Entertaining Mr. Sloane Reviews

Entertaining Mr. Audience. You can tell something offbeat is taking place right at the start, with the hefty, garishly dressed Kath (Reid) licking a popsicle while observing a funeral. Spotting the handsome, blonde Mr. Sloane (McEnery) sunning himself on a nearby tombstone, she asks him to move into her home and sets about seducing him. Her brother Ed (Andrews), a closeted homosexual, entertains similar notions, outfitting his new chauffeur stud in leather from head to toe. Their father (Webb), a retired grave-digger, recognizes Sloane as the man who killed his former boss, a pornographer. Dada accuses the enigmatic youth of murder and Sloane calmly kicks him to death. Ed and Kath, now pregnant, threaten to tell the police what happened unless Sloane swears eternal allegiance to them. The film ends with three remarkable ceremonies all rolled into one. Adapted from Joe Orton's hilarious play, which won the London Drama Critics Award in 1964 but which folded on Broadway after only 13 performances, ENTERTAINING MR. SLOANE is full of morbid humor and grotesque touches. In other words, the film is an almost constant delight, going out of its way to shock whenever possible. The tiny cast achieves a remarkable range of complex emotions and diverse moods, with Reid and Andrews especially superb. Not a film for everybody, granted, but a fine one nonetheless.