A ‘60s satire clad in black

The Loved One

(Warner Home Video, $20)

THOUGH the ‘70s ushered in a new freedom and maturity on movie screens, the cinematic revolution actually began in the 1960s with the rise of sexually expressive and explicit European films. A matrix of other factors contributed as well -- repercussions of the civil rights movement, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the women’s movement and, of course, the end of the production code that ruled Hollywood for decades.

Director Tony Richardson’s outrageous 1965 version of Evelyn Waugh’s black satire about the funeral industry and Hollywood was one studio production that absorbed the ambient influences and pushed the cinematic envelope. Reviews were mixed and eyebrows were raised upon its release, but over time the film has gained in reputation.

Robert Morse plays an aimless young Britisher named Dennis Barlow who comes to Los Angeles to get a job while staying with his elderly uncle (John Gielgud), a famous painter who works at a movie studio. After the older man is fired from the studio, he commits suicide, and one of his friends (Robert Morley) advises Barlow to have him buried at the hoity-toity Whispering Glades cemetery. Needing work, Barlow finagles a job as a preacher at the neighboring pet cemetery, called the Happy Hunting Grounds. Anjanette Comer plays a Whispering Glades cosmetologist with whom Barlow is smitten, and Rod Steiger plays the outlandishly bizarre chief embalmer Mr. Joyboy. Rounding out the cast are Jonathan Winters, Dana Andrews, Tab Hunter, Milton Berle, Liberace and James Coburn.

Extras: A retrospective on the film featuring interviews with Morse, Comer and cinematographer Haskell Wexler, who also produced the film.

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Scanning a poet’s comic adventures

A Fine Madness

(Warner, $20)

THIS unjustly neglected comedic gem from 1966 features a brave, larger-than-life performance by Sean Connery as a volatilile, womanizing poet with severe writer’s block. Joanne Woodward excels as his second wife, a dimwitted waitress who is his biggest champion, though she doesn’t understand his work. Jean Seberg plays the bored wife of a high-profile shrink (Patrick O’Neal) whose dalliance with Connery leads the psychiatrist to recommend that the poet undergo a lobotomy. Director Irvin Kershner (“The Empire Strikes Back”) moves the comedic action along at a rapid- pace.

Extras: A kitschy vintage behind-the-scenes featurette titled “Mondo Connery.”

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The lure of peace, love and brownies

I Love You, Alice B. Toklas

(Warner, $20)

PAUL MAZURSKY and Larry Tucker wrote this amusing 1968 comedy that features an understated performance from one of cinema’s greatest clowns, Peter Sellers. He plays a henpecked, staid Jewish attorney with a successful practice in Los Angeles and a dull fiancee (Joyce Van Patten). When he allows the groovy, mini-skirted girlfriend (Leigh Taylor-Young, in her movie debut) of his hippie brother to stay at his apartment one evening, she returns the favor by making hash brownies. After indulging in the brownies, Sellers leaves his square life behind for one of free love and peace. But he soon realizes he’s not really happy with the hippie lifestyle. One of the best scenes involves Sellers’ character, his fiancee and parents becoming increasingly stoned as they devour brownies.

Extras: The trailer.

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Mismatched in a season of love

Petulia

(Warner, $20)

BEAUTIFULLY realized, this 1968 film was shot on location in San Francisco during the Summer of Love, with Julie Christie as a quirky young woman named Petulia, married to a sadistic husband (Richard Chamberlain). George C. Scott plays a prominent physician whose divorce is about to become final and who falls under Petulia’s spell. Christie is perfectly cast as the “kook,” and Scott is surprisingly sexy and romantic as the doctor. Shirley Knight also makes an exceptional impression as Polo, Scott’s soon-to-be-ex-wife. Look for appearances by Big Brother and the Holding Company and the Grateful Dead.

Director Richard Lester (“A Hard Day’s Night,” “Help!) deftly uses flashbacks and quick cuts to weave the story of these mismatched lovers. John Barry composed the evocative score, Nicolas Roeg supplied the striking cinematography.

Extras: A retrospective documentary and a vintage featurette.

-- Susan King