TinsHeadline Touches You

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

richard-1787 Two years after this movie, Richard Burton would star opposite Elizabeth Taylor in the emotionally ripping Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, a great movie based on a great play that is hard to watch, because it is the story of a couple who have spent years ripping each other apart.I kept thinking of WAVW when I watched this movie tonight. Especially as it moves on, it becomes the story of alcoholics who know each other's weak points and therefore how to hurt each other when they themselves feel hurt. Everything works out in the end here, which is not really the case in WAVW, but there is still a lot of rending of flesh. Though it is well done by fine actors, at least tonight I found that I wanted it to end, that I didn't want to watch Burton and Gardner hurting each other any more. Kerr's wonderfully enunciated, calm explanation of what she has learned in life, delivered to Burton while he is trussed up in the hammock on the veranda, provided the only relief to all that flesh rendering. I hadn't seen this movie in 50 years, and I think I could go another 50 without seeing it again.If you haven't ever seen it, treat yourself. It's a well done movie. But make sure you're in a good mood. Anything less and this could devastate you.

popcorninhell In the annals of twentieth history American art and entertainment, it's a wonder the works of Tennessee Williams didn't worm their way into the thoughts of director John Huston sooner. Seemingly always focusing on damaged people on the end of their ropes, Williams's output has the steamy, melodramatic tinge that a natural adventurer and provocateur like Huston would have enjoyed. While I am a big fan of Elia Kazan's A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), there's a dark, destructive part of me that yens to see what kind of on-location tumult Huston could have mustered.Yet in comparison to "Streetcar," or for that matter "The Glass Menagerie" and "Cat On a Hot Tin Roof", "Night of the Iguana's" script doesn't quite gel as confidently. Somewhere underneath the familiar lusts and libations there's just something a bit off that sabotages the film from within.The Night of the Iguana concerns a wayward priest whose inappropriate relationship with a young Sunday school teacher got him ostracized by his congregation. Two years, and a nervous breakdown later, Reverend Shannon (Burton) now guides Christian tours for a tacky Mexican bus outfit. He spends a few days on tour with a flock of Baptist women, and sees history repeat itself when a 17-year-old Texas flirt (Lyon) gets him hot and bothered. High noon occurs at the Costa Verde Hotel where the vitreous Miss Fellowes (Hall) vows to have Shannon fired, defrocked and possibly arrested for messing around with a minor.Along for the ride are two additional women who help stir the sticky pot Shannon finds himself in. The first is Maxine (Gardner) the bawdy hotel owner whose late husband was a dear friend of Shannon's. The second is a chaste and impoverished painter named Hannah (Kerr) whose serendipitous arrival at the hotel befalls Shannon like a guardian angel. As an un-eclipsed star of the silver screen, Deborah Kerr is, as always a demure, stately vision. Despite being written inexplicably as a charlatan with a heart of gold and a gift for talking people off the ledge, she still carries through with the same verisimilitude she gave Sister Angela in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957).Unfortunately she and perhaps Miss Hall are the only people who seem to bring surprise and depth; a tall order considering their characters are pigeonholed as lesser versions of Mother Teresa and the Wicked Witch of the West. Ava Gardner, by all accounts a fine actress can't seem to find Maxine's center. One minute she's cloyingly passive aggressive in the way all Tennessee Williams vamps are. The next minute she's in histrionics, trading libidinous kisses with the cabana boys.Though if there be any performance that outright sinks this boat, it's Richard Burton, the flop-sweaty captain of this unlucky tug. His silver-tongued screeching and bellowing flies thick like mole over beans and rice, yet the thespian can't seem to grasp he's not on stage this time. He never takes the subtler, quiet moments that celluloid can afford him but rather blows up like a cannon every time a modicum of drama can be had. One particular scene involving him, the young Sue Lyon and a floor of broken glass feels almost cartoonish if it wasn't so airless and uncomfortable.Night of the Iguana is an overcooked mess made memorable less for its story and more for the drama behind the scenes. Unwanted set visitors included Tennessee Williams and Burton's second wife Elizabeth Taylor whose relationship still lives in Hollywood infamy. Additionally Burton was famous for being a petulant drunk during filming. This in turn attracted the paparazzi to the secluded coastal set and guaranteed headaches for the majority of the shoot. Rumor has it that Huston bought the cast custom pistols with engraved bullets, each having the name of the other cast members. The idea was whenever someone wanted to kill the other, they could do so in style. With so much gone wrong with this thing, I'd be going out guns blazing.

classicsoncall If this film were made in the Thirties, it might have been one of those exploitation films delving into taboo subjects like repressed sexuality, homo eroticism and substance abuse. But by 1964, actors of considerable name recognition lent their services to this Tennessee Williams play and put it on the big screen. It's an odd name for a film, but the symbolism involved with the freeing of a creature at the end of it's rope does much to explain the characters of Rev. T. Lawrence Shannon (Richard Burton), hotel proprietress Maxine Faulk (Ava Gardner) and itinerant sketch artist Hannah Jelkes (Deborah Kerr). All three appear to be at the end of their rope in one way or another, the script deftly exploring their inner fears and motivations as they come together in the Mexican coastal village of Puerto Vallarta.The film brought to mind the oddest of connections for me, such as Maxine's reference to her 'beach boys' and the way she picked up on those 'vibrations' between Shannon and Hannah. So a couple of years later in 1966, The Beach Boys released 'Good Vibrations', written by Brian Wilson in response to his mother's explanation of dogs barking at people who give off bad vibrations. It would all be just a little too surreal to draw a connection between these two instances, but you know what they say about life imitating art.This is probably one of those movies one needs to watch more than once to pick up all the innuendo and nuance in the characters. A sit up and take notice moment for me was when Maxine offered the shrewish Judith Fellowes (Grayson Hall) some pot to mellow her out (see earlier comment). And didn't the choice of 'Happy Days are Here Again' strike anyone else as the last thing that would be on anyone's mind as the 'Tour of God's World' bus made it's way along the Mexican Coast with a band of female Baptist sight seers? With all that, the film is rich in dialog and the manner in which Hannah bares her soul to Shannon is truly heart rending. Definitely recommended for fans of character driven films.

FilmCriticLalitRao 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.