The Night of the Iguana (MGM) (1964)

FILMING “THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA” IN PICTURESQUE MISMALOYA, MEXICO “Getting to the location for ‘The Night of the Iguana’ was like landing at Anzio during the war,” said one of the members of the crew of the John Huston-Ray Stark production, filmed in the tiny fishing village of Mismaloya, Mexico, on the Pacific coast. It would seem that the unit man was exaggerating, but if he was it was only a minor exaggeration for Mismaloya is one of the least accessible strips of land on earth. In order to set foot on the shaky pier at the location, one must travel first by taxi to a beach in Puerto Vallarta, eight miles across the Bay of Banderos from Mismaloya, then continue by dugout canoe or boat. Every day during filming of the screen version of Tennessee Williams’ prize-winning Broadway play, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Seven Arts, a bright, hot sun crawled up to shed light on the various boats of the film’s stars, Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr and Sue Lyon, and that of director John Huston, making their way past the huge arcos, giant rocks which mark the entrance to the bay. “After getting there,” laughed Deborah Kerr, “everything else seemed easy.” Occasionally, a heavy wave thundered menacingly against the rocky shore or a sudden tropical wind came up in the early evening causing the huge palm trees to thrash wildly. Otherwise, all was calm on the set of the film. Here for two months, under Huston’s firm guiding hand, “The Night of the Iguana” was filmed with no incidents or interruptions. “That isn’t my fault,” winked Huston, “I gave all of them — Richard, Ava, Deborah, Sue and even Elizabeth Taylor, who came along for the ride, derringers with bullets in them engraved with each other’s names. You can’t blame me if they didn’t use them!” Not even the rigors of night shooting, which lasted until 3:00 a.m. during the nocturnal sessions, could dampen the spirits of the cast. When told one day at 2:30 a.m. that he had to do a scene hanging upside down in a hammock, Richard Burton merely Sue Lyon, of ‘*Lolita’’ fame, as she appears in a swimming sequence of ‘“*The Night of the Iguana,’ screen version of Tennessee Williams’ prizewinning play. The young actress appears in an impressive cast, starring Richard Burton, Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr. The much-talked-about John Huston-Ray Stark production, filmed on locations in Mexico, was directed by Huston and is presented by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Seven Arts. Night of the Iguana Still NOI-x-26 Mat 1-H stifled a yawn and said, “It should be interesting. I’ve never acted upside down before.” After the day’s shooting, cast and crew, who had become as nimblefooted as the local burros, climbed down the steep hill from the set. Once at the bottom, they filed into the bar area across from the dining room to regale each other with stories or to listen to the master story teller of the group, Burton, who would hold forth on everything from 17th century literature to his days as a schoolboy in Wales. At the top of the peak, some 300 feet above the blue-green water, a copy of an ancient Mexican hotel was constructed. Here most of the action, involving the sensual hotel owner (Miss Gardner), a defrocked minister (Burton), a spinster (Miss Kerr), and a clutch of American tourists, including a predatory girl (Miss Lyon), takes place. In the village, life seemed to go on uninterrupted by the daily flow of journalists, visitors or stars. When asked if she knew who the stars of “The Night of the Iguana” were, one Mismaloyan mother smiled and nodded. She walked to the beach and pointed at Ava Gardner who was circling the bay on water skis. “Oh, yes, I know them,” she said. “Look. There goes Lana Turner!” Along with its other relics, one that the “Iguana” location company left behind is likely to remain for all time. It is the 37-foot beam which forms the central part of the hotel structure. Indians employed as boatmen, masons, carpenters and_ bearers chopped it down in the jungle, trimmed it, and by miraculous devices edged it down into the sea. Since it weighs about four tons and wouldn’t float, engineers buoyed it with empty gasoline drums, then towed it to the site. The same effect probably could have been obtained from papier mache. But when John Huston opens up the jungle to achieve realism, that’s what he expects to get. AWARDS When it comes to awards, John Huston, director of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Seven Arts’ “The Night of the Iguana,” based on Tennessee Williams’ play, must be a record-holder. In 1948 Huston not only won the Academy Award for his direction of “Treasure of Sierra Madre” but was given the New York Film Critics Award as best director of the year and was named “Director of the Year” in the Film Daily Poll. Two years later, Huston was the recipient of the Screen Directors Guild Award for writing and directing “The Asphalt Jungle.” In 1955, “Moby Dick” gave Huston the “Director of the Year” award from the New York Film Critics and also a special citation for directing from the National Board of Review. Prior to directing “The Night of the Iguana,” Huston made a late-blooming debut as an actor in “The Cardinal” and ran off with an Academy Award nomination as best actor in a supporting role. CASTING FILM HAD STARK ON THE RUN! Signing the stars for the screen version of Tennessee Williams’ prize-winning play, “The Night of the Iguana,” kept Ray Stark, producer of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Seven Arts presentation, on the run. In one memorable weekend the producer flew to Ireland for a meeting with John Huston, who was to direct the film, took off for Madrid to sign Ava Gardner for the Bette Davis role of ‘Maxine Faulk,” jumped back to Switzerland to get Deborah Kerr for the Margaret Leighton part of “Hannah Jelkes” and wound up the three-day jaunt by obtaining Richard Burton in London for the role of “Rev. T. Lawrence Shannon.” The only star whom the producer was able to locate on home grounds was Sue Lyon, cast as ‘Charlotte Goodall,” whom he found in Hollywood. AVA GARDNER GREETS AN OLD FLAME IN “NIGHT OF THE IGUANA” A delighted Ava Gardner welcomes an old friend when defrocked minister Richard Burton, now a tour guide, unexpectedly pops up at the hotel she runs in an isolated Mexican village. The scene is from “The Night of the Iguana,”’ John Huston-Ray Stark production presented by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Seven Arts. The explosive screen version of Tennessee Williams’ prize-winning Broadway play, filmed on locations in Mexico, also stars Deborah Kerr and Sue Lyon in her first picture since **Lolita.”’ Academy Award-winner John Huston directed. Still NOI-98 Night of the Iguana Mat 3-B RICHARD BURTON, AVA GARDNER, DEBORAH KERR AND SUE LYON STAR IN TENNESSEE WILLIAMS’ “THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA” Powerfully Dramatic John Huston-Ray Stark Production, Based on the PrizeWinning Broadway Play, Was Directed by Huston on Locations in Mexico Tennessee Williams’ play, “The Night of the Iguana,” dealing with a defrocked minister, the Rev. T. Lawrence Shannon, and three women who play a vital part in his life, which won the New York Drama Critics Award, is now presented on the screen by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Seven Arts and emerges as absorbing motion picture entertainment. The brilliant cast of the John Huston-Ray Stark production is headed by Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr and Sue Lyon, in her first role since her sensational debut in “Lolita,” with the direction in the hands of Huston, who also collaborated with Anthony Veiller on the screenplay. From its very opening sequence, in which Shannon (Burton) denounces the congregation of a small Virginia church for its hypocrisy and vents his wrath on God as the heavens give forth thunder and lightning, “The Night of the Iguana” holds its viewers in a powerful grip. From here the story moves directly into Mexico, where the defrocked Shannon has become a tourist guide to a party of spinsterish schoolteachers traveling in a dilapidated bus. One member of the party, however, is anything but spinsterish. She is 18-year-old Charlotte Goodall (Sue Lyon) who has developed a crush on Shannon. Despite being watched like a hawk by Judith Fellowes, zealous leader of the teachers, Charlotte manages to slip into Shannon’s hotel room on one of their stops. But later Miss Fellowes catches them in a secret swimming rendezvous and vows to have Shannon exposed. The situation worsens when a desperate Shannon, bypassing the modern hotel which was to be their next stop, takes the party instead to a crumbling hostelry in Mismaloya, run by his old friend, Maxine (Ava Gardner). When Maxine learns that Miss Fellowes is out to destroy Shannon, she girds herself for a fight to save THE ADDITIONAL SCENE AND PLAYER MATS, SHOWN IN THE COMPLETE CAMPAIGN MAT ON ANOTHER PAGE, MAY BE ORDERED SINGLY. him from both the domineering schoolteacher and the predatory Charlotte. But now two other persons enter the scene. They are the strange American expatriates Hannah Jelkes (Deborah Kerr) and her 98-year-old grandfather, Nonno, who claims to be the world’s oldest living poet. All these people are caught up in a vortex of conflicting emotions and dramatic situations with Shannon the man in the middle. How the disparate conflicts are finally resolved makes for a story of gripping intensity, as only Tennessee Williams can unfold one, a story involving loneliness, frustration and sexual desire. The compelling performances of Richard Burton as the tormented Shannon, Ava Gardner as the beautiful and earthy Maxine, Deborah Kerr as Hannah, attracted to and disturbed by Shannon’s virility, and Sue Lyon, as a now grown-up Lolita, will be talked about for some time to come. And they are given fine support by James Ward as Hank, the young bus driver to whom Charlotte turns on the rebound, Grayson Hall as the formidable Miss Fellowes and Cyril Delevanti as the dying poet. Academy Award-winning director John Huston has given “The Night of the Iguana” added validity and atmosphere in filming his picture on locations in Mexico, chiefly in the colorful fishing village of Mismaloya on the Pacific coast, with other vivid scenes photographed in Tepotzotlan and Puerto Vallarta. Set down “The Night of the Iguana” as one of the most distinguished and exciting motion pictures of the year. It is a film no one will want to miss. Deborah Kerr and Richard Burton in a scene from “*The Night of the Iguana,”’ screen version of Tennessee Williams’ prizewinning Broadway play. Ava Gardner and Sue Lyon also star in the brilliant cast of the John Huston-Ray Stark production presented by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Seven Arts. Filmed on locations in Mexico, the much-talked-about picture was directed by Academy Award-winner John Huston. Still NOI-97 Night of the Iguana Mat 2-G