Verdict
Summary
An off-kilter dark comedy with a highly suggestive (and surprisingly prescient) sexual theme, Entertaining Mr. Sloane is decidedly British, through-and-through with offbeat wit and a playful sexuality that unnerves more than titillates. The performances are solid and the weird tone sort of veers into a territory that resembles horror or a lackadaisical thriller, but it never goes overboard or becomes exploitive. It’s certainly not for every taste and should appeal to cult films more than other types of easy-to-peg genres.
Plot:
A hustler rooms with a twisted brother and sister pair who want to own and possess him.
Review:
Kath (Beryl Reid) is a bubbly, lonely matron who might’ve been a looker in her prime, and she lives in a large home with her father (Alan Webb) and her brother Ed (Harry Andrews), their home situated near a dump site and a cemetery. It is at the cemetery where Kath sets her eyes on a strapping, smooth-skinned blonde young man named Sloane (Peter McEnery) who is doing sit-ups on the grave of one of his parents. It’s instant lust for Kath when she sees this man, but it’s also a bit of motherly instinct as well … it’s hard to tell with Kath, who clearly has a plethora of issues that have never been properly addressed. We find out that she lost a child long ago, and that perhaps there’s a bit of incest going on as well, but knowing she has an opportunity to mother and tend to Sloane, she brings him home like a lost puppy. She gets him to bed where she undresses him and gets her mitts all over his sweaty and muscly body, which then gets her brother Ed’s attention as well: You see, Ed is a closeted homosexual and is more than a little intrigued by Sloane’s apparent willingness to be fondled and lusted after by him as part of their unconventional living arrangement. But then there’s a tug-of-war between Kath and Ed who each vie for Sloane’s attention. The young man is basically a hustler, willing to go either which way as long as he has a place to stay and no more than a bed to be lofty from. But their father turns up dead, and Sloane finds himself in a position where his crime of murder becomes a dangerous turning point in the love/lust triangle between the twisted siblings who demand he be shared by them from henceforth on unto forever in exchange for their silence on his crime.
An off-kilter dark comedy with a highly suggestive (and surprisingly prescient) sexual theme, Entertaining Mr. Sloane is decidedly British, through-and-through with offbeat wit and a playful sexuality that unnerves more than titillates. The performances are solid and the weird tone sort of veers into a territory that resembles horror or a lackadaisical thriller, but it never goes overboard or becomes exploitive. It’s certainly not for every taste and should appeal to cult films more than other types of easy-to-peg genres. Based on a play, and directed by Douglas Hickox.
Severin has just released a premium Blu-ray edition of Entertaining Mr. Sloane, and the disc comes in a hardcase slipcover and a host of bonus features. The new 2K scan looks sharp and crisp, and Severin’s treatment of this film is up to their usually high standards.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary With Film Historian Nathaniel Thompson And Orton Scholar Dr. Emma Parker
- Archival Interview With Actor Peter McEnery
- All My Sloanes – 60 Years Of Joe Orton’s Mr. Sloane, Featuring Malcolm McDowell And Maxwell Caulfield
- Archival Interview With John Lahr, Author Of Prick Up Your Ears: The Biography Of Joe Orton
- Archival Interview With Leonie Orton Remembering Her Brother Joe
- Ortonesque – Screenwriter David McGillivray On The Lasting Influence Of Joe Orton
- Act Of Character – Rosie White On The Inimitable Identities Of Beryl Reid
- Archival Locations Featurette With Richard Dacre
- Threads Of Desire: Costuming And Sexuality In ENTERTAINING MR. SLOANE – Video Essay By Costume Historian Elissa Rose
- Trailer
