Entertaining Mr Sloane — Entertaining Mr Sloane ( Blu Ray)
Entertaining Mr Sloane is an early 1970s British seedy drama/ dark comedy regarding a manipulative pretty boy lodger who gets his claws into a quirky brother & sister duo. The film featured ahead of its time homo/hetero-lusting, innuendo tipped to bitchy laced dialogue, and bucket loads of campiness. Here from Severin Films is a Blu-ray release of the film, taking a 2k of the picture, a new commentary track, and a selection of new/ archive extras.
Entertaining Mr Sloane ( aka Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr Sloane ) is from the year 1970. It was filmed in a few locations around London, but the most used/ memorable are the church buildings & a cemetery in Camberwell, where most of the film takes place. The film was based on Joe Orton’s 1963 play of the same name, which became very much of a cult favourite. It was directed by London-born Douglas Hickox- who had nine features to his name. These take in classic horror/ dark comedy featuring Vincent Price Theatre Of Blood (1973), up in the air set action/ adventure Sky Riders (1976), made for TV slasher/ psycho thriller Blackout (1985).
The film is centred around the tall, tanned, and bleach-blond-haired twentysomething Mr Sloane(Peter McEnery). We first meet him doing press-ups topless on a grave. He’s been spied on by Kath( Berly Reid), a very flirtatious, slightly tubby, and see-through dress wearing middle aged women.
The pair get chatting & flirting- and fairly soon Kath is asking Mr Sloane to be her lodger. She actually lives in the graveyard in a converted church with her skinny, grey stubble and jam-jar bottom specs, wearing Dadda(Alan Webb), who has a penchant for pickled onions.
Just as Mr Sloane is settling in/ recovering after accidentally being forked in the bottom by Dadda, we meet our last character Ed (Harry Andrews), Dadda's estranged son- a sleekly suited & gloved middle-aged ‘businessman’, who was in the navy in another life & drives a large pink Cadillac.
From the off, Sloane is tempting & teasing both Kath and Ed- who are very keen to get their hands on the tanned, blond-haired, and lightly brummie-accented young man's body. The only person not lusted-up is Dadda- who doesn’t trust him, and believes he could have something to do with the murder of his old boss.
The film runs at one hour and thirty-four minutes, blending seedy drama, dark comedy, and farce. All of the small cast are excellent- playing/ hamming up their parts wonderfully, with one cutting-to-amusing line after another.
You can certainly sense its play origins- and yes, at points it does feel a little stagey, but there are attempts to expand beyond that, with the different rooms in the converted church- going from the cluttered and cushioned front room, into the compacted & grimy kitchen. Up the stairs to the three bedrooms- going from Kath’s pink & tacky boudoir, onto Dadda's more formal/ grey bedroom, though the guest bedroom where Sloane resides, when not up to no good/ flirting. Ed lives off-site, in a mansion- though we never get to see it.
Entertaining Mr Sloane feels very British in its humour, characters, setting, and unfold- so I’d say you’ll have to have a penchant for brit 70’s dark comedy, with wonderful bitchy/ acidotic/ innuendo dialogue.
This recent release is a region A Blu-ray. It features a new 2k scan- this looks wonderful, bright and bold, with great crisp and clean colours throughout. And we get a good mix of new and archive extras.
On the new side, we have a commentary track with Film Historian Nathaniel Thompson and Orton Scholar Dr. Emma Parker- this is a wonderful researched affair, looking at both the film and the original play. They begin by giving an introduction to Joe Orton, how he was regarded as one of Britain’s greatest playwrights, with two prominent things about him- he was working class and homosexual, ironically enough, homosexuality was decriminalised nine days after his death at the age of 35, he was killed by his partner. They discuss how he was a key figure in swinging 60s counterculture in the UK- talking about how the original play caused both praise & walk-outs, though ultimately it did well in the UK- though it ended up being a flop when it played on Broadway. They talk about the film- how the BBFC was involved from the start, with the makers saying they wanted to make a whiter version of the original black comedy play, touching on elements/scenes removed. They discuss the film's cast- we find out that Harry Andrews was a closeted gay man, and Alan Webb had a relationship with Oscar Wilde in his earlier years. Later on they touch on the films camp aesthetics, and how this would have appealed to a queer audience. They mention a few other films of the mid-60s, and how they dealt with bisexual & homosexual relationships. Talk about what might have happened to the characters after the film credits roll, and much more. A well worth a play track.
Otherwise, on the new side we have All My Sloanes – 60 Years Of Joe Orton's Mr. Sloane( 26.36), which features interviews with Malcolm McDowell( who played Sloane in one of the staged versions) and Maxwell Caulfield. Ortonesque (17.35), which finds Screenwriter David McGillivray discussing the lasting Influence Of Joe Orton. Act Of Character ( 22.29) Rosie White On The Inimitable Identities Of Beryl Reid, and Threads Of Desire: Costuming And Sexuality In Entertaining Mr Sloane (10.01) Video Essay By Costume Historian Elissa Rose.
On the archive side, we get the following: Interview With Actor Peter McEnery, Interview With John Lahr, Author Of Prick Up Your Ears: The Biography Of Joe Orton, and Locations Featurette With Richard Dacre.
The version of the film we were sent features a very eye-catching thick card slip, with a yellow and pink phallic-like design on a white background, with bold black text.
This new release of Entertaining Mr Sloane from Severin features a nice & bold 2k scan, and a worthy selection of new/ archive extras. If you enjoy provocative and dark comedies, then this is most certainly a film/ release you’ll want to check out.