Main Cast: Hugh Williams, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Andreas Teuber, Ian Marter, Elizabeth O'Donovan
Release Year: 1968
Country: IT/UK
Run Time: 93 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
Richard Burton co-directed (along with Nevill Coghill) this labor of love that records a performance given by Burton at Oxford University in 1966 of Christopher Marlowe's 400-year-old verse play. Burton plays Faust, a medieval doctor who sells his soul to Mephistopheles (Andreas Teuber) in exchange for mastering all human knowledge. The Devil tempts Faust at every turn by confronting him with the seven deadly sins and Helen of Troy (Elizabeth Taylor), who appears throughout the film in various stages of undress as Doctor Faustus stands firm. The production was filmed in Rome, with the majority of the cast Oxford University amateur actors. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
David McIntosh - Lucifer; Jeremy Eccles - Beelzebub; Ram Chopra - Valdes; Richard Heffer - First Scholar; Ambrose Coghill - Professor/Avarice; Richard Harrison - Fourth Professor; Nevill Coghill - Professor; Michael Menaugh - Good Angel; Bridget Coghill - Gluttony; Jacqueline Harvey - Dancers; Richard Canvardine - Cornelius; Hugh Williams - Scholar; Renzo Pevarello - Wrath
Credit
Boris Juraga - Art Director, Jacqueline Harvey - Choreography, Peter Hall - Costume Designer, Nevill Coghill - Director, Richard Burton - Director, John Shirley - Editor, Mario Nascimbene - Composer (Music Score), John De Cuir - Production Designer, Gabor Pogany - Cinematographer, Richard Burton - Producer, Richard McWhorter - Producer, Dario Simoni - Set Designer, Augie Lohman - Special Effects, Peter Harman - Special Effects, Nevill Coghill - Screenwriter, Christopher Marlowe - Play Author
The film is a permanent record of a stage production that Burton starred in and staged with Cogill 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.
