Next came the dreary, going-nowhere STAIRCASE. Two hours of bitchery and carping with only an occasional moment of tenderness (usually to be ridiculed in any event), and both male stars completely hopeless trying to be "mincing" or "pansy" or whatever archaic adjectives one might use to describe their behavior. I'll grant that Burton might have had one moment or two of genuine feeling or depoth. Harrison's performance is completely on the surface and as phony a job as I've ever seen from a major actor.
Despite Donen's best efforts to move action out of doors and to different locales, it stubbornly remains a talky, uninteresting play.
