The Loved One is based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh. The script is by Christopher Isherwood and Terry Southern, both of whom had had horrible experiences in Hollywood from which they drew for the film’s opening scenes. The transition from the movie business to the cemetery trade is seamless - after all, they’re pretty much the same thing. Richardson had already directed The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and Tom Jones, and this was his first American film. It has an all star cast: James Coburn is a customs inspector, Liberace sells caskets, John Gielgud and Robert Morley are members of the loathsome Santa Monica British Colony.