Finding Love In All The Wrong Places: ‘Entertaining Mr. Sloane’ Reviewed

Some of the best films open with funerals: Harold and Maude, Travels with My Aunt. Douglas Hickox‘s Entertaining Mr. Sloane is a welcome addition to that list.

Based on the Joe Orton play of the same name (Clive Exton wrote the screenplay and, other than the ending, the bonus features on Severin’s Blu-ray seem to agree it’s fairly faithful), Kath (The Killing of Sister George’s Beryl Reid) isn’t exactly in mourning when the film opens. She’s just chosen to enjoy her popsicle at a cemetary wearing a sheer, paisley mini dress that Hickox’s camera pans over in extreme close-up while a funeral service can be heard in the background.

It’s the same in Harold and Maude and Travels with My Aunt. Well, maybe not exactly the same, but in all three films the way they introduce their transgressive female lead is by showing them not behave “properly” at a funeral. Kath isn’t alone in the cemetery, however. She soon comes across the titular Mr. Sloane (Victim‘s Peter McEnery) doing shirtless situps on a gravestone. Naturally the only thing to do is invite him to stay at her home and Sloane agrees, unaware of the unhealthy family dynamics he’s about to barge in on with Kath’s closeted brother, Ed (The Deadly Affair‘s Harry Andrews), and homophobic pa, Dadda (King Rat’s Alan Webb). Mr. Sloane is no innocent, though. In fact, according to Dadda he’s a murderer, but luckily Dadda’s easy to ignore so Kath and Ed can continue to fight over Mr. Sloane’s affections.

So yeah, Entertaining Mr. Sloane is a pretty bonkers movie that even has a theme song sung by Georgie Fame that adds a whole sitcom-hijinks vibe to their very un-sitcom-like behavior. Fans of Liz Taylor’s more outrageous roles from the 1970s (like Identikit and X, Y & Zee) will love Beryl Reid as Kath but the whole film is well-cast and Severin have treated it extremely well in the bonus features department. This is how all films should be celebrated but the Entertaining Mr. Sloanes of the world aren’t always given that same extensive attention, making this a truly exceptional release for an exceptional movie.

Starting with the slipcase, I’m torn over the art used because, as a new fan of the film, I love it’s cheekiness but when I wasn’t sure about it the reason I hesitated is because I thought Entertaining Mr. Sloane was going to be more of a British sex comedy. The trailer really plays up that side of the film as well and the taboo-ness of the love triangle but it’s a lot darker and psychologically complex than that and all of the jokes aren’t low hanging fruit but double entendres and wicked punchlines.

In the commentary by film historian Nathaniel Thompson and Orton scholar Dr. Emma Parker they bring up the poster art that Severin’s used for the Blu-ray sleeve and how it gives the wrong impression about how big a role the woman Sloane meets at the pool is going to play in the proceedings. Noting how Joe Orton’s name appears in the opening credits was a great pick-up on their part as well and I really enjoyed learning about some of differences between the film and Orton’s play (like where Sloane and Ed meet) and hearing Parker speak about Orton’s murder (which “enjoys” the wrong word there but while John Lahr‘s biography on Orton has often gotten the last word, Parker questions the jealousy motive given to Orton’s partner and killer).

“All My Sloanes” is a featurette on the different actors who have played Sloane over the past 60 years, including new interviews with Malcolm McDowell (who worked with Reid when she reprised the role onstage) and The Colbys’ Maxwell Caulfield.

There’s also a featurette on Reid by academic Rosie White that includes clips from Reid’s breakout role in The Belles of St. Trinian’s and considers her choice to be more of a character actor and the longevity that gave her career.

“Ortonesque” is a featurette by screenwriter David McGillivray that goes over what it means when a writer is described as “Ortonesque” (and I say this as someone who’s usually immune to dogs but his canine companion steals the show).

“Threads of Desire” is a visual essay by costume historian Elissa Rose that looks closely at Emma Porteous’ costumes, provides background on the leather subculture that inspired Sloane’s chauffeur uniform, and makes some great observations about Kath’s costumes not subscribing to the idea that older women should be invisible.

There are also archival interviews by McEnerny, Lahr (whose biography of Orton was adapted into the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears starring Gary Oldman), Leonie Orton (Joe’s youngest sister), and Richard Dacre (who’s tracked down most of the locations and the origins of Ed’s pink Pontiac Parisienne).

It speaks to how multi-layered this film is that, even with all those features (which don’t repeat themselves either), there are still some topics that don’t get covered. A featurette on the set design would’ve been great, for instance, like the children’s room decor that gets contrasted with the religious, stained glass windows, but Entertaining Mr. Sloane is definitely a must-own and Severin’s Blu-ray is superb.

Entertaining Mr. Sloane is available on Blu-ray now from Severin Films.