The Night of the Iguana (1964)

A defrocked Episcopal clergyman leads a bus-load of middle-aged Baptist women on a tour of the Mexican coast and comes to terms with the failure haunting his life.

Director:

John Huston

Writers:

Tennessee Williams (play), Anthony Veiller (screenplay),

Stars:

Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr

Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Richard Burton	...	Rev. Dr. T. Lawrence Shannon
Ava Gardner	...	Maxine Faulk
Deborah Kerr	...	Hannah Jelkes
Sue Lyon	...	Charlotte Goodall
Skip Ward	...	Hank Prosner (as James Ward)
Grayson Hall	...	Judith Fellowes
Cyril Delevanti	...	Nonno
Mary Boylan	...	Miss Peebles

Storyline

The Rev. T. Lawrence Shannon has been living in Mexico for two years, working as a tourist guide for a cut-rate travel agency. Shannon lost his church and was defrocked after taking liberties with one of his parishioners. He's now accompanying a group of middle-aged ladies from Texas whose leader, Judith Fellowes, is keeping a close eye on her teenage ward, Charlotte Goodall, who definitely has an interest in the former priest. After Charlotte and Shannon spend the night together, Fellowes is out to have him fired and to keep her from communicating with his employer, Shannon strands them at a remote hotel run by his good friend Maxine Faulk. It's the arrival of Hannah Jelkes and her elderly grandfather that has the greatest impact however. Her approach to life and love forces Shannon to deal with his demons and re-evaluate his life.

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Plot Keywords:

bus | hotel | artist | church | spinster | 

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Taglines:

One man... three women... one night

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

6 August 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

La noche de la iguana

Filming Locations:

Mismaloya Village, Jalisco, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Seven Arts Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min 118 min (TCM print)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to one of the biographies of Tennessee Williams, "The Kindness of Strangers," by Donald Spoto, the character of Maxine, who is portrayed in this film by Ava Gardner, was purportedly based upon Williams' landlady of the apartment he rented in Santa Monica while he was working at MGM Studios in the 1940s. Her mannerisms, attitudes and even her distinctive one-syllable laugh were detailed by Williams and are expertly performed by Gardner.

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Goofs

The sign in front of the church reads "St. Jame's Episcopal Church". It also lists Morning Prayer and Holy Communion as a single early service, with "Sermon" as a separate service later. The film is set during the 1928 Prayer Book period, when Morning Prayer was one service and Holy Communion was another service. A sermon wouldn't be a stand-alone event, either service could include one.

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Quotes

T. Lawrence Shannon: [talking to Maxine] I wonder how long it takes to sweat the faculty of a Baptist Female College out of a bus that's parked in the sun when it's a 100 degrees in the shade.

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Connections

References Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

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Soundtracks

"Mxican Hat Dance"
("Jarabe Tapatio") (uncredited)
Traditional Mexican folk dance
Heard on record played during fight in the beach bar between Hank and the beach boys.

User Reviews

Lively and enjoyable

John Huston brought his crackpot vitality to this screen version of a not terribly well-known Tennessee Williams play. On stage it was epigrammatic and full of William's faux poetry but on film it has a nice line of lewdness running through it. Before this film I don't think the cinema knew what to do with Richard Burton but here he's perfectly cast as a defrocked clergyman working as a tour guide in Mexico. There is a twinkle in his eye and he's good fun. Ava Gardner, too, is well cast as the blowsy hotel owner, (she plays the part like Ava Gardner gone to seed). Only Deborah Kerr is a bit of a bind in this one. She supplies the faux poetry as the genteel artist traveling with her ancient grandfather. (Margaret Leighton played the part on Broadway and won a Tony).

The rest of the largely female cast is made up of Sue Lyon as a slightly older Lolita type and Grayson Hall as an hysterical, thinly veiled lesbian, (it was 1964, after all). The superb black and white photography is by the great Mexican cameraman Gabriel Figueroa. It's a very 'opened-out' version of a play, not theatrical at all, and while lively, it never insults our intelligence.