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The Loved One is an absurd black comedy based on a book by Evelyn Waugh and borrowing also from Jessica Mitford's The American Way of Death (highly recommended). The screenplay was co-written by Terry Southern. The film has so many stars it's almost like a funeral business version of It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World. Check out this cast - Robert Morse, Jonathan Winters, Rod Steiger, Dana Andrews, Alan Napier (Batman's butler Alfred), John Gielgud, Roddy McDowall, James Coburn, Milton Berle, Liberace, Tab Hunter, Bernie Kopell (Love Boat), Paul Williams, and even Jamie Farr of M.A.S.H. has an uncredited role.
While there are no actual songs in The Loved One, there are two musicians making significant appearances.
Liberace is superb in the part of Mr. Starker who is in charge of the casket room and funeral wardrobe selections. If the top of the line products are not chosen he shows just the slightest condescension to the buyer. He appears in one other scene where top army brass have an orgy in this room with a girl in each casket. When one of the generals opens one casket, Liberace is inside. Maybe this was an earlier simpler version of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".
Paul Williams (pre-singer/songwriter fame), who was 25 at the time, but due to his short stature, appears as a wunderkind with an interest in rocket science. His part plays heavily into the ending of the film. This was Williams movie debut, but he appeared a very competent actor easily holding his own with the rest of the cast.
Johnathan Winters plays two parts in the film and as usual lights up both and has my favorite line in the film. He's a movie producer who is going to do his own version of James Bond and says "We're going to give them the one thing Jim Bond doesn't have, warmth". But, a real standout is Rod Steiger's over-the-top acting role as head embalmer, Mr Joyboy. I think I had more laugh out loud moments with him than any other character in the movie. If you enjoy a dark comedy and don't have any squeamishness about the business of death, then you'll really enjoy The Loved One.
When The Boys Meet The Girls was originally a stage play and made into a movie in 1932, but has more in common with the 1943 remake starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. This 1965 version stars Harve Presnell (Fargo) as a rich playboy who has to change schools to avoid marrying one of his many girlfriends, who insists he proposed to her. When he arrives at his new school he is smitten by the local postmaster (Connie Francis) and helps save her ranch from being sold to pay for her father's gambling debts.
A good chunk of the songs in the film are the original songs written for the play by George and Ira Gershwin, with Peter Noone singing one of them "Bidin' My Time" and Louis Armstrong reprising "I Got Rhythm" at the end of the movie. There are a few other songs written especially for the movie that are sung by Connie Francis and Harve Presnell, and they also handle most of the other Gershwin numbers. The special musical stars all have their own songs. Herman's Hermits sing "Listen People", Sam The Sham and The Pharaohs perform "Monkey See Monkey Do", and Louis Armstrong sings "Throw It Out Of Your Mind", Liberace does one of his own compositions "Aruba Liberace". In an uncredited performance, The Standells can be seen in the background of one scene playing "It's All In Your Mind".
All the musical guests are good and it's worth watching the movie just for them. Peter Noone even has a small part as a college student. I especially enjoyed Sam The Sham and The Pharoahs, although what a shame that their performance was interrupted at times with part of the storyline.
When I first ran across When The Boys Meet The Girls and
saw the line-up of the special musical stars: Herman's Hermits,
Liberace, Louis Armstrong, and Sam The Sham and The Pharaohs, I knew I
had to get a copy and thought this would be a blast. To my chagrin, it
turned out to be more of an old school musical (there's one scene that
could be right out of Seven Brides For Seven Brothers) than it did any type of "beach party" or "teen" film. While I'll never watch When The Boys Meet The Girls again, it's still worth checking out if you haven't seen it, especially if you're a fan of Connie Francis or any of the other musicians in the film.
Chandell aka Fingers (Liberace) and his twin brother Harry (Liberace) are both criminals. Chandell is also a famous pianist. When Chandell hurts his hands and uses a player piano in a concert at The White House his brother finds out and blackmails him. Chandell comes up with a plan to kill Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson and then marry Aunt Harriet and use her money to pay off Harry, after which Chandell decides he will have enough money to go straight.
These two episodes of Batman (The Devil's Fingers and The Dead Ringers) were the highest rated out of all the tv episodes of Batman. The name Chandell was used as a play on Liberace's famous chandeliers. Liberace supplied his own costumes plus provided his own grand piano for filming of the episodes. Instead of having three henchmen, Chandell had three henchwomen - Doe, Rae, and Mimi. As you can see from the above photo Doe would be a pretty good double for Naomi Judd.
I really enjoyed both these episodes and Liberace was a real hoot as the villain, but what I enjoyed most was Liberace's portrayal of Harry, the twin brother. During these scenes, Liberace tried to talk tough like he was in an old gangster movie and the results were quite amusing. They can make all the Batman movies they want, and regardless of how good they are, the TV series, with episodes like these, will always be tops in my book.
