Am I The Only Person Who Saw These Movies?

Here are two movies I thoroughly enjoyed, but have never talked with a single living person who saw either of them (and probably never will since both, to my knowledge, are not on tape or DVD). And, please forgive any erroneous information below -- its been over 30-35 years since I saw these films (and only once!)

The Loved One (1965) staring Johathan Winters & Robert Morse -- a
hilarious black comedy on death/funeral industry and a "slap" at the Forrest Lawn Cemetery in California. Jonathan displays his true insanity in this film in dual ones -- one as the womanizing funeral director and another as the "moma's boy" undertaker "Dr. Love Joy"

The Man in the Glass Booth (1975) An American Film Theater production staring Maximilian Schell and directed by Arthur Hiller based on Robert Shaw's play. A memorizing drama of a Jewish Holocaust victim who fakes his identity (through false dental records) and pretends to be a Nazi SS officer sought by the Israeli's for war crimes -- he does this to atone for his (and his fellow Jews) "guilt" at having done nothing to "fight back" or "prevent" the Holocaust. He is captured by the Israelis, taken to Israeli for trial, and imprisoned in a bullet proof "glass booth" in the courtroom where he wears his SS uniform and rants and raves at his judges and inflames the court room with his antics. An acting tour de force by Maximilian Schell, who may have been nominated for best actor for his performance (?)

 

FF, I saw the Loved One with a good buddy of mine. We were big Winters fans. It was in B&W as I recall. So you know at least two others that saw that one. The second film I never saw.

There was another Winters film I believe called "Penelope" around that time period.

A little trivia: Jonathan Winters is (perhaps) the only person to shake hands with the first man that flew (Orville or Wilbur Wright, I can't recall which one) and the first man to walk on the moon.

mud-

 

Actually, according to Winters the first person to acheive flight was Maude Frickert's cousin Merle, who did so by Scotch taping 146 pigeons to his arms.

I saw The Loved One and it's a pretty good flick, but Evelyn Waugh's novel is better. Never got around to seeing The Man In The Glass Booth.

 

The Loved One was billed as the movie that had something to offend everyone I believe. I haven't seen it but I hear it is very cutting in it's humor.

 

Update & Corrections

I've done a little Internet research on these two movies and offer the following:

"The Man in the Glass Booth' will be released on DVD & VHS in late July of this year. My top recommendation for drama and acting (M. Schell) of the highest order. Maximilian Schell was nominated for best actor in this 1975 film, but lost to Jack Nicholson for his role in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". IMHO, Schell's performance leaves Nicholson "in the dust" , so I hope that's incentive to find this wonderful film when it is released in July. I have already pre-ordered the DVD.

The Loved One -- Although Johathan Winters does play two roles in the movie, it is Rod Steiger who plays the embalmer Mr. Joyboy (who lives with his 800 lb mother!). If you love HBO's "Six Feet Under", you must see this film! Unfortunately, I don't believe its on VHS or DVD, so you'll have to catch it on TV (public television ?)

 

I first saw "The Loved One" when it first came out, in Mississippi. It played one night, and the theatre pulled it and replaced it with another film. It was directed by Tony Richardson.
Liberace plays a casket salesman! A teenage Paul Williams as the kid with the rocket!

"The Man In The Glass Booth" was one of a series of filmed plays done by the American Film Theatre in the mid-70's, and the most successful, in that it went on to a regular theatre release. The theatres that showed these had a one week limited run for each film, if I remember correctly, and you could buy a pass to see them all. It lasted for two years, lack of interest killed it.

Some other films based on plays in the series:
Edward Albee's "A Delicate Balance" with Katherine Hepburn, Paul Scofield and Joseph Cotton.
Eugene O'Neil's "The Iceman Cometh" with Lee Marvin, Jeff Bridges, and Fredric March and Robert Ryan in what I think was their last performances.
Ionesco's "Rhinoceros" with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder.
John Osborne's "Luther" with Stacy Keach.
and Robert Shaw, author of Man in the Glass Booth, is the same Robert Shaw who acted in The Sting and Jaws.

 

Thanks for the update. Now that you mention it, I do remember the "subscription" /regular theatre release aspect of this film. Do I also remember correctly that another AFT "subscription" /regular theatre release was "Death of a Salesman" staring Dustin Hoffman or do I have this confused with another movie?

 

Hoffman's "Death Of A Salesman" was originally a made for tv movie from 1985, but it has continued to grow in stature since then. When my ex-girl friend was taking english lit. a few years ago, they showed "Salesman" and studied it.

The other AFI films were around 1975. I like the idea of filming plays straight.

 

So many great things about The Loved One, and yes I also thought of it while watching Six Feet Under. Cameos also include James Coburn as a customs officer, and Lionel Stander's advice to the lovelorn columnist Guru Swami (or something like that) is a scream. R.I.P. Rod Steiger, Sir John and all the others including Coburn who are no longer waiting ones. I have it on laserdisc, first saw it in the '70's. Don't show it to anyone who's grieving.

 

Saw Hoffman do "Death of a Salesman" on Broadway. That was something!!