I love this movie so much

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

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.

When I bought "The Comedians" in DVD, I had never heard before of that movie, although I am a fan of the cinema of the specific era. Moreover, it surprised me I didn't know anything about a film with such an excellent cast: it isn't easy to find Burton, Taylor, Guinness, Ustinov, Gish and Ford in the same movie. And there was something else: it was based on a novel and written for the screen by an author whose work I admire: Graham Greene. Therefore, I was curious to find out why a movie with so many virtues flopped and was so soon forgotten. After watching it, I understood: "The Comedians" is a movie that was made for the general audience, a film that should be fun, fast and easy to digest, a typical Hollywood epic. However, it contains none of the classic ingredients: a) it isn't fun, it is a serious political drama, with a deeply British, cynical and black humour, b) it is not melodramatic enough and the love story between Burton and Taylor evolves quite unorthodoxically, without any clichés, c) it isn't fast at all, it's almost three hours without impressive action scenes and much - quite sophisticated - dialogue, d) it isn't easy to digest, it is a sad and bitter movie with an ambiguous ending. These are the reasons why "The Comedians" flopped, but they are also the reasons that make the film exceptionally interesting. Set in Tahiti during the dictatorship of Francois Duvalier ("Papa Doc"), an ideal location for Graham Greene's stories, it demonstrates the cruelty of the regime, through the story of 6 Westerners and some locals in the background. It is a big, flawless production providing food for thought accompanied by excellent cinematography, professional directing and a slow, but strong and memorable scenario. The claustrophobic atmosphere of the brutal dictatorship is exceptional, the actors give magnificent performances and it is also one of the few films that end without an answer, without a typical happy or tragic ending. I recommend it to viewers that enjoy films that provide more than a pleasant evening.

After delighting audiences in director Franco Zeffirelli's 1967 hit adaptation of Shakespeare's THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, the Burtons' popularity with audiences seemed to be on the wane as their next film, Peter Glenville's THE COMEDIANS (1967) became their first full-fledged box office disappointment. There was much publicity surrounding the political thriller as it shot in Africa (masquerading as Haiti) and the fact that Taylor accepted half her usual salary and took second billing behind Burton kept gossips wagging for months (she reportedly only took the part out of fear of being replaced with Sophia Loren). But when the film opened, critics found it slow and talky and audiences simply seemed uninterested. Although the film is never quite as interesting or as suspenseful as it could have been, I dare say that THE COMEDIANS probably plays a great deal better today without the heavy expectations of the time surrounding it.Graham Greene does a respectable job of paring down his complex novel for the screen, and director Glenville keeps the film moving at a reasonable pace in spite of its lengthy runtime of 150 minutes. The film is always interesting and occasionally gripping, although Greene and Glenville keep the audience at a relative distance which prevents the picture from striking as hard as it could have. Burton is in good form, and Alec Guinness, Paul Ford, and Lillian Gish all turn in top notch support (only Peter Ustinov feels under utilized). Unfortunately, Taylor is dreadfully miscast as a German military wife – complete with a woefully unconvincing accent – and her ill-fitting presence creates several lulls in the film as the number of scenes between her character and Burton's character are increased (in order to give the diva her proper screen time) which hampers a few long stretches of the film and slightly undermines what could have been a first-rate effort.

Some of the characters are quite flat (particularly the old American couple), and the plot isn't very involving. An alternative to Papa Doc's regime seems to be Marxists so who gives a crap who'll win? Strange casting of Taylor as the daughter of a persecuted Nazi war criminal; her accents is just as strange. The romance between Taylor and Burton is kind of blah; Burton is like a vampire - he always goes for her neck. Occasionally the plot-points aren't too credible; for example, Guinness being successfully smuggled into the embassy disguised as a black maid. However, I wouldn't call the film too boring. Plus it's always interesting to watch Burton and Liz. If you're interested in reading my "biographies" Liz Taylor and other Hollywood intellectual heavyweights, contact me by e-mail.