Doctor Faustus (1967)

A man sells his soul to the devil in order to have the woman he loves.

Directors:

Richard Burton, Nevill Coghill

Writers:

Christopher Marlowe (play), Nevill Coghill (adapted for the screen by)

Stars:

Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Andreas Teuber

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Burton	...	Doctor Faustus
Elizabeth Taylor	...	Helen
Andreas Teuber	...	Mephistophilis
Ram Chopra	...	Valdes
Richard Carwardine	...	Cornelius
Patrick Barwise	...	Wagner
Michael Menaugh	...	Good Angel / Bishop (as Michael Meneaugh)
Richard Durden	...	Evil Angel / Knight (as Richard Durden-Smith)
David McIntosh	...	Lucifer
Jeremy Eccles	...	Belzebub
Gwydion Thomas	...	Lechery
Ian Marter	...	Pride / Emperor
Nicholas Loukes	...	Envy / Cardinal of Lorraine
Adrian Benjamin	...	Pope
Elizabeth O'Donovan	...	Empress

Storyline

Faustus is a scholar at the University of Wittenberg when he earns his doctorate degree. His insatiable appetite for knowledge and power leads him to employ necromancy to conjure Mephistopheles out of hell. He bargains away his soul to Lucifer in exchange for living 24 years during which Mephistopheles will be his slave. Faustus signs the pact in his own blood and Mephistopheles reveals the works of the devil to Faustus.

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Plot Keywords:

hell | human skeleton | maggots | bubble | carried on shoulders | 

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Taglines:

The story of a scientist who sells his soul to the devil

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 February 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Doctor Fausto

Filming Locations:

Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nassau Films, Oxford University Screen Productions, Venfilms

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Though the film's source material is of English legend and the film an Oxford University production being made by Oxford University Dramatic Society alumni, the film itself was shot in Rome, Italy.

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Goofs

When Faustus anoints his head with blood there is one mark on his forehead, but when he is conjuring Mephistophilis, there are two blood marks.

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Quotes

Doctor Faustus: [speaking about Helen of Troy] Was this the face that launched a thousand ships and burnt the topless towers of Illium? Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss!

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Connections

Version of Faust (2009)

User Reviews

DOCTOR FAUSTUS (Richard Burton and Nevill Coghill, 1967) **1/2

Cerebral and altogether too-literal transcript of Christopher Marlowe’s venerable play – the end result is opulent yet claustrophobic, not to mention dull.

Burton the producer/director certainly made inspired choices for his collaborators – production designer John De Cuir, cinematographer Gabor Pogany, composer Mario Nascimbene. Burton the actor, then, is riveting as always (particularly the monologue towards the end) – but real-life spouse Elizabeth Taylor is simply ludicrous as Faustus’ object of desire (in various disguises including Helen of Troy)! The remaining cast is largely made up of Oxford University drama students (the University itself, of which Burton was a former graduate, partly financed the film!): of these, only Andreas Teuber’s bald-headed, monk-clad Mephistopheles manages a striking performance.

The “Mondo Digital” review had likened this to the cult horror films made by Hammer, Roger Corman and Mario Bava: judging by the campy Papal sequence (with a host of fey clergymen on whom Faustus plays childish pranks) and an equally tacky conjuring act before a medieval court, I’d say that Burton and Coghill probably drew more on the decadent work of Federico Fellini or Pier Paolo Pasolini than anything else! Anyway, the experimental nature of the film extends to the baffling over-use of a pointless ‘foggy’ effect; its depiction of lust, however, emerges as traditionally naïve – with frolicking satyrs in a garden setting and decorous female nudity (including Taylor herself for one very brief moment).

Ulimately, DOCTOR FAUSTUS is to be considered an interesting failure – a personal tour-de-force for Burton but which, perhaps, needed a steadier hand…say, Joseph Losey (with whom the two stars would soon work on BOOM! [1968], curiously enough, a similar and equally maligned blend of fantasy and theatricality).