her hair down and doesn't wear that ridiculous Whispering Glades white dress and veil outfit.

* TheIngenue: Aimée is closer to GeniusDitz in the book, but she's definitely this in the film, bordering on [[{{Manchild Womanchild}}]].

Famously marketed as "The motion picture with something to offend everyone!", its bizarre humor was a too far ahead of its time, but it's since become a CultClassic.

* LargeHam: Rev. Wilbur Glenworthy.

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_loved_one_movie_poster_1965_1020248974.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:"I can give you our eternal flame in either Perpetual Eternal or Standard Eternal."]]

But with Terry Southern on-board as co-writer, fresh off ''Film/DrStrangelove'', it adds plenty more characters, hijinks and irreverent potshots at sacred cows. A notable change from the book is the expansion of the character of the owner of the Whispering Glades Memorial Park, Reverend Wilbur Glenworthy (Creator/JonathanWinters), a classic shameless huckster who wraps himself up in piety while chasing money. After his brother Henry (also Creator/JonathanWinters) loses his job at a film studio, Wilbur sets him up to work at The Happier Hunting Ground, a pet mortuary that the Reverend secretly runs on the side.

* FanDisservice: The sight of Rod Steiger in just his underwear when Mr. Joyboy gets a call from the mortuary while he's lifting weights on his bed.

* LargeHam: Rev. Wilbur Glenworthy.

* SameLanguageDub: Robert Morse had to redub all his dialogue in post-production since he didn't quite master an English accent during filming. Jonathan Winters also seems to have redubbed a lot of his Henry Glenworthy dialogue.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_loved_one_movie_poster_1965_1020248974.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"I can give you our eternal flame in either Perpetual Eternal or Standard Eternal."]]

''The Loved One'' is a 1965 BlackComedy film, based on the [[Literature/TheLovedOne short novel]] by Creator/EvelynWaugh, directed by Tony Richardson (his follow-up to ''Film/TomJones'']].

!!This work contains examples of:

* CampStraight: Joyboy is very fussy, effeminate and body-conscious, but he harbors a huge crush on Aimée.

[["I can give you our eternal flame in either Perpetual Eternal or Standard Eternal."]]