User reviews

A sultry and marvelously atmospheric screen adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play.

Richard Burton plays a defrocked priest who holes up in an isolated Mexican hotel with a group of religious biddies for whom he is serving as tour guide. The group's leader, a strident harpy played by Grayson Hall, wants to report Burton to the authorities for his inappropriate behavior with her young charge, played by the flirty Sue Lyon (yes, of "Lolita" fame). In response, he practically takes the women hostage, disabling their vehicle so that they can't leave the hotel. The hotel's owner, played by a sexy Ava Gardner, is an old friend of Burton, and she becomes a sort of accomplice to his actions. Williams uses the tension created by this situation and these characters to explore the dark nights of the soul that each of us is bound to go through at one point or another in the course of our lives, and the salvation humans can find in one another.

I'm not sure how closely the film follows the original stage play, but as presented here, this is one of Williams' more hopeful and optimistic stories. Richard Burton and Ava Gardner share some sweet moments, during which each allows him/herself to be emotionally vulnerable to the other, and receive some solace from the interaction. And there's a wonderful character played by Deborah Kerr, a spinster painter who shows up with her doddering grandfather in tow and whose vague past hints at some dark nights of her own. She is able to help the Burton character learn how to navigate his crisis and emerge relatively unscathed on the other side.

The film is directed by John Huston, and it takes a pretty frank approach to some of the dicey subject matter, a much more frank approach than some of the other Williams adaptations that had been made into films around the same time as this one.

Grade: A

It's a shame that Richard Burton never played Shannon in "Night of the Iguana" on stage - ditto Deborah Kerr and Ava Gardner - because all three are perfect casting for Tennessee Williams' wonderful play, on which this film is based. The story concerns a man of the cloth - well, sort of - Shannon, who, after an accusation of fornication and the nervous breakdown that followed, is locked out of his church and forced to take work as a tour guide for a cheap touring company. He is taking a group of Baptist women through Mexico showing them religious places when, while fighting off the advances of an underaged girl on the trip (Sue Lyon), he is accused by her chaperone (Grayson Hall) of giving into them. In order to keep her from reporting him to the tour company, he steals the bus distributor and holes up with them at the hotel of his friend, Maxine (Gardner). It is there that he meets the gentle artist, Hannah Jelks, and her aged poet grandfather Nonno. Under a dark Mexican sky, as an iguana being fattened for dinner is tethered below, the three confront their demons.

Knowing the actual play as well as I do, and having seen it performed, it's a little hard for me to judge this film, except that the acting across the board is marvelous. Gardner is fabulous as Maxine, the no-nonsense, earthy owner of the hotel who hankers after Shannon and isn't above a little jealousy. This is a role originated on Broadway by Bette Davis. It is rarely cast with someone as sexy and beautiful as Gardner, but those qualities make great additions to the role. Kerr as the spinster Jelks, facing a life of loneliness once her grandfather dies, is exquisite in the role, bringing to the role an analytical quality that normally isn't as apparent. Shannon could have been written for Burton - funny, drunk, with an underlying kindness, he is handsome, spirited, and a little nuts.

The additional characters of the underaged girl and the bus driver seem unnecessary additions, though Lyon was very good in a well-written role. Grayson Fall was great, but why was the recurring line she yells at Shannon - "Please take your hand OFF my arm!" removed from the script? Somehow the stage version is funnier and moves faster, though if you haven't seen it, you will still find this version amusing in sections and thought-provoking in others. The ending is changed as well. The play is a little heavier, a little more compelling, a little sadder, a little better and, naturally, pure Williams. But you couldn't ask for a better cast.

Flamboyantly flawed characters are Tennessee Williams' oeuvre, and I doubt if any of his plays has more of them wallowing in their debilitated states of psychological disrepair than "The Night of the Iguana". This richly acted 1964 adaptation directed by the estimable John Huston has its share of excesses, veering wildly from melodrama to black comedy, but they are all for the sake of illustrating Williams' broader themes of alienation and redemption while screenwriter Anthony Veiller stays true to the playwright's Baroque flourishes.

The protagonist is Reverend Dr. T. Lawrence Shannon, defrocked from his church in Virginia for an indiscretion with a young girl. He desperately takes a job as a tour guide for a group of spinster teachers from Texas headed by the belligerent Miss Fellowes. Vacationing in Puerto Vallarta, they end up shanghaied by Shannon to a dilapidated beach resort run by his old friend and lover, the hedonistic slattern Maxine Faulk. Enter a caricature artist named Hannah Jelkes and her poet grandfather, penniless travelers who find themselves drawn by fate to the resort. Complicating matters among the tour group is a nubile blonde named Charlotte, as she tempts Shannon to repeat his previous misdeeds. His unrepentant desires all come to a head when Hannah and Maxine tie him to a hammock, and a series of cathartic moments occur among the principals.

Richard Burton is ideally cast as Shannon, as he seizes the screen with his Shakespearean voice and increasingly manic behavior. With her trademark gentility, Deborah Kerr brings a curious mix of hucksterism and guile to Hannah, but it's Ava Gardner who gives her career-best performance as Maxine - brash, funny and undeniably sexy surrounded by her maraca-shaking beach boys. Having just read Lee Server's illuminating biography of the tempestuous star, I get the strong impression that the character mirrors Gardner's real-life persona to a T. The last act, which highlights the thematic dynamics represented by Shannon, Hannah and Maxine, shows the actors in peak form. Sue Lyon plays Charlotte in her most appropriate post-Lolita manner, and Grayson Hall does her best to avoid the gargoyle-like caricature that Miss Fellowes represents. The one casting flaw is the wooden Skip Ward, a Troy Donahue look-alike, as the tour group assistant.

Better than what he did with Arthur Miller's "The Misfits" three years earlier, Huston does an impressive job balancing all the disparate elements without falling into the trap of making it too campy, even if the chorus-like beach boys do seem silly in hindsight. Gabriel Figueroa's crisp black-and-white photography is effective, though it is the one Tennessee Williams-related work that I wish took advantage of the colorful flora and fauna of the area. The 2006 DVD offers a couple of worthwhile extras - a vintage short, "On the Trail of the Iguana", which has interviews with cast and crew and give a sense of the paparazzi blitzkrieg surrounding the stars, especially Burton who was then living with Elizabeth Taylor before her divorce from Eddie Fisher was final; and a recent, more academic featurette, "Huston's Gamble" with comments from film historians on the movie's impact.

It is possible to watch a film on a wide range of emotional and intellectual levels. One can pay attention only to the visuals, only to the minute trivia related to actors and actresses, to the most obvious displays of physical action, to appeals to one's sympathies, or to the underlying content and profundity trying to be expressed and communicated to the viewer. Thus, films can be judged to fail on the one hand when they succeed on the other, and this, I think, explains the lukewarm response to what is the finest films ever made in the English language. Whether or not Richard Burton always plays a drunk, whether or not it should have been in colour, are not in the least bit relevant to the significance, the concepts and the issues at play in this brilliant film, this monument to the resilience of human souls, to the compassion that can bring such succour on long, tortured nights, to the precious decency that is for some a perpetual struggle to attain, and the search, the life-long search, for belief, love and light.

The backdrop to the exploration of these issues that are so fundamental to individual lives is a Mexican coastal hotel. The central character is a de-frocked and unstable priest, T. Lawrence Shannon (Richard Burton) who, like the iguana that is tethered up in preparation to being eaten, is at the end of his rope. He walks alone, without the crutch of facile beliefs or human companionship beyond sterile physical conquests which only serve to heighten his own self-loathing and isolation. He arrives at the hotel in search of sanctuary in light of his mental deterioration. On his arrival he meets his old friend, the lascivious but no less desperate Maxine (Ava Gardner), a poet on the verge of death who is nevertheless striving for one last creative act, one last stab at beautiful self-expression, and his grand-daughter Hannah (Deborah Kerr), a resilient woman painfully trying to reconcile herself to loss, loneliness and the bitter struggle she faces with her own personal demons. They are united in that they are divided, in that they are all tortured souls seeking beauty, life, meaning and engaged in battles to stand tall, to live with integrity and love. On a hot, cloying night, a night of the iguana, when all their ropes snap taut, they meet.

The pivotal and most crucial part of this film is the conversation between Lawrence and Hannah. The former is in the throes of a nervous breakdown, the latter has survived and endured through the same. They are kindred souls that aid one another through the therapy of human connection, of empathy in the long, lonely walk. It is in this conversation that Tennessee Williams explores the issues make this film so important: through his characters, who are throughout depicted not as mere shallow cliches but individuals with histories and feelings that run deep, with subtleties that bring them to life, he meditates upon the struggle to find meaning in one's life, the need for companionship, the importance of compassion, and the way in which people endure, all the time grasping at what dignity they may have, and which may be forever threatened by trials, doubts and pain. These are not issues that date, that diminish in relevance, or that relate only to certain people - they are concepts that are universal, that speak to each individual and relate to fundamental facets of the human mind and spirit.

Because Night of the Iguana sets out to tackle such issues, it is elevated far beyond the level of most films. It is profound, but also deeply emotional, made more so by the superb characterisations (aided, in addition, by universally superb performances). One is afforded an insight into characters, into people, who live, breath, cry, shout, scream, and endure. They are fallible, capable of spite, caprice, and baseness, but they are also thoughtful, courageous and strangely noble. To watch them interact, thrown together as they are on a Mexican veranda, is affecting both emotionally and intellectually, and it is this interaction which is responsible for creating a film that stands (tall and dignified) above nearly all others.

First, you must understand the nature of Night of the Iguana. The story centers on Shannon (Burton), a life-long preacher caught in a philosophical crisis. His humanity clashes with his theology and leaves havoc in its wake. Removed from his position in a quiet Texas community after an affair with an underage girl, he takes a job in Puerto Vallarta as the tour guide for a rickety bus full of pious old women and one manipulative nymph (Lyon). Shannon is tortured by the girl's advances and finally gives in--only to be found out by her bullish chaperone. To save his job, Shannon hijacks the bus and takes the ladies to a remote motel high on the mountain, run by his ex-flame, Maxine (Gardner). Max is a bawdy, hard-drinking, hard-loving gal, not too keen on the new arrivals. She harbors an unrequited love for Shannon, however, so relents. Within moments of the troop's arrival, two stragglers also enter: Hannah (Kerr) is a penniless watercolor painter who, with her aged grandfather, Nonno--a supposedly renowned oral poet--travels from place to place selling their wares. They wearily hike up the mountain and plead for board, offering to paint or recite poetry to earn their keep.

As the characters struggle with their passions, their pride, and their self-definition, egos break and walls come down, exposing the underbelly of the human situation. They grapple with the questions and desires that plague us all. Who am I? Do my actions define me or do my thoughts? Why am I here? The answers come in ten-fold, and in a poignant moment, Kerr reveals our purpose on Earth: To connect with each other. To help each other through each day. To meet, to see, hear, and feel, and share what we have experienced. This is the meaning of life. Totall riveting. Especially if you travel to Puerto Vallarta and put these questions to the test.

The Night of the Iguana was a Tennessee Williams masterpiece, probably the last one he ever did. It ran 316 performances on Broadway during the 1961-1962 season and starred Bette Davis, Margaret Leighton, and Patrick O'Neal in the roles played on the screen by Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr, and Richard Burton. For some astonishing reason, John Huston changed the ending and ruined the whole thing. Why couldn't Huston follow the wise example of Elia Kazan who brought A Streetcar Named Desire intact to the screen is beyond me.

Not that the performers do so bad here. Ava Gardner for instance is wonderful in the part of the earthy hyper sexed hotel owner from Puerto Vallarta living on her meager income and her two Mexican beach boys for those cold nights. Then again this was no stretch for Ava because she was merely playing herself in this part at this time of her life.

Ava is reunited with Deborah Kerr who she co-starred back in their salad days at MGM in The Hucksters. Kerr is the itinerant artist who travels with her 97 year old grandfather Cyril Delevanti doing sketches for supper.

Richard Burton chews up the scenery with his part as the disgraced Episcopal minister who let his libido get the better of him. With nubile Sue Lyons around, he's about to let it happen again.

Margaret Leighton got a Tony Award for her performance on stage, but the only acting nomination for this film went to Grayson Hall as the repressed lesbian tour guide who takes an uncommon interest in Sue Lyons's virtue. Words like 'butch' and 'dyke' are used in the script to describe her character showing the Code was coming down. Tennessee Williams's work is loaded with sexual innuendo, but this was even kind of daring for him to be that upfront. Grayson Hall was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, but lost to Lila Kedrova for Zorba the Greek.

I'd see a stage production of The Night of the Iguana before seeing this film. It's the only way you can understand my critique about how the new ending turned a great film into a good one.

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.

A motley group of weary travelers converge on a rundown seaside resort in Mexico, and ruminate on the vicissitudes of life and on each other, in this Tennessee Williams play converted to film by Director John Huston.

The plot begins with the travails of the good Rev. T. Lawrence Shannon (Richard Burton) who, after having lost his temper in a pulpit tirade, takes a lowly job as a Mexican tour guide, driving a decrepit old tour bus. On his current assignment he hauls around a bunch of moribund old church hags, led by the humorless and rather butch Miss Fellowes (Grayson Hall). She constantly nags and pecks, hovering over our good reverend, like some bird that can't quite kill its stubborn prey, as characterized in this verbal outburst directed at Shannon. "Now you listen to me. We girls have worked and slaved all year at Baptist female college for this Mexican tour, and the tour is a cheat. For days we've been hauled in that stifling bus over the byways, off the highways, shook up and bumped up ...". It's enough to drive a tour guide to drink.

They arrive at the "resort", greeted by the effervescent manager, Maxine Faulk (Ava Gardner), saucy, sultry, and just as outspoken as Miss Fellowes, but much more worldly wise. Maxine gets assistance from two youthful Mexican beach boys who shake their maracas but never speak.

Into this sociological stew comes two proud guests, a wheelchair bound, senile old man (Cyril Delevanti) who writes poetry, and his New England, spinster granddaughter, Hannah Jelkes (Deborah Kerr), a sketch artist who peddles the two's artistry in lieu of payment, since they are penniless.

The characters in this film are all rather worn and beaten, physically tired from the Mexican heat, and mentally drained from life's burdens, as desperate as a captured lizard at the end of its rope. And therein lies the film's theme: to accept one's station in life regardless of circumstances, to cease struggling, to endure the hardships, and be on the "realistic level".

Although Burton does a fairly good job in the lead role, he's rather too Shakespearean, too theatrical, to be convincing as a priest, defrocked or otherwise. I would like to have seen what actor Maximilian Schell could have done with this role. Otherwise, the casting is great. Grayson Hall, Ava Gardner, and Deborah Kerr are all terrific in their parts.

As you would expect for a Tennessee Williams' creation, the film is very talky. The B&W cinematography is fine, but it would have been even better in color. The vegetation is lush; and we hear the sounds of tropical birds and the ocean surf. All of which makes for a tropical paradise, human iguanas notwithstanding.

"The Night Of The Iguana" is a high quality cinematic production that has a lot to say about the human condition, via the dialogue's subtext. The film's scenery, even in B&W, is beautiful. The acting is very good. The costumes are interesting. And John Huston's direction is flawless.

SYNOPSIS: A shammed priest finds anonymity in Mexico where he wrestles with his past while serving as tour guide to a bus full of vacationing church women.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: What happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico. Mexico has become a fantasy land that folks escape to these days. A place where cares, worries and responsibilities cannot follow you. This is a film that fosters that ideal. Cut off from the trappings of button-down 1950s American society, the characters find themselves in a world seduced by cabana boys, wanton desires and tropical sunsets.

PROS AND CONS: The dialog of this film still has the affect of the stage play from which it was based. Like "A Street Car Named Desire" and "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof", the characters in this film are struggling with inner turmoil sprinkled with sexual frustration. The fact that the lines are delivered by the likes of Richard Burton, Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr make it an enjoyable film to watch. One of the better performances is turned in by Grayson Hall (whom I had never heard of prior to this film). Her performance as the repressed and bitchy Miss Fellows is fascinating to watch and she more than holds her own with Burton and Gardner.

Most of the film is a long setup to the evening scene between Burton, Kerr and Gardner, in which their demons are discussed, exposed and cast away. It is very good acting although it takes a long time to get there. Comic relief in the film is provided by Skip Ward (the essential early 60s screen idol persona) as the bus driver and the two beach boys that continually dance around Gardner's character while shaking maracas. When the likes of Burton, Tennessee Williams and John Huston get together to make a film, it is bound to be worth watching. Especially, now that I am older and my life experience make me appreciate what the film is all about.

This isn't quite the outcome you'd imagined, an old bus touring old teachers' not a godsend, except for Charlotte who's attentive, although her aunt provides incentive, to avoid past indiscretions, and amend. Ending up at a retreat run by Maxine, your behaviour is considered quite obscene, as the plot is clearly lost, just how much, will impulse cost, enter Hannah to observe you vent your spleen. As a trio (Maxine, Hannah and Shannon) you have all suffered a crisis, and endured the penalties and paid the prices, perhaps a chance to make escape, from the lives that you all hate, will take you from the ledge, beside the abyss.

Great performances all round.

Watched this film recently for the seventh or eighth time -it' always a delight. Classic Burton hamming it up just enough. . . calm, cool Kerr proping up "Shannon's" sanity. . . free-spirited Gardner charging around trying to keep her sanity and reaching out for Shannon. . .Lyon, the "precocious" seductress. . . all were amazingly believable. I didn't have a problem with the black and white, in fact, I think it added to impact of the film, leaving it up to the actors to pull out the heart of William's magnificent play without the benefit of color, although I'm not sure color would have made any difference anyway. The final dialogue between Kerr and Burton was spellbinding: the meeting of two souls, if only for the moment.

Kerr, Burton, and Gardner were at their finest in this film.

I'm not sure why i have to watch this film whenever it's on tcm or roku, or netflix. I see something new each time i watch, and it never gets old. A priest fallen, willing to redeem himself, but blocked by those, who may or may not be holier than thou. Richard burton is awesome as the defrocked minister who leads a group of teachers to mismaloya mexico, just south of the beautiful village of puerto vallarta. He knows the innkeeper there, and has a history. He is surrounded by women of various positions and morals; the tour leader (grayson hall), who has her own repressed issues, the younger girl (sue lyon), who just wants a roll in the hay, the sensual inn keeper, who is recently widowed (ava gardner), and a single woman artist, earning her way (deborah kerr), as she travels through mexico. Kerr often played flawed characters, but they always seemed to show a good heart. We watch as this group spends a couple nights at a beautiful fishing spot. It's an adventure, with its own ups and downs. Great stuff. Directed by the amazing john huston. Story by tennessee williams, so we know there will drama, joy, sadness and emotional outburts at some point. It's great. Never miss a chance to see this film. Even won an oscar.

Did they act this so well or are Burton and Gardner channeling their epic, booze-fueled relationships with Liz and Frank? Kerr is class personified and she has never excelled more with that than in this film.

If this was the real Ava, I'd love to have had her at a party...hmm, I'm thinking maracas boys for my 50th birthday would be fabulosa! This gets better and better every time it's viewed. I was a late comer to this one, don't wait, see it again and again and catch all the subtle lines, actions, movements and facial expressions (well some are a bit over the top!).

I grew up with a fondness for Grayson Hall fawning after and protecting Barnabas Collins in "Dark Shadows" long before I saw "Iguana" -- she's a gem in this one -- and growing up a Texas Baptist, I would say she nails the part!

Richard Burton stars as Larry Shannon, a disgraced man of the cloth who leaves the states for Puerto Vallarta, and becomes a tour guide. On this particular tour, his guests are a bunch of female college professors and their teenage charge, Charlotte Goodall. Charlotte is what you may call "fast" and quickly sets to work on Shannon. Shannon is already a sex addict to begin with, so you can imagine Charlotte doesn't actually have to work that hard. The leader of the trip, Miss Fellowes (Grayson Hall), valiantly tries to keep Charlotte away from Shannon as she doesn't trust him, but is ultimately unsuccessful, resulting in several phone calls, the chance Shannon may lose his job, and further conflict between Miss Fellowes and Shannon.

Gardner plays the owner of the motel the group ends up staying at, and they are all quickly joined by Kerr, an artist, and her grandfather, the oldest practicing poet (at age 97). The remainder of the story surrounds the professors and their journey in getting out of Puerto Vallarta, and the love triangle between Burton, Gardner, and Kerr. Overall, I'd say this was enjoyable enough. I was not all that impressed with Burton, though. From all the praise I've seen thrown his way, I was expecting a lot more. Gardner is not what one would call a "great actress" but she is certainly good in everything I've seen her in. And if not good, then certainly enjoyable. Kerr was excellently cast as the "moral compass."

There is something really enigmatic and magical about American film "The night of the Iguana" as it captures the raw beauty of Mexico as a preferred destination for pleasure seeking American tourists.It is one of those acclaimed films directed by renowned American director John Huston which succeeds at almost all levels.It is quite a pleasure to watch such a mature,serious film full of intellect and wit based on a humanist play by acclaimed American playwright Tennessee Williams.This film has its own balanced share of comedy and drama as everything in it is a remarkable ode to human judgment."The night of the Iguana" is able to strike a chord in viewers' minds as it has been transformed into a great character study thanks to amazing acting performances by famous actors Richard Burton,Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr.How can a moody man retain his sanity in an environment full of doubts and passion seems to be this film's core issue.It is an extremely complex issue for both men and women who have to deal with it using their limited resources.Both men and animals need to be freed from shackles to act and think freely appears to be this film's humane message.

(There are Spoilers) Things haven't been going too well with Episcopal Minister T. Lawrence-known to his parishioners as "Crackpot Larry"-Shannon since he was exposed,or exposed himself, in his private office to a cute and innocent elementary school teacher who was there to seek his help. As it turned out the "innocent" young woman actually wanted to have an affair with the startled man of the cloth who was then, as an act of revenge, accused by the teacher of trying to have his way with her when he in fact refused her advances!

At his next Sundy sermon Shannon completely cracked up driving everyone in attendance to flee the church with him ending up in a mental institution for his own good and, in order to keep from harming himself, safety. Out of the church and having a Job as a tour guide for the bottom of the barrel sightseeing outfit Baxter Tours Shannon again gets involved with a young girl-Charlotte Goodall- who's among the group of religious women he's showing the sights, of old Mexico, to.

Like with the young school teacher Shannon is totally innocent of any inappropriate advances towards the sexy and hot to trot Charlotte even going as far as locking himself in his hotel room in order to keep her from throwing herself, sexually, on him. It turns out that Charlotte's chaperon the, what's obvious to Shannon, bull-dike Judith Fellows feels differently about Shannon's relations, which is totally platonic, with Charlotte. Fellows who seems to be a bit too protective of Charlotte, by wanting to keep her away from men and have her all for herself, is now determined to have Shannon fired from his job which caused him to suffer another nervous breakdown!

Hijacking the bus-load of women Shannon drives into the jungles of Costa Verde where he ditches the bus and goes to stay at the dilapidate hotel of his lady friend, her husband Fred had died just three weeks ago, Maxine Faulk. Maxine who's looking for the company of a man since her husband, who was 28 years older then her, passed away spends most of her time partying with two Mexican beach-boys, who are constantly playing their maracas, who have become a bit of a drag to her. Seeing the handsome and a bit nutty Shannon Maxine, who also seems to be a bit nuts herself, feels that he'll be perfect in running her place, as the in house spiritual adviser, with her. It's later in the film when the prudish spinster Hannah Jelkes and her 97 year-old wheel-chair bound grandfather and poet Nonno shows up at Maxine's place that the confused about man's, as well as his, place in the world Shannon finally sees the light. But only after he, in fear of being defrocked and also losing his job, attempted to kill himself by, as he said, swimming to China: or better yet drowning himself in the Pacific Ocean.

Deep and thought provoking film about life death and the what it's, existence, all about with Richard Burton giving one of his most penetrating performances as the mentally unstable and suicidal Rev. Lawrence T. Shannon. Shannon who was on the brink of killing himself but saved from drowning by Maxine's Mexican beach-boys, Pepe & Pedro, finally got it right from the just about gone, on his death wheelchair, Grandpa Nonno.

In what has to be the highlight of the movie Nonno who was comatose during almost the entire film regained consciousness just in time to recite a poem he wrote which, in the minds of everyone listening, brought the house down. It was Nonno's heart wrenching and at the same time simple poem that brought Shannon, in not being able to fathom whats been happening to him, back to sanity. It's the simple things in life that Shannon had been ignoring that were, according to Nonno's poem, by far the most important things in his life. Far more important then the mindless and unexplained questions, like why are all these crazy and terrible things happening to me, that has been driving Shannon nuts all these years. With having that knowledge and wisdom to clear and straighten out his confused and troubled mind Shannon finally broke the chains that have kept him from living a full and normal life together with him, and Hannah, cutting loose and setting free Maxine's pet iguana who was, by being tied up, as helpless and miserable as he was!

The Night of the Iguana (1964) was directed by John Huston. It's adapted from the play by Tennessee Williams. It features Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, and Deborah Kerr in the lead roles.

We have a play written by one of the greatest playwrights of the 20th Century, directed by one of the greatest directors of the 20th Century, and starring three of the greatest actors of the 20th Century. Is it surprising that it's a winner? (Well, it also stars Sue Lyon, considered a star because she had just played Lolita. She wasn't a great actor, but she's typecast as a spoiled, sexually needy adolescent.)

As the movie begins, the The Rev. Dr. T. Lawrence Shannon (Burton) is giving a sermon in his Episcopal church. He throws aside his prepared text and announces that he could no longer conduct services in worship of a God that he called an "angry, petulant old man" and a "cruel, senile delinquent." He's forced out of the church--although not defrocked--and ends up making a living as a tour guide in Mexico. The group ends up in a shabby hotel in Puerto Vallarta, which is run by a widow, Maxine Faulk (Gardner). They are joined there by Hannah Jelkes (Kerr), a self-proclaimed "old Nantucket spinster."

The plot of the film revolves around the relationships of the three main characters. In the beginning of the movie, director Huston opens up the film by taking us along bumpy roads in an aged tour bus. However, once the action moves to Puerto Vallarta, it stays there, and the film became more like the original play.

There's a powerful scene near the end between Burton and Kerr, which is better suited for the stage than the screen. However, these two actors manage to make it seem real. (Kerr and Burton's character may be soul mates, but the real sexual chemistry is between Burton and Gardner.)

I hadn't previously known about Grayson Hall, who portrayed the thankless role of Judith Fellowes, a sexually repressed woman who is Sue Lyon's chaperone. She's called a witch, and she acts like one. (However, when you think about it, Sue Lyon did, indeed, need a chaperone.) Hall was so good in the part that she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

We saw this movie at the excellent Dryden Theatre at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, NY. It was wonderful to see the original nitrate film version on the large screen, but it will work well enough on the small screen. (It's readily available on DVD.)

This film carries a very high IMDb rating of 7.8. It's a classic. If you're a film buff, you need to see it. If you're casual about movies, you still need to see it. It's great.

Huston's 1964 "Night of the Iguana" stars classic ham sandwich Richard Burton as (in a great stretch for him) a drunken, defrocked priest. Burton is at his most over-the-top, even eclipsing his over-emoted later roles in "Equus" and "Bluebeard".

I admittedly have not seen every film Burton appeared in, but only his show-stopping performance as Father Lamont in "Exorcist II: The Heretic", where his overacting literally takes the rest of the movie hostage, comes anywhere near his Rev. T. Lawrence Shannon in 'Iguana'. But Huston was never a director who let his pictures be hijacked by anything, and we are treated to numerous scenes of the rest of the cast, particularly Gardner, Kerr, and Ward, deriding Burton's indulgent self-flailing. Too many outstanding performances for a Burton film, and the ham himself is left to wander around in a daze throughout most of the scenes, as he is assaulted from all sides. Lyon is renegade here from Lolita, playing essentially the same character... any more of her and the picture would resemble Lolita 2: Lolita does Mexico. But Kerr is marvellous, Gardner feisty, and character actress Grayson Hall is perfection as the uptight, bullish vocal teacher. The 'fight scene' with Ward being mercillously and acrobatically pummelled by the twin maracas-wielding rent boys is a hoot and a holler. Overall, Huston manages to make the whole thing work in the stifling heat of a Mexican summer, with Maxine and Hannah helping Shannon fight for his soul and sanity while Charlotte and Ms Fellowes drag him into "Hell and damnation..." It's a good companion to the later and superior Mike Nichols film "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" when fellow ham hall-of-famer and two-time spouse Liz Taylor has her turn at battering the infinitely batterable Burton. 'Iguana' is rewarding, funny, and dramatic, and its excesses do little to detract from the overall saga of temptation, loss, and redemption.

Richard Burton plays a hard-drinking Episcopal clergyman, possibly defrocked after being involved in a scandal, who now hosts low-rent bus tours for Baptist church ladies; on his latest jaunt in Puerto Vallarta, he gets himself mixed up with mercurial teenager Sue Lyon, which could cost him everything. As a ruse, he overtakes the crowded bus and heads for a ramshackle hotel in the jungle run by friend Ava Gardner, who also eventually plays hostess to penniless artist Deborah Kerr and poet grandfather Cyril Delevanti. Crowded (but never convoluted) Tennessee Williams play given wonderfully salty direction by John Huston. The cumulative performances are predictably uneven--each high-powered member of the cast approaches their role with their own brand of personal vigor. Burton is theatrical but still in top-form, and he's actually less foreboding than usual (and he looks great in a two-shot with sexy Gardner--their dimples match); Kerr breezes along in a difficult role, making it seem effortless; Lyon's jailbait seductress doesn't amount to much (she's only here to get the action started), however she plays a tart like nobody's business. Grayson Hall may actually steal more scenes than Burton playing Lyon's guardian, the main thorn in Burton's side. An effective showpiece for the actors and for Huston, who almost always manages to diffuse the soap suds by emphasizing the clever dialogue and by keeping a frisky pace. Hall was Oscar-nominated (and earned it), as were Stephen B. Grimes for his art direction and Gabriel Figueroa for his rich black-and-white cinematography; Dorothy Jeakins won for her costumes. ***1/2 from ****

Another one of those unpleasant but interesting and thrilling forays based on the notorious novels and plays by the great writer Tennesse Williams and writings by Anthony Veiller and director John Huston himself. Though the claustrophobic script sound dull the film is pretty well , displaying a top-notch giving terrific acting .The defrocked Rev. Dr. T. Lawrence Shannon (Richard Burton) is a former minister attempting to be reinstated in his Church . Meanwhile he takes a menial job as a tour guide . Nowadays , being a tour guide and historian for a church ladies' bus tour of Mexican religious historical sights. Even before boarding the old fashioned school bus, Shannon develops a contentious relationship with the lesbian leader of the women's group, Judith Fellowes (Grayson Hall) who is protective - read jealous - of the delinquent Charlottes (Sue Lyon) interest in the ex-reverend as her potential rescuer from being placed with the aged travelers . However , the ex-reverend escapes from her attempt , afraid of getting fired . They arrive in a remote place owned by a widow (Ava Gardner) running a seaside hotel where he and his party end up and later on , spinster Hannah Jelkes (Deborah Kerr) appearing with dark secrets . Man And Woman - Love And Lust - Ruin And Redemption - One Night They All Meet. Most Talked About Film of 1964! . One man... three women... one night.

The movie based on Tennesse Williams's play, It's is the typically overheated melodrama , though with rather humor than one usually associates with that playwright . Softened for the censors , though the themes of insanity , alcoholism , thrersome, sex , characterizations of evil , and unusual settings presage many films of the next two decades . Lots of talk in this one leading up to lots more .The storyline relies heavily on the continued relationship among three main characters : Richard Burton , Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr . Being competently directed directed with a full head of steam by John Huston. Interpretations match the ripeness of the writing . Main and support cast are frankly excellent . Richard Burton is awesome as a former minister attempting to be reinstated in his Church , Ava Gardner is phenomenal as the bitter , lonely widow , Deborah Kerr is adequate as the spinster with hidden depths , gorgeous Sue Lyon as the rebel teen , in his first role since her debut as a pouting nymphet in Lolita . Furthemore , a stunning support cast as Skip Ward , Grayson Hall , Cyril Delevanti and Emilio Fernandez .

Special mention for cinematography by Gabriel Figueroa shot on marvellous location in in the remote fishing village of Mismaloya, as the great locations add to the impact of an always watchable , if rarely credible, star movie . As well as evocative and sensitive musical score by Benjamin Frankel . The motion picture was compellingly made by the great John Huston at his best , its tense filmmaking makes this crackerjack entertainment . The picture was made in a good time of the 60s , 70s and 80s when Huston resurged as a director of quality films with Fat City, (1972), The man who would be king (1975) and Wise blood (1979). He ended his career on a high note with Under volcano (1984), the afore-mentioned Honor of Prizzi (1985) and Dublineses (1987). Rating : Above average , this is one of John Huston's best films , a model of his kind , definitely a must see if you are aficionado to suspense films . Huston broke a new ground with this landmark movie , providing classic scenes and agreeable dialogs . Rating : 7/10 . Above average , as the intense drama is entertaining on its own .

Sensational for its casting and pedigree (Tennessee Williams), in its day, and for one of the most brilliantly orchestrated pre-publicity campaigns in film history (the revolvers with the bullets of the other actors' names etched on them?), Time has not been kind.

Beautifully conceived and directed by John Huston, with some additional writing from Mr. Williams to his already complex and difficult script, beautifully photographed by Gabriel Figueroa, the Acting and actors ultimately fail the project.

Except for Deborah Kerr (Hannah), Cyril Delavante (Nonno), and the supporting cast.

Two of the female "stars" are simply not up to the task. The male "star" is so far beyond the task, as Richard Burton nearly always was, that one is left with a remarkable record of yet another of his "vanity" performances.

Sue Lyon was never much of an actress, as witness her virtually non-existent film career outside her "shocking" participation in "Lolita" and "Night of the Iguana." One can't make much of a career playing petulant. Which Natalie Wood and Tuesday Weld and a host of others did better, and earlier, and more convincingly.

An enormous selling point, at the time, for "Night of the Iguana" was the return of Ava Gardner to the screen. In a supposedly "shocking" dramatic role.

Instead, we are forced to watch Miss Gardner, as Maxine, crane her neck, hoisting her chin skyward no matter the scene's context, in order to hide her jowls. Maxine is perhaps the LEAST vain female character in all of Tennessee Williams. Gardner, here, is all about "star" vanity, trying to conceal her "chins."

So is Burton. "Look at me! Aren't I brilliant?" He was a magnificent stage actor with magnificent presence and a magnificent voice. Within the intimacy of film, however, did he EVER disappear inside a character and let us, for even a moment, forget he was a great "actor?" No.

Nor did any of his directors, including John Huston here, once suggest that he "tone it down." By contrast, devour Deborah Kerr's indelible performance as Hannah. Every seemingly subtle nuance is simple, pure and perfectly in character. Her "confession" is unbelievably powerful.

Kerr was a "star." But first she was an actor.

Grayson Hall's harrowing turn as Judith Fellowes is equally brilliant and frightening.

Cyril Delevanti, a hale and hearty older actor, is equally impressive in a largely silent and immobile role as Nonno.

So one is confronted with a beautifully directed and photographed Tennessee Williams play anchored by amazing "supporting" performances that in fact support "stars" who were amateurishly inept (Lyon) or whose aging vanity trumped their acting (Gardner and Burton).