This Is Hell

Lee came over to watch the Richard Burton version of DOCTOR FAUSTUS. "A vanity project," Lee called it, then rightly fretted that there was not a better phrase for a thing he likes so much. Dr. Theresa observed that the movie looked like one of Roger Corman's tributes to Poe. Lee noted how much Burton's Faustus, in the early scenes, resembled Bill Murray. We all agreed that Bill Murray would make a great Faustus. I recited, along with Mephistopheles, the only line I know from the play: "Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it." When I said it, Lee shouted, "Look, he's crying!" We agreed that it's the only version we've seen in which Mephistopheles cries at that line. "It's like a really good STAR TREK episode," Lee said, and in the end that was good enough for all of us.