Though he only wrote a handful of dark comedies over the course of his short life before his murder in 1967, playwright Joe Orton remains a major figure in English-language theater thanks to his clever use of verbal wit and the audacious nature of his subject matter that sent censors into fits. Amazingly, only two of his plays have been adapted for the big screen to date, and both of them arrived in quick succession in 1970: Loot, a sexually fluid heist caper directed by Silvio Narizzano with a strong pop art sensibility, and Entertaining Mr. Sloane from future Theatre of Blood director Douglas Hickox. Based on a very controversial play first performed in 1964 (with frequent revivals since) and first adapted in watered-down form by ITV in 1968, Sloane has all the Orton trademarks intact including double and triple entendres, a dash of murder, and a skewering of British sensibilites about sexuality. Though it opens up the action a bit and adds a few embellishments like an extended ending, this is a fine way to either encounter Orton's work for the first time or see how it's interpreted by a delightful quartet of actors in their prime.

While hanging around a cemetery one afternoon, Mr. Sloane (Footprints' McEnery) is approached by the colorfully dressed Kath (The Beast in the Cellar's Reid) who offers to take him in as a lodger at the suburban home she shares with her snooty, closeted brother, Ed (Play Dirty's Andrews), and their eccentric, elderly father (Women in Love's Webb). The newcomer's presence causes multiple disruptions as he serves as Ed's chauffeur, triggers memories of a homicide in the patriarch's past, and becomes an object of Kath's lust. However, that's nothing compared to what's ultimately in store for the unscrupulous young man who could push things too far.

Though very much a 1970 film largely thanks to its heavy reliance on a theme song by Georgie Fame, Entertaining Mr. Sloane avoids the kitsch tendencies of the era and wisely relies mainly on the strength of its cast and script. Critical responses ranged from appreciative to the usual accusations of coarseness, though as usual for Orton, the perversity and shocking nature of its subject matter is all relayed by implication instead of anything explicit. It turned out to be a solid calling card for Hickox, here delivering his first genuine feature-length film after cutting his teeth on commercials and medium-length jukebox musicals; likewise, screenwriter Clive Exton (10 Rillington Place) makes some smart tweaks to the source material the make it cinematic and as visually suggestive as its dialogue.

A very common VHS title in both the U.S. and the U.K. into the 1990s since it was part of the EMI catalog, Entertaining Mr. Sloane eventually hit DVD in 2005 in the U.K. but stayed off the American market for a long time. Studiocanal issued it on Blu-ray in 2017 in the U.K. (at the same time as Loot) with a very colorful, crisp, and sparkling 2K restoration and four featurettes: a fun locations featurette with Richard Dacre (10m14s) pointing out lots of specifics starting in the graveyard; an interview with Orton's sister Leonie (27m42s) about their impoverished upbringing, her family's lack of awareness about his homosexuality, and her thoughts about this adaptation; a thorough biographical breakdown from John Lahr (45m), author of Prick Up Your Ears: The Biography Of Joe Orton (the source for the biopic with Gary Oldman); and an interview with McEnery (9m28s) about his career leading up to this film, his reasons for taking the part, and the discipline required to handle a script like this including consultations with Hickox about making it palatable for a wider film audience.

In 2025, Severin Films finally brought Mr. Sloane and company back to the U.S. with a greatly expanded Blu-ray special edition featuring the same excellent HD master, DTS-HD MA 2.0 English mono audio, and optional English SDH subtitles. All four of the featurettes are ported over here, plus the trailer, and a new audio commentary featuring yours truly and Orton scholar Dr. Emma Parker will hopefully prove to be enjoyable. The four new featurettes here start with "All My Sloanes" (26m36s) surveying six decades of the play's history including new interviews with Malcolm McDowell and Maxwell Caulfield plus archival footage with Adam Ant, painting an engaging portrait of how to tackle Orton's characters and what kind of naughty mischief could come up between the actors during showtime. In "Ortonesque" (17m35s), the always lively screenwriter David McGillivray chats about the impact of Orton's work and his own observations and recollections about the plays and how they were regarded by Orton's peers, particularly Terence Rattigan. In "Act of Character" (22m29s), Rosie White covers Reid's media omnipresence as a comic guest on talk shows and game shows as well as a scene-stealing stage and screen actress. Finally in "Threads Of Desire" (10m1s), costume historian Elissa Rose delves into the film's mixture of provocative elements and signatures of class divisions in its Emma Porteous outfits including nods to physique magazines and Swinging London trends.

Reviewed on June 8, 2025