The Night of the Iguana (1964)

_**Melodrama on the Mexican Coast with Burton, Gardner and Kerr**_

Released in 1964 and directed by John Huston based on Tennessee Williams' play, "The Night of the Iguana" stars Richard Burton as a defrocked Episcopal minister who resorts to a job leading bus tours on the Mexican west coast. As he guides a group of middle-aged Baptist women to Puerto Vallarta, he struggles with the attentions of a teen sexpot (Sue Lyon) and the antagonism of her curmudgeonly ward (Grayson Hall). The group ends up at a bed & breakfast where the effervescent proprietor (Ava Gardner) and a spiritual artist (Deborah Kerr) aid the ex-clergyman in coming to terms with the failures haunting him. Skip Ward plays the hunky bus tour assistant.

As much as I appreciate this drama, it's too bad it was shot in B&W as color would've really enhanced it, particularly considering the resort setting. (I'll never understand why filmmakers insist on shooting in B&W when color is readily available). The movie is also marred by some contrived melodrama with Burton guilty of chewing too much scenery. At the same time, it's interesting to go back in time with these old dramas and observe the artificialities of the (over)acting based on the contrivances of an inflexible script.

Despite my criticisms, there's a lot to savor here. The rich (and sometimes synthetic) dialogue is full of gems to mine. The film is an honest rumination on the human condition. The theme is to cease struggling and to ride out the hardships of life, whether they're the result of one's own folly or otherwise. The answer will come; just be on the look-out for the "messenger" or "assistant" and, of course, accept.

On other fronts, Sue Lyon is outstanding as the Lolita, probably because she literally played Lolita in her previous film, 1962's "Lolita." Thankfully, she's more womanly here. She was 17 during filming and thoroughly sumptuous, particularly in her short shorts. Gardner also looked great at 41, but her character is too boozy and it's a turn-off. She's well contrasted by the almost saintly Kerr.

Interestingly, there's a brief denouncement of lesbianism, which wouldn't work today. In our current upside down culture it would be hailed as the highest good, worthy of a call from the President (rolling my eyes).

RUNTIME: 118 minutes. SHOOTING LOCATIONS: Puerto Vallarta and Mismaloya Village, Mexico.

GRADE: B

Though we don’t really know quite why at the time, it’s fairly clear the the “Rev. Shannon” (Richard Burton) has rather lost the confidence of his flock and so it’s not really surprising to find him now tour-guiding some evangelist American women round the sights of Mexico. This fellow has a penchant for the bottle and is little interested in his charges. Unluckily for him, the impressionable young “Charlotte” (Sue Lyon) is determined to seduce him, despite his own alarm bells telling him to leave well alone and her guardian “Miss Fellowes” (Grayson Hall) doing all she can to save the girl from the presumably menacing overtones of their manipulative host. As things get desperate, he resorts to retreating to an out of the way hotel owned by his feisty pal “Maxine” (Ava Gardner) whom he hopes might be able to get his passengers back on side. Before they get much of a chance to implement their hastily improvised plan, though, a weary old gent (Cyril Delevanti) is helped up the hill by his granddaughter (Deborah Kerr) and they try to blag themselves board and lodgings in exchange for her efficiently preparing a dog-fish and him doing the odd poetry reading. The scene is now set for a reckoning of home truths between these characters that exposes their vulnerabilities, demons and hopes brutally and at times mercilessly. Their spicy characters give both Gardner and Kerr a real chance to get the metaphorical daggers out, though in different ways, and always under the gaze of the almost maniacal and increasingly distraught Burton. There is an intensity to this drama, but it is also quite funny at times with plenty of earthiness and stinging sarcasm in the dialogue (especially from Kerr) and in some ways it reminded me a little of the “Sadie Thompson” type of judgmental scenario, only quite potently jumbled up. It’s also worth appreciating the efforts of the often hysterically persnickety Hall and of her elderly companions who pop up now and again and serve as a steam valve for the main storyline. The photography, the lively iguanas and the penetrative audio manage to convey the sweltering, almost claustrophobic, nature of their environment - even though it’s open air with the sea mapping peacefully nearby, and John Huston manages to encapsulate a fair degree of the original Tennessee Williams nuance in this characterful adaptation that ask lots of questions of god and humanity.