you'll love this movie. Actually it was written by Christopher Marlowe a rival/friend of William Shakesphere. I first saw this film in English lit class when my teacher used this as an entertaining visual aid. I had always loved the Shakesphere plays...the lyrical poetry, the thoughtful plots and imagery. SPOILER---Richard Burton, who is an accomplished Shakespherian actor plays the role of Faustus with a moody, thoughtful & devilish character. Faust is a man who wants to reach heights above God and have "his cake and eat it too" In the end, due to his ignorance,sloth and pride he pays the supreme price by selling his soul by thinking he can outwit the devil. Liz Taylor, who oddly has no spoken lines in the movie,and parades around in various body paint at certain parts is STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL!! and is the most remembered character. The budget of the film is low, but it still gives off a nightmarish, dark moody atmosphere. Except for Burton and Taylor, it is a cast of unknowns and I find it a crying shame that most did not pursue future movie careers! I recommend this movie to lovers of the Elizabethean Theatre--two thumbs up!

I have been intrigue by the legend of Dr. Faustus, the man who sell his very soul to the devil himself for knowledge and lust; after much research on the web. I have watched this film based on the play by Christopher Marlowe (a playwright who lived in the same time as Shakespeare) and it was AWESOME! I love Elizabeth Taylor and I have a few of her films. But I had gotten confuse whether it's a horror film or dramatic film? Of course the film's horrific images of Hell and that gross corpse cover with maggots when Dr. Faustus practiced necromancy (the magical art of bringing the dead to life) makes it a horror film.I was shocked by the negative reviews I would see on the web, I thought it was an excellent horror film. You know on the scene where Dr. Faustus sees the Seven Deadly Sins, I think the guy that played Lechery/Lust is very hot (*drool*). But they left out Gluttony & Sloth, well DUH! the film is 92 minutes.

It was an ambitious undertaking for Richard Burton, to film Christopher Marlowe's classic Dr. Faustus with an untried amateur cast. I'd say he got a mixed bag of results.Well, they weren't all that amateur, they were the members of the Oxford Dramatic Society and quite a number of them went on to have substantial careers in film and theater. Fans of the Doctor Who series will recognize Ian Marter who played Harry Sullivan during the Tom Baker reign as the Doctor, he's probably the most well known of the cast.Of course there's Elizabeth Taylor who plays the brief part of Helen of Troy who in legend is ultimate in feminine beauty. She has no dialog, but she makes her presence known.Faustus, a man who devotes his entire life to the pursuit of knowledge and somehow feels he's left a lot out of his life. Piety and service to God ain't cutting it any more. He makes a deal with Lucifer himself and even gets one of the fallen angels, Mephistopheles to act as a personal servant and conveyor of Faustus's wishes to the Prince of Darkness.Of course he gets what he wants, but there's a day of reckoning and Faustus just simply doesn't want to cough up the soul. What do you expect from a guy who constantly refers to himself in the third person? Faustus is rather full of himself.From what little research I did, Richard Burton made a concerted effort in this film to perform it close to Marlowe's own vision. There seems to be a few versions of this out there and it's all open to speculation.It was an ambitious undertaking, not entirely successful, but not a total failure either. And Elizabeth Taylor looks pretty good in it.

I saw this movie donkeys years ago, and was captured by it. In my book Richard Burton can do no wrong, and this is no exception. E Taylor added a nice bit of fluff as Fausts love interest, (how ironic). The movie was very deep and thought provoking, I would highly recommend it to any one with literary appreciation. I appreciated the fact that it was done in black and white, it just added to the Gothic nature of the movie. I found the special effects also quite appropriate, (the worms in the skull, etc). This is indeed a classic movie, and I will make every effort to add it to my collection. In the mean time I would invite anyone who loves a good classic drama to hunt out this fine, old film