The night of the iguana (film)

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Movie
German title The night of the iguana
Original title The Night of the Iguana
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1964
length 125 minutes
German Version 112 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director John Huston
script John Huston
Anthony Veiller
production Ray Stark
music Benjamin Frankel
camera Gabriel Figueroa
cut Ralph Kemplen
occupation

The Night of the Iguana is the title of an American black and white MGM film from 1964. The film was directed by John Huston based on the play of the same name by Tennessee Williams .

action

The Reverend Shannon, who has been discharged from church service, drives a bus through Mexico as a tour guide. He took off his priestly robe because he had doubts about the church, but he remained connected to Christianity.

He accompanies a society of teachers overseen by Judith Fellowes. She watches Shannon with suspicion and feels called to "protect" 18-year-old Charlotte Goodall from him, since she is apparently magically attracted to him. Then the chaperone surprises the two of them together in Shannon's hotel room. She wants to make sure that Shannon loses his job and reports immediately to the management of the tour operator.

A comfortable hotel with air conditioning awaits the group after a strenuous drive through heat and dust. The management response telegram should also be sent there. But Shannon wants to avoid the matter and drives past the hotel - amid angry protests from the passengers. His goal is a remote little dump. He knows the owner, Maxine is the wife of a friend who died shortly before.

He describes his situation to her, she wants to help him. It prevents Miss Fellowes from contacting the tour operator again. The teachers want to leave immediately, but Shannon has disabled the bus and hidden the distribution cable. Panic breaks out among the women - also in view of the heat - but they have no choice but to surrender to fate for the time being.

Two strange travelers arrive, Hannah Jelkes and her grandfather. They have no money, they live from hand to mouth - or rather: from the charity of their fellow men. Hannah paints and tries to sell the pictures, the grandfather (at 98 years of age supposedly the oldest living, still active poet in the world) recites poetry he has written and is looking for a grand finale for his last work - which he is finally also finds: immediately after his poignant recitation, a heart attack overtakes him.

In this oppressive atmosphere of heat and uncertainty, with this strange collection of different characters, the action unfolds: Charlotte finds a new boyfriend, the grandfather dies after completing his work, Shannon decides in favor of the hotel owner when choosing between Maxine and Hannah, with whom he wants to manage the house in the future, telegraphic contact with the outside world will be restored, and Judith can finally leave the lonely place with her teachers.

And even the iguana, that big lizard that tied up behind the hotel, is allowed to go back to freedom ...

background

  • Bette Davis and Shelley Winters played this piece on the theater stage. Davis then also claimed the role of Maxine in the film. However, John Huston cast Ava Gardner.
  • The film was shot in the small Mexican town of Puerto Vallarta , which at the time was hardly accessible by land, so the equipment had to be transported in a boat. Nevertheless, the press managed to turn up en masse on the location. The main attraction was not just the individual actors in the cast, but their relationships with one another. Ava Gardner had once had a rendezvous with Peter Viertel , who was now with his wife, Deborah Kerr. And Burton's Cleopatra affair with Elizabeth Taylor had just peaked. The fact that Taylor traveled to Mexico and was on set almost every day to "... keep Burton away from Ava's predatory talons certainly caused a lot of excitement ..." (John Daniell, Ava Gardner)
  • A 14-minute featurette for the film was also released under the title In the footsteps of the iguana .

Reviews

  • Heyne Film Lexicon: "Outstanding performance ..."
  • prisma-online : “John Huston's atmospherically dense Tennessee Williams film is top-class cast and superbly photographed. The play was conceived by star director John Huston for the screen in a typical American style for the time: fascinating and repulsive at the same time, often on the verge of kitsch, with some concessions to the public's taste. Tennessee Williams is one of the few authors who know how to reveal the soul of their characters with clear texts and scenes. He already succeeded in doing this with "The Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "Endstation Sehnsucht" and is probably the reason why well-known directors have always liked to film his plays. "

The Wiesbaden film evaluation agency awarded the production the title valuable .

Awards

The film was nominated for four Academy Awards in 1965

  • Costumes (sw): Dorothy Jeakins
  • Production design (sw): Stephen Grimes
  • Camera (sw): Gabriel Figueroa
  • Supporting Actress: Grayson Hall

and received the Oscar in the category costumes (b / w).

media

DVD release
  • The night of the iguana . Warner Home Video 2006
Soundtrack
literature

Web links

swell

  • John Daniell: Ava Gardner, her films - her life, Heyne film library 107
  • Illustrierte Film-Bühne, Munich, No. 6919

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ On the trail of the iguana in the IMDB
  2. ↑ The Night of the Iguana. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used