{"id":33031,"date":"2014-04-09T11:18:54","date_gmt":"2014-04-09T18:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=33031"},"modified":"2021-01-19T20:18:07","modified_gmt":"2021-01-20T03:18:07","slug":"night-of-the-iguana-the-1964","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=33031","title":{"rendered":"Night of the Iguana, The (1964)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;This is a test of strength between two men and a crate of wetheads.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Poster-149x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"149\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-33032\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Poster-149x300.jpg 149w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Poster-63x128.jpg 63w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Poster.jpg 158w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 149px) 100vw, 149px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAn alcoholic ex-minister (Richard Burton) working as a tour guide in Mexico brings his customers to a hotel run by his widowed friend Maxine (Ava Gardner). While flirting with a beautiful blonde teenager (Sue Lyon) in the tour group, he&#8217;s caught and chastised by her furious guardian (Grayson Hall); meanwhile, an artist (Deborah Kerr) travelling with her elderly father (Cyril Delevanti) arrives at the hotel and new sexual tensions soon emerge.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ava Gardner Films<\/li>\n<li>Character Studies<\/li>\n<li>Deborah Kerr Films<\/li>\n<li>John Huston Films<\/li>\n<li>Love Triangle<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptation<\/li>\n<li>Priests and Ministers<\/li>\n<li>Richard Burton Films<\/li>\n<li>Tennessee Williams Adaptations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nAs noted by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.allmovie.com\/artist\/john-huston-p95260\">AllMovieGuide.com<\/a>, writer\/director\/actor John Huston is known for telling &#8220;stories about independent and adventurous men struggling for their individuality&#8221; &#8212; and <em>Night of the Iguana<\/em> (adapted from <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Night_of_the_iguana\">Tennessee Williams&#8217; 1961 Broadway play<\/a>, based on his 1948 short story) fits this description aptly (though Burton&#8217;s ex-reverend is perhaps less <em>adventurous<\/em> than desperate and spiritually un-moored). The powerful opening scene sets the stage for Burton&#8217;s incipient downfall, as he attempts to deliver a short, impassioned sermon to a flock that&#8217;s entirely unwilling to hear him expose his vulnerability. (He boldly poses questions such as, &#8220;How weak is man&#8230; How often do we stray from the straight and narrow?&#8221;) Despite enjoining them not to &#8220;turn [their] backs on the God of love and compassion&#8221;, they do so anyway, and he is ousted from his position, thus embarking upon the surreally soul-searching adventure that comprises the remainder of the film &#8212; all taking place in the then-isolated Mexican beach town of Puerto Vallarta (now a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0058404\/trivia?item=tr0761594\">popular modern resort<\/a>; click <a href=\"http:\/\/www.puertovallarta.net\/fast_facts\/the-night-of-the-iguana.php\">here<\/a> to read more about the film&#8217;s on-location shooting).<\/p>\n<p><em>Night of the Iguana<\/em> is essentially a character study, following the existential crisis of a man whose family legacy of both spiritual leadership and irresistible &#8220;appetites&#8221; continues to haunt him. While fending off lust for a nubile young blonde (Lyons) &#8212; whose reciprocal interest verges on either harassment or devilish &#8220;intervention&#8221; &#8212; he finds himself dogged by Hall, who functions as a potent reminder of the sanctimonious judgment he&#8217;s tried unsuccessfully to run away from. He relies on the steady friendship of earthy Maxine (Gardner) to ground him, literally alighting on her property as a source of refuge, then embarks on a continued quest-for-solace once ethereal yet pragmatic Hannah Jelkes (Kerr) arrives with her elderly father. Gardner and Kerr represent more than merely a traditional &#8220;love triangle&#8221; in this film: they offer alternative approaches to life, allowing Burton to envision a way out of the quagmire of lustful escapism he&#8217;s been plagued by his entire existence. <\/p>\n<p>While the storyline itself merits nearly endless discussion and debate (that Williams sure could spin a meaty yarn!), <em>Night of the Iguana<\/em> works remarkably well as a cinematic venture as well. As usual, Huston&#8217;s directorial hand is not only steady but incisive, framing characters and situations with a precision aimed at not-so-subtly influencing our perspective. Gabriel Figueroa&#8217;s black-and-white cinematography is crisp and gorgeous, and the location sets are inspired. Meanwhile, performances across the board are top-notch &#8212; from Burton&#8217;s tour-de-force lead to the various female roles (not just Hall, but Kerr and Gardner as well). This classic &#8220;morality tale&#8221; is one all film fanatics should see at least once, and will likely enjoy returning to.        <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Richard Burton as Lawrence Shannon<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Burton.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Burton.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-33042\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Burton.png 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Burton-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Burton-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Ava Gardner as Maxine Faulk<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Gardner.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Gardner.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-33040\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Gardner.png 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Gardner-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Gardner-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Deborah Kerr as Hannah Jelkes<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Kerr.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Kerr.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-33036\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Kerr.png 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Kerr-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Kerr-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Grayson Hall as Judith Fellowes<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Hall.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Hall.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-33039\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Hall.png 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Hall-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Hall-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Masterful direction by Huston<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Direction.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Direction.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-33037\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Direction.png 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Direction-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Direction-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Direction2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Direction2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-33041\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Direction2.png 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Direction2-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Direction2-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Direction3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Direction3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-33320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Direction3.png 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Direction3-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Direction3-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Gabriel Figueroa&#8217;s b&#038;w cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-33038\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Cinematography.png 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Cinematography-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Night-of-the-Iguana-Cinematography-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a fine film and one of the best adaptations of Williams&#8217; work. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Genuine Classic<\/li>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<li>Noteworthy Performance(s)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0058404\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1964\/07\/01\/archives\/night-of-the-iguana-has-world-premiere.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1973igua.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/693\/the-night-of-the-iguana#articles-reviews?articleId=76287\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/london\/film\/the-night-of-the-iguana\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;This is a test of strength between two men and a crate of wetheads.&#8221; Synopsis: An alcoholic ex-minister (Richard Burton) working as a tour guide in Mexico brings his customers to a hotel run by his widowed friend Maxine (Ava Gardner). While flirting with a beautiful blonde teenager (Sue Lyon) in the tour group, he&#8217;s caught and chastised by her furious guardian (Grayson Hall); meanwhile, an artist (Deborah Kerr) travelling with her elderly father (Cyril Delevanti) arrives at the hotel&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=33031\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33031"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64548,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33031\/revisions\/64548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}