Doctor Faustus (1967 film)

Doctor Faustus
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Richard Burton; Nevill Coghill
Produced by	Richard Burton; Richard McWhorter
Screenplay by	Nevill Coghill
Based on	The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus; by Christopher Marlowe
Starring	Richard Burton; Elizabeth Taylor; Andreas Teuber
Music by	Mario Nascimbene
Cinematography	Gábor Pogány
Edited by	John Shirley
Color process	Technicolor
Production; company	Nassau Films; Oxford University Screen Productions; Venfilms
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	19 October 1967 (United Kingdom); 6 February 1968 (United States);
Running time	93 minutes[1]
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English; Latin

Doctor Faustus is a 1967 British horror film adaptation of the 1588 Christopher Marlowe play The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus directed by Richard Burton and Nevill Coghill. The first theatrical film version of a Marlowe play, it was the only film directed by Burton or Coghill, Burton's mentor.[2] It starred Burton as the title character Faustus. Elizabeth Taylor made a silent cameo appearance as Helen of Troy. The film is a permanent record of a stage production that Burton starred in and staged with Coghill at the Oxford University Dramatic Society in 1966. Burton wouldn't appear onstage again until he took over the role of Martin Dysart in Equus on Broadway ten years later.

Plot

University of Wittenberg scholar Faustus earns his doctorate, but his insatiable craving for knowledge and power leads Faustus to try his hand at necromancy in an attempt to conjure Mephistopheles out of hell. Faustus bargains his soul to Lucifer in exchange for 24 living years where Mephistopheles is his slave. Signing the pact in his own blood, Mephistopheles proceeds to reveal to Faustus the works and doings of the Devil.

Cast

Richard Burton as Doctor Faustus
Elizabeth Taylor as Helen of Troy

Of the Oxford University Dramatic Society, Queen's College, Oxford, England:

Andreas Teuber as Mephistopheles
Ram Chopra as Valdes
Richard Carwardine as Cornelius
Patrick Barwise as Wagner
Michael Meneaugh as Good Angel / Bishop
Richard Durden as Evil Angel / Knight (credited as Richard Durden-Smith)
David McIntosh as Lucifer
Jeremy Eccles as Belzebub
Gwydion Thomas as Lechery
Ian Marter as Pride / Emperor
Nicholas Loukes as Envy / Cardinal of Lorraine
Adrian Benjamin as Pope
Elizabeth O'Donovan as Empress

With:

Ambrose Coghill as Avarice
Maria Aitken as Sloth (uncredited)

Reviews

Reviews of the staged version in the British press were "less than enthusiastic", with critics commenting "a sad example of university drama at its worst", with an uninspired Burton "walking through the part". Taylor was "undeniably decorative, but there was nothing much to say about her acting ability".[3] The movie received a terribly negative review in The New York Times, Renata Adler criticizing the adaptation of the text ("the play has been quite badly cut"), Burton's performance ("he seems happiest shouting in Latin, or in Ms. Taylor's ear"), the score ("some horrible electronic Wagnerian theme music"), and Taylor's role ("in this last role [Alexander's paramour], she is, for some reason, frosted all over with silver--like a pastry, or a devaluated refugee from Goldfinger[4]"), reserving praise only for Teuber's performance ("one fine, very pious performance").[5]

References

"DOCTOR FAUSTUS (X)". British Board of Film Classification. 26 July 1967. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
Bevington, David (2010). "The Performance History". In Sara Munson Deats (ed.). Doctor Faustus: A Critical Guide. A&C Black. pp. 41–71. ISBN 9781847061386.
Lewis, Anthony (16 February 1966). "Dr. Faustus Gets Cool a Welcome: British Reviewers Criticize the Burtons and the Play". The New York Times. p. 49.
One of the memorable visual images in the James Bond film Goldfinger, produced three years before Doctor Faustus, was the film villain's habit of covering women with gold.
Adler, Renata (7 February 1968). "Screen: Faustus Sells His Soul Again: Burtons and Oxford Do the Devil's Work; Adaptation of Marlowe Play at 2 Theaters". The New York Times. p. 38.

External links

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[1] "DOCTOR FAUSTUS (X)". British Board of Film Classification. 26 July 1967. Retrieved 19 November 2012.

[Deats-2] Bevington, David (2010). "The Performance History". In Sara Munson Deats (ed.). Doctor Faustus: A Critical Guide. A&C Black. pp. 41–71. ISBN 9781847061386.

[3] Lewis, Anthony (16 February 1966). "Dr. Faustus Gets Cool a Welcome: British Reviewers Criticize the Burtons and the Play". The New York Times. p. 49.

[4] One of the memorable visual images in the James Bond film Goldfinger, produced three years before Doctor Faustus, was the film villain's habit of covering women with gold.

[adler-5] Adler, Renata (7 February 1968). "Screen: Faustus Sells His Soul Again: Burtons and Oxford Do the Devil's Work; Adaptation of Marlowe Play at 2 Theaters". The New York Times. p. 38.