Diagonaldi Very well executed

Cortechba Overrated

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

edwagreen The film is certainly anything but comic, but are they essentially saying that we all have some comedy about ourselves?Notice that Liz Taylor is again Martha, the name she was the year before when she copped her second Oscar for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" As always, she is a frustrated woman married to a diplomat, Peter Ustinov, who gave her quite a slap in a memorable scene. Naturally, her lover is Richard Burton, a hotel keeper who becomes involved in Haiti in the fight against Papa Doc Duvalier and his tyrannical regime.Alec Guinness is the phony army leader who gives quite a good supporting actor performance, especially when he divulges who he really is. He reminded me of David Niven in 1958's "Separate Tables."Lillian Gish and Paul Ford co-star as a couple in Haiti to promote a vegetarian diet for the population. It was a little silly when the Burton character is about to be belted by the Ton Ton's and Gish breaks it up by saying that her husband ran for President in 1948 against Truman on the vegetarian ticket.The film does pull out all the stops in showing the brutality of the Duvalier dictatorship.

JohnHowardReid Director Glenville's fondness for TV-style close-ups seems deliberately designed to emphasize the inadequacies in Elizabeth Taylor's performance. The scenes between Taylor and Burton are particularly slow and tedious. At least two of their clinches have even been step-printed to make them run longer! When they have a chance to strut their stuff, the support players fare much better. True, they all have far more interesting material to work with, although Elizabeth even manages to make one of her scenes with Peter Ustinov boring. Fortunately, Guinness delivers one of his best performances. Lillian Gish and Paul Ford are along mainly for laughs and exit halfway through. After their departure, the film literally staggers to an inconclusive and unsatisfying conclusion. An effective use of natural locations is about the only strong feature in this dull, uninteresting, long-winded effort.

dechampsmathieu 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.

nina-films This movie has such a marvelous cast and a very moving love affair between the two leading characters and real life couple but the plot is so similar to "Casablanca"'s.See: dictatorship,immigrants,the two secret lovers,the poor husband,the underground the separation even the plane in the end.Obviously Mr.Greene should be a great "Casa" fan that he was deeply influenced.As far as the direction goes it's good but nothing really special though very realistic with some very good shots. Burton and Taylor gave a very passionate performance since during that period there were this way in real life.Alec Guinness made the twist with this very interesting character of "Jones".and i suppose that's all folks,watch the movie (or better observe it) and recall elements of Casablanca.Am I wrong?