The Night of the Iguana (1964)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

John Huston

Writers:

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

Release Date:

6 August 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Man And Woman - Love And Lust - Ruin And Redemption - One Night They All Meet.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Bus | Hotel | Spinster | Bus Driver | Church

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 12 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Tue. July 14

9:30 AM

TCM

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

Runtime:

125 min | Germany:112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:12 (video rating) (1996) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | UK:X (original rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16 (f)

Filming Locations:

Mismaloya Village, Jalisco, Mexico

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

In order to diffuse the tension prior to shooting (due mainly to the isolated location the stars would be working in together), John Huston made each lead actor a gold encrusted pistol with bullets- one with each actor's name on it. This way, when the actors wanted to kill one another, they would use the designated bullet. This proved to be successful. No problems between the cast arose.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: Shannon walks barefooted over broken glass, leaving bloody footprints all over his hotel room, then chases Charlotte onto the terrace without leaving a trace of blood.

Quotes:

T. Lawrence Shannon: [as the disatisfied Ms. Fellowes runs to speak to Shannon] Look at her, charging like a bull elephant on a rampage.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Coming Attractions: The History of the Movie Trailer (2006)

All-Time Great

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.