In the sleepy village of Puerto Vallarta, the defrocked Reverend T. Laurence Shannon works as a tour guide. While leading a group of school teachers, he attracts the attention of their junior member Charlotte Goodall. To save money, he takes the group to a rundown hotel owned by his friend, Maxine Faulk. Once there, his interest shifts to Hannah Jelkes, a poor artist. But in the end it may be Maxine whom he stays on with.
The Night of the Iguana may be Richard Burton's finest hour on the screen: beautifully cast as an anguished, defrocked reverend, doomed to his own purgatory in Mexico as tour guide to a group of nattering biddies. (The expression on his face as the ladies warble "Happy Days Are Here Again" on the tour bus is worth a Shakespearian monologue.) John Huston's clean, black-comic adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play is a forceful snapshot of a man down to his last chance, and the superb black-and-white location photography by Gabriel Figueroa captures the end-of-the-world vibe. The women who tempt and taunt the reverend are Ava Gardner (with her maraca-shaking beach boys), Deborah Kerr, and Sue Lyon. The movie--and its backstage publicity, with Burton and Liz Taylor carrying on their Cleopatra affair--put Puerto Vallarta on the map, but it deserves notice for Burton's gutsy acting and Huston's characteristic sympathy for life's losers. --Robert Horton
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
An unforgettable movie!:
***This review was copied here from an Epinions review I wrote*** Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.
I'm not sure I have the mental capacity to do this film justice in a review, it's that good on so many levels. Entertaining not only with it's humor (mostly due to Richard Burton's excellent portrayal of the "Rev. Dr. T. Lawrence Shannon", recently defrocked for falling prey to his lusty appetites as a man) but also for the depth with which all the... more info
The Night of the Iguana:
Although a classic old movie from 1964, the characters and dialog were surprisingly contemporary. A great play was made into a terrific movie which still resonates today. Great fun to see Richard Burton at his best.
Interesting characters:
We watched this movie when we vacationed in Pureto Vallarta where it was filmed. It was fun to find the statue in town of the director and travel to a more remote location where it was filmed. The Bonus sections added to the interest.
An Existential Grand Slam:
Who knows how many films were made that address the deeply troubled and compelling existential questioning of the years roughly 1890 - 1980. The fantastic and the real worlds, as pondered by Richard Burton - only the native Mexican innocents have not reached the bonehead point of having separated them. And, of course, the iguana. Freedom to do what? Have sex, get drunk, write poetry? PREACH THE GOSPEL? Something is rotten, and not just in Denmark. Ava Gardner's panic attack near the end of the movie is... more info
