The night of the iguana

Night of the Iguana is a 1964 American film directed by John Huston, based on the Tennessee Williams play of the same name. Starring Richard Burton, Deborah Kerr and Ava Gardner in the lead roles, it won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design (Dorothy Jeakins), and was nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Grayson Hall), Best Art Direction (Stephen Grimes) and Best Cinematography (Gabriel Figueroa). The shoot attracted a lot of attention from the press, who chased the stars around the sets to get information and photos of the new couple Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

It was filmed in 1963 in the first scenes in the church of San Francisco Javier in Tepotzotlán Méx and Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, México, and its surroundings (Mismaloya beach).

Plot

Ava Gardner and Richard Burton.

An alcoholic Anglican priest (Richard Burton) suffers a severe emotional breakdown while presiding over a church ceremony. As a result, he decides to retire to Mexico, being forced to take up the occupation of tour guide for mostly single American teachers. During his last tour, he falls victim to the bold romantic advances of a young woman (Sue Lyon) who does everything she can to seduce him, earning the hatred of the rest of the ladies on the expedition. The leader of the group fires the guide for his behavior. On the verge of another nervous breakdown, he arrives in Puerto Vallarta and takes refuge in the colorful hotel of an old friend, Maxine (Ava Gardner), with whom he maintains a good relationship. There he will meet Hannah (Deborah Kerr), a rigid and old-fashioned woman who dedicates herself to itinerant painting, and who always travels in the company of her grandfather, an inspired poet of almost a hundred years. The guide's relationships with all these women will mark him for the future.

Cast

• Richard Burton... Reverend Dr. T. Lawrence Shannon
• Ava Gardner... Maxine Faulk
• Deborah Kerr... Hannah Jelkes
• Sue Lyon... Charlotte Goodall
• James ("Skip") Ward... Hank Prosner
• Grayson Hall... Judith Fellowes
• Cyril Delevanti... Nonno, poet and grandfather of Hannah