The Comedians (1967)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Brown	Richard Burton
Martha Pineda	Elizabeth Taylor	½
Major Jones	Alec Guinnes	½
Ambassador Pineda	Peter Ustinov
Henri Philipot	Georg Stanford Brown
Petit Pierre	Roscoe Lee Browne
Mr. Smith	Paul Ford
Mrs. Philipot	Gloria Foster
Mrs. Smith	Lillian Gish
Dr. Magiot	James Earl Jones

Review

Richard Burton wisecracks his way through this ostensibly ambitious contemporary political drama about the situation in Haiti during Papa Doc's reign. His sardonic, standoffish stance fits the material just as perfectly as it does his persona, because the film itself doesn't seem quite comfortable with its story. It tries to brainstorm all its political meanderings into place. And the romance alas feels contrived. It's as if Burton and Elizabeth Taylor couldn't muster up the passion they once had for each other – or at least not in a way that's palpable onscreen. The screenplay is by Graham Greene, based on his own novel. The film was a box-office failure.