Entertaining Mr. Sloane

An attractive young charmer by the name of Mr. Sloane weasels his way into the lives of a middle-aged brother and sister, while trying to disguise the truth about his unpleasant past. This black comedy is based on a work by Joe Orton, the taboo-tweaking British playwright who delighted in loading his dialogue with satirical insights and racy double entendres. Indeed, sexual tension drives the plot from the very beginning, when the lonely Kath (Beryl Reid) spots Mr. Sloane (Peter McEnery) in a cemetery and invites him to become a boarder. Despite the age difference, Sloane coyly plays along with her flirtations for his own benefit. Their fun seems over when Kath's brother Ed (Harry Andrews) shows up, but the prim and proper gentleman also takes a shine to Sloane, hiring him as his chauffeur and taking particular interest in the young man's tight leather uniform. Kath and Ed's elderly father, however, develops a strong hatred of Sloane, and accuses to him of being involved in an old, unsolved murder. Though the translation to the screen is somewhat uneven, the controversial elements of Orton's text are mostly preserved, and his gleefully amoral tone survives intact.