An Exercise In Nonsense

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

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.

I haven't read Graham Greene's novel on which this movie is based. But, "The Comedians" on film is laboriously long and drawn out. Except for the first-rate cast of big cinema names of the time, it wouldn't have held my interest all the way through. The fact that the setting is Haiti during the reign of one of the worst despots of the 20th century, François (Papa Doc) Duvalier, only adds to one's uneasiness in watching this movie. The great storyteller that he was, Graham Greene must have woven the elements of this story together very well in his novel. But here we have two big separate stories butting heads with one another. The first is the adulterous love affair between the two leads, Richard Burton as Brown and Elizabeth Taylor as Martha. The second is the plight of the people of Haiti living in a constant state of terror under the ruthless Duvalier and his henchmen. But then, two other elements that Greene no doubt worked into his single story, here appear to be separate stories awkwardly sandwiched into the two main stories. They are the businesses of Major Jones, played by Alec Guinness, and of Smith, played by Paul Ford. The end result is a plot with many subplots – all poorly connected. Besides the leads, the film has several stellar actors. Guinness and Ford are joined by Peter Ustinov as Ambassador Pineda, Lillian Gish as Mrs. Smith, and James Earl Jones as Dr. Magiot. A handful of others in the supporting cast also give good performances in the film. The direction and editing are weak. The cinematography is good and the location does a good job showing the scenery and conditions as they might have been in Haiti from the late 1950s through most of the 20th century. But for that historical connection and the performances of the supporting cast, this film is hardly worth watching. At the end of the movie, it seemed to me that I had been watching a belabored story about a sex-driven but frustrated white hotel owner in Haiti who couldn't find fulfillment in anything he did. Movie fans who enjoy history may find Duvalier's story interesting. He was a physician who treated the poor and suffering people of Haiti in his early life. That's where he got his endearing moniker from the people, "Papa Doc." He was elected president in a free open election in 1957. But he soon became crazed with power. He killed 30,000 of his countrymen and established a reign of fear and terror, while the poor of his country suffered all the more.

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.