DIRECTOR: Tony Richardson
BOTTOM LINE: Great fun was had by all adapting Evelyn Waugh’s 1948 short satirical novel about the funeral business in Los Angeles. However, understandably, it was not a hit at the box office and ruined any chance of a Hollywood career for Richardson. It now has a cult following and is highly regarded in some quarters, including TheBrownees Haskell Wexler’s black and white photography is quite stunning. Christopher Isherwood wrote a very witty screenplay. The fantastic cast includes:
- Robert Morse as Dennis Barlow
- Anjanette Comer as Aimée Thanatogenos**
- Jonathan Winters as Henery Glenworthy and Wilbur Glenworthy
- Rod Steiger as Mr. Joyboy
- Dana Andrews as Gen. Buck Brinkman
- Milton Berle as Mr. Kenton
- James Coburn as Immigration Officer
- Ayllene Gibbons (Joyboy’s Mother)
- John Gielgud as Sir Francis Hinsley
- Tab Hunter as Whispering Glades tour guide
- Margaret Leighton as Mrs. Helen Kenton
- Liberace as Mr. Starker
- Roddy McDowall as DJ, Jr.
- Robert Morley as Sir Ambrose Abercrombie
- Alan Napier as English club official
- Barbara Nichols as Sadie Blodgett
- Lionel Stander as the Guru Brahmin
- Paul Williams as Gunther Fry
- Jamie Farr as a waiter at an English club (uncredited)
** Aimée means BELOVED, and Thanatogenos means BORN OF DEATH.
STREAMING: Amazon Prime Video
https://thebrownees.net/sixty-five-queer-films-made-under-the-hays-code-1934-1967
https://thebrownees.net/sixty-five-queer-films-made-under-the-hays-code-1934-1967-table-summary
https://thebrownees.net/fifty-two-post-hays-code-queer-films-released-in-the-decade-1967-1976
