The Night of the Iguana

Released Aug 6, 1964

2h 5m

Drama

LGBTQ+

List

75%

16 Reviews

Tomatometer

85%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Lusty defrocked minister Lawrence Shannon (Richard Burton) is a tour guide in Mexico. Leading a tourist group from a Baptist women's college, he finds it difficult to avoid acting on his attraction to Charlotte (Sue Lyon), the young niece of the group's leader, Judith Fellowes (Grayson Hall). When Fellowes swears to ruin him, Shannon strands the bus at a hotel to seek advice from the manager, an old friend. Over the course of one night, the alcoholic Shannon spirals out of control.

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BJ M

Great classic movie. Holds up well over time. Entertaining, funny, great acting, clever dialog and fun to watch. Never fails to amaze me how the directors and actors in classic movies could make such great films with so much less technology and money than today.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/23/23

Full Review

Matthew D

Fantastic film with fascinating acting and deep, mature characterization. Director John Huston's romance drama The Night of the Iguana (1964) delves deep into the psyche of a broken priest at wit's end, who has lost his faith and faith in mankind. I like he is offered redemption by being kind to either Deborah Kerr's lonely traveling painter or Ava Gardner's unsatisfied hotel owner widow. Huston makes Mexico's beachside look idyllic, while American tourists seem like hell incarnate. Writer Tennessee Williams questions God's presence, mankind's decency, and the hypocrisy of the religious conservatives. I like how funny The Night of the Iguana is, while simultaneously having sympathy for depressed or lonely singles as well as preyed upon animals. The hunted iguana being a metaphor of Burton's stressed man of the cloth is hilarious all the way up to his being tied up by ropes. I do wish Burton had ended up with Kerr's kindly painter lady with her elegant manners and sweet nature rather than the horny Ava Gardner hotel proprietor with her wiles and heartache. Editor Ralph Kemplen lets dialogue play out like one of Tennessee's plays with long unbroken monologues. I was enthralled. Cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa's black and white camerawork is stunning. I loved how when a woman is being provocative, the camera follows her body dancing and flirting. Then, during the talking, the camera lingers on her face speaking and Burton's reactions to her passionate words. Richard Burton is hilarious as the raving priest Reverend Dr. T. Lawrence Shannon, who hates being a tour guide and hit on by underrage girls. I found his sorrows at life moving, while his disdain for the fastidious tourists with their American privileges a riot. Ava Gardner is alluring and sad as the hotel owning widow Maxine Faulk with a thing for Burton's forlorn priest screw-up Shannon. She is very good at portraying her lively wildness and inner sorrows. Deborah Kerr is amazing and subtle as the sweet painter Hannah Jelkes. Her elegant lady is kind and pairs well with Burton. I thought they were so good together that they'd end up together on this twisted romance drama journey. Cyril Delevanti's elderly poet Nonno is gripping with touching poem recitals and sad reminisces of better times in life. Sue Lyon is a scream as the flirtatious jailbait Charlotte Goodall as she swims and kisses Burton in hopes that Shannon will fall in love with her. Lyon was basically typecast as the underage temptation since Lolita, but she's very playful and funny as the desperate Charlotte. Her throwing herself at Skip Ward's well meaning, but rash bus driver Hank Prosner is just too funny. Grayson Hall is honestly the scene stealer as Charlotte's hysterical chaperone Judith Fellowes. I felt her performance was very modern in her self righteous and ignorant hollering as Ms. Fellowes. The way that Hall yells at Burton for seducing young Charlotte and screaming after her is a true scream. Grayson Hall is also surprisingly the most striking actress in The Night of the Iguana. I was not expecting to find her furious harpy prettier than Deborah Kerr, Ava Gardner, or Sue Lyon going into The Night of the Iguana. Art direction from Stephen B. Grimes shows off endless waters and scenic Mexican trees. I liked the focus on shocked faces and pleasant iguanas. Composer Benjamin Frankel delivers a barnburner of a film score. It's all quiet and then suddenly you'll hear a massive moving melody from one of his musical passages. Sound designers Van Allen, James Basil, and Fenton-Smith play around with screaming voices and forest ambiance. Costume designer Dorothy Jeakins puts everyone in rags other than Sue Lyon's cute outfits and bikini and Grayson Hall's stunning ladies' suits. Eric Allwright does wonderful makeup for Sue Lyon and Grayson Hall, while Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr get the natural look. Hairstyling from Sydney Guilaroff and Agnes Flanagan give Sue Lyon pretty flowing blonde tresses, Grayson Hall stylish 60's mod hair, Deborah Kerr done up with posh hair, and Ava Gardner chaotic curls and waves. In short, The Night of the Iguana is surprisingly funny, then moving, and finally romantic for a strange and endearing 118 minutes of Tennessee Williams' written insanity.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/23/23

Full Review

Robert H

If I had my choice, the first person I would like to have dinner would be Sweet Jesus. My second would be Tennessee Williams.He hits home of the reality of the human condition and spirit. I watched this movie back in the 60's and it didn't mean much to me. I watch it now in a much more realization of the torment of life and now I understand. Some great humor in this movie, but the intent is clear.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/05/23

Full Review

Noel P

The film starts with off a disgraced minister (Burton) with a proclivity to attract and capitalize on the infatuation of troubled young girls. While a strange person to have as a protagonist, you discover that when Rev. Shannon runs into the other four very eccentric women in the story, you realize they're just as flawed as him. The only difference between the lot of them are the ones who know it and the ones who don't. Great dialogue and chemistry.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

08/28/22

Full Review

Audience Member

This has to be John Huston's best film. Burton, Miss Gardner, and Debra Kerr are all magnificent. Any viewer who isn't affected by this has no soul.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

michael s

Terrific performances and great photography and direction make this a classic well worth spending two hours with.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

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John Huston

Director

Richard Burton

Rev. Dr. T. Lawrence Shannon

Ava Gardner

Maxine Faulk

Deborah Kerr

Hannah Jelkes

Sue Lyon

Charlotte Goodall

Skip Ward

Hank Prosner

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Variety Staff

Variety

Direction by John Huston is resourceful and dynamic as he sympathetically weaves together the often-vague and philosophical threads that mark Tennessee Williams' writing.

May 5, 2008

Full Review

Neil Jeffries

Empire Magazine

Brilliant, apart from some minor plot glitches.

Rated: 4/5

May 5, 2008

Full Review

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

No one but Tennessee Williams could have concocted it, but anyone other than John Huston should have directed it.

May 5, 2008

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Although it's often ignored or outright forgotten, The Night of the Iguana is actually one of the better screen adaptations of a Tennessee Williams work.

Rated: 3.5/4

Dec 12, 2022

Full Review

Joe Riddle

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

The three main female leads (Gardner, Kerr and Hall) help make this the classic it has become. Burton is also terrific as a man who is about "to take the long swim to China."

Nov 6, 2020

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Though uneven and not as powerful as other Williams-based films, Huston's version benefits from a high-profile cast, headed by Burton, Deborah Kerr, Sue Lyon and best of all Ava Gardner as the lusty hotel owner and Grayson Hall as the repressed lesbian

Rated: B

Jul 21, 2008

Full Review

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Synopsis

Lusty defrocked minister Lawrence Shannon (Richard Burton) is a tour guide in Mexico. Leading a tourist group from a Baptist women's college, he finds it difficult to avoid acting on his attraction to Charlotte (Sue Lyon), the young niece of the group's leader, Judith Fellowes (Grayson Hall). When Fellowes swears to ruin him, Shannon strands the bus at a hotel to seek advice from the manager, an old friend. Over the course of one night, the alcoholic Shannon spirals out of control.

Director: John Huston
Screenwriter: Anthony Veiller, John Huston
Production Co: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Seven Arts Productions
Genre: Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 6, 1964, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 21, 2012
Runtime: 2h 5m

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