Entertaining Mr Sloane

Surprisingly risqué TV adaptation of one of Joe Orton’s best known plays, filmed shortly after his murder.

Joe Orton was murdered by his lover Kenneth Halliwell just days before he was due to oversee the rehearsals of this marvellous adaptation of one of his best known works. In Entertaining Mr Sloane, a sexy young murderer joins the household of a spinster and her brother - but who is manipulating whom? Surprisingly risqué for its time, there are blatant homosexual undertones to the skewed relationship between Mr Sloane (Clive Francis, decked out in leathers and a golden chain) and Edward Woodward’s pompous Ed.

Sheila Hancock gives the definitive performance of Ed’s sister Kath, a blowsy nymphomaniac, who eventually forms an unlikely alliance with Ed to “share” the favours of Mr Sloane. The bawdy humour and caricatures are still fresh today, although the daring sexual politics were too much for audiences on Broadway, where the show was cancelled after just 13 performances.