Before you get too far....this is not a movie review.

BUT............if you have never seen the movie, Night of the Iguana , then you have missed moviemaking at it's very best. Based on the play by Tennessee Williams and directed by John Huston, every major player is superbly cast. It is a truly amazing and brilliant film with a wide range of emotional and intellectual levels existing within it. It makes it worth seeing more than once.

Richard Burton was quite possibly one of the most gifted actors the world has ever known. It's worth watching for his performance alone. Incredible.....................is all I can think of to say.

Ava Gardner was never better or sexier. (she once said, "Deep down, I'm pretty superficial") Well, she is anything but superficial in this role. It's hard to believe that this was her last really great movie. "The rest", she said, "were for the loot." Maybe, in a way, she was really playing Ava Gardner. Regardless, she was phenomenal.

And Deborah Kerr....very aptly cast as the gentle and dutiful granddaughter of the poet. She is thoughtful, sensitive, and plays the role as if she is living it. One of her best performances.

Filmed on location in Puerto Vallarta Mexico in 1964, this movie was responsible for making Puerto Vallarta a popular tourist destination forevermore. Filmed in the striking contrast of black and white, I am reminded of what is often lost in color movies. Even more than that, I am reminded of what is sorely missing in most moviemaking today ...... substance, sexual tension without explicit portrayal, and highly developed characters who play off each other like fine tuned instruments. I am so thankful for these great movies of a golden era and encourage you to check them out for yourself.

Funny story about John Huston and the cast: (author unknown)
"Burton was at the height of his torrid affair with Elizabeth Taylor, who had left her husband Eddie Fisher and was living openly with the still-married Burton. Deborah Kerr's husband, Peter Viertel, had once had an affair with Ava Gardner. Even John Huston had attempted to seduce Gardner at an earlier point in his career but had been rebuffed. Meanwhile, Gardner was cavorting with several Mexican beach boys on and off the set. As for Sue Lyon, she had to constantly contend with a very jealous fiance. Deborah Kerr joked that she was the only one who "wasn't having an affair with somebody." Gossip columnists sent daily dispatches from the set and it was reported that John Huston presented the cast and visitor Elizabeth Taylor with gold-plated derringers, each with bullets engraved with the names of the others. But expected fireworks never happened -- everyone got along famously."

What a genius America produced in playwright Tennessee Williams.....A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Menagerie, Suddenly Last Summer, Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, Night of the Iguana, etc.

TCM On Demand has Night of the Iguana right now. Also on TCM........Mrs Miniver (Starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon). Another great movie worthy of watching today.

Re: Mrs. Miniver
WW II propaganda film that succeeded as a great movie anyway.
Interesting aside about Miss Garson: She married the actor (Richard Frey) who played her college age son, Vin in the movie, after filming. He was only slightly more than 10 years her junior, and the marriage didn't last long. Not entirely surprising. He was practically blacklisted in Hollywood after purportedly being incredibly cruel to Ms Garson during the divorce. (He did go on to succeed in the financial field later)

When I'm old and can't move anymore, just prop me up in front of a television with lots of DVD's (or whatever is comparable to them by then) of all my favorite old movies.