The Comedians (1967)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Undescribable Perfection

A Disappointing Continuation

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Many problems here, not least of which is how to pronounce 'Haiti' (they go for 'high-tea'). Bland direction fails to provide a single moment of tension, despite the slaughter lurking in the night, and constantly drags this down. Wooden acting from all the support cast doesn't help and must have embarrassed the stars - but they are also a liability - Alec Guinness puts in one of the weakest performances of his career as the cliché ridden mercenary and the barely audible Elizabeth Taylor, speaking (occasionally) in a French accent, apparently didn't know that her character was German.The whole thing has a shambolic air about it, as if they were just fitting shooting in between other things (Taylor forgets the name of her own child - first it's Anhelito, then Anjelito). The child himself features in one scene quite striking for its irrelevancy. Only Burton is worth watching, suitably harassed and weary in that Graham Green-ish way - still wearing what seems to be the same cardigan he wore in Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf the previous year. Apart from him, it's quite a dud.

Graham Greene was some way past his best when he wrote The Comedians, Peter Glenville was, at best, a journeyman director, but the cast was something else again. Four heavy-hitters in the shape of Burton and Taylor at the height of their fame as a double act if not their acting peak, Alec Guiness and Peter Ustinov adding gravitas and, there to make up the numbers, Lilian Gish and Paul Ford. The setting is Haiti and 'Papa' Doc is in the chair so fill in your own corruption. Burton owns a tourist hotel - a clear contradiction in terms - left to him by his mother and which, in that climate, isn't drawing flies and for more or less the same reason is unsellable. He spends his time cuckolding Ambassador Peter Ustinov whose German wife, Martha, is played, complete with dodgy accent, by Taylor, the second character named Martha, she played around the same time, also opposite Burton in Who's Afraid Of Virginai Woolf. On the whole it's turgid, sluggish and about as funny as Russell Brand baiting a grandfather on air.

The Comedians is a film best enjoyed by those who are 30 years or older and who enjoy the wonderful stars of the 1960s. This movie is worth watching for the wonderful stars of Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Alec Guinness, James Earl Jones, and Peter Ustinov. These alone make the movie. I enjoy watching the on-screen romance between the Burton and Taylor, knowing that off screen they were also in love. The movie is a prime time movie, even competing with today's movies. The biggest problems with this movie is that it is too long and too predictable. The movie is a bit slow at many points. However, I still enjoy watching and listening to the stars in the film. Enjoy the film with any snack or even with a TV dinner. I give it 4 thumbs up.

A ship of fools docks in Port-au-Prince, and the disembarking passengers include a local businessman, an idealistic former U.S. presidential candidate and his wife, and a self-confident British major. The film's credentials are incredible; the cast includes Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Alec Guiness, Peter Ustinov, Lillian Gish, and James Earl Jones; Graham Greene wrote the script from his own novel; and Peter Glenville provided the taut direction. Given the talent involved, perhaps expectations raised the bar for "The Comedians" too high for any film to reach. Although the results do not represent a pinnacle for any of these artists, "The Comedians" is an engrossing tale set against the nightmarish backdrop of Papa "Doc" Duvalier's repressive regime in Haiti. A thick tense atmosphere envelops the film from the outset. Arrests, beatings, corpses, intimidation, bribes, murders, and threats paint Duvalier's Haiti in shades of blood and terror. In 1967, the Taylor-Burton romance was still in the tabloids, and the film's illicit romance depicted by the world-famous pair was still titillating. However, time has dimmed the scandal, and the film has benefited. Greene's story and the acting talent are no longer over-shadowed.The still ravishing Taylor, who affects a German-accent as the wife of Ustinov, a cuckolded foreign ambassador, is involved with Burton, a local hotel owner. While arguably the least-interesting aspect of the film, their liaison is integral to the story. Meanwhile, Paul Ford and his wife, Gish, seek to establish a vegetarian center in Duvalierville, a never-will-be Utopian community, and a shady braggart with the wrong connections, Guinness, attempts an arms sale to Duvalier's henchmen. The visitors, the diplomats, and their local connections are embroiled in Haitian political conflicts and dangerous encounters with Duvalier's thugs, the dreaded Tonton Macoute.Greene's script is literate, and the performances are effective. The bevy of international stars is enhanced and ably supported by such pros as Paul Ford, Cicely Tyson, Raymond St. Jacques, Roscoe Lee Browne, and George Stanford Brown. Although short on action, "The Comedians" is long on suspense and tension. While the film certainly remains a staple for fans of Taylor and Burton, Glenville's fine production deserves to be seen and appreciated, not only for its lustrous stars, but also for throwing a spotlight on Haiti's nightmarish past.