The Comedians (1967)

THE COMEDIANS  (1967)  ¢ ¢ 1/2
    D: Peter Glenville
    Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Alec Guinness,
    Peter Ustinov, Lillian Gish, Paul Ford,
    Raymond St. Jacques, James Earl Jones
Burton plays a hotel owner stuck with a property he can't unload in the endlessly corrupt and crumbling world of Papa Doc's Haiti. Taylor plays a diplomat's wife. Ustinov plays Taylor's husband. Paul Ford and Lillian Gish are vegetarian activists who have picked an unlikely base for their quixotic cause. Alec Guinness is a World War Two vet, a slippery character who may or may not be telling the truth, but seems to know more than he's telling. They're "the comedians," fish out of water, all out of their depth and more or less clueless in a place they don't belong. Graham Greene wrote the screenplay, based on his novel, and the sense of unease that sets in from the opening minute stays consistent throughout. Unfortunately, the movie plods along for two and a half hours, slowing down especially when Burton and Taylor share the screen. Filmed in the African nation of Dahomey, which was picked because of its striking resemblance to Haiti. Not much of a recommendation for Dahomey, if you ask me.