Graham Greene's The Comedians, a 1966 novel set in Haiti, was transformed into a movie by Peter Glenville in 1967 -- working from the screenplay adaptation conjured up by Greene himself. A writer's dream. The movie version turns out to be not only good but also scary and conciousneness raising. The setting is Haiti as it comes increasingly under the control of Papa Doc Duvalier and his murderous enforcers, the Tonton Macoutes.
The cast of The Comedians is stellar. Of course, there's the real-life chemistry of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor; but there are also memorable performances by James Earl Jones, Roscoe Lee Browne, Georg Stanford Brown, Cicely Tyson, Gloria Foster, Raymond St. Jacques, Peter Ustinov, Zakes Mokae, Lillian Gish, Paul Ford and Alec Guinness -- ten years before Jones' voice would be lent to Darth Vader and Alec Guinness would portray Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Today's Rune: Possessions.
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