6 Things You Didn’t Know About ‘Night of the Iguana’
On August 6, 1964, Night of the Iguana opened in theaters. The film’s bonafides were incredible — the cast, which included Richard Burton, Deborah Kerr, Ava Gardner, and Sue Lyon, was directed by John Huston, it was shot on location in gorgeous rural Mexico, and adapted from Tennessee Williams’s Tony-winning 1961 Broadway play.
But the crowds who lined up to see that film on opening weekend weren’t necessarily there just to enjoy the film’s cinematic artistry or frank depiction of loneliness, sexuality, repression and a clergyman in emotional decline. The 1963 production had been a source of obsessive Hollywood gossip — the small town where the film was shot was besieged by reporters and paparazzi, eager to catch Burton and his then-married paramour Elizabeth Taylor, or other cast members doing something outrageous.
Well, they must have been doing something right out there in the jungle — the film was a hit, earning $12 million on a $3 million budget, and garnering multiple award nominations, including a Golden Globe Best Actress nomination for Gardner. TIME Magazine referred to it at the time as “one of the best movies ever made from a Tennessee Williams play.”
Sixty years later, the story of how a group of paparazzi-plagued Hollywood superstars survived two months in the jungle to create a classic remains fascinating. Plus, you may have this film to thank for your honeymoon resort trip.
1It Popularized the Town of Puerto Vallarta as a Tourist Destination
Today, Mexico’s Puerto Vallarta is a wildly popular vacation spot; over six million visitors travel to the beachside town each year, for everything from honeymoons to family vacations. But prior to the film’s production, the area was a sleepy fishing village — one that had changed very little between 1929, when director Huston first laid eyes on it, and 1963, when production began. Though the original play was set in Acapulco, Huston wanted the film shot somewhere more isolated, which could play up the film’s themes of isolation and disengagement (the location also helped with Huston’s technique of getting his actors into stressful production situations, creating emotions he then utilized on film). The area had a population of 12,500, no telephones, and no electricity.
The cast’s arrival created a sensation on a number of levels; while their moves were followed by the gossip press and condemned by writers in the U.S. and Mexico (a local Mexican newspaper allegedly referred to the film as “garbage from the United States” that would corrupt local children), press also took note of the area’s profound natural beauty. Huston mused that “The press gathered down there expecting something to happen with all these volatile personalities being there. They felt the lid would blow off and there would be fireworks. When there weren’t any, they were reduced to writing about Puerto Vallarta.”
To this day, classic cinema tourists can enjoy seeing some Iguana sites. Burton purchased the villa where he stayed, Casa Kimberly, as a birthday present for Taylor; it now functions as a luxury hotel.
2A Scorpion Bit Sue Lyon
Everett Collection
An unexpected danger of the untamed Mexican wilderness? Scorpions, which colonized the set. One even bit Sue Lyon in front of a New York Times reporter who was writing an article on the production.
3Ava Gardner Water-Skied to Set
The film’s primary shooting took place in an even smaller town than Puerto Vallarta — an area called Mismaloya, which was only reachable via boat. While Taylor and Burton made the trip to set in their rented yacht, Gardner arrived twice daily on water-skis, pulled by a speedboat called Ava, according to The New York Times.
4The Cast Were Given Gold-Plated Guns
In recognition of the media feeding frenzy around the film and the rumors of discord that surrounded it before an inch of celluloid was shot, Huston offered his cast an unusual gift that took the idea of “shooting a film” way too literally.
As Gardner wrote in her memoir Ava: My Story, “Soon after we got there, John called together Richard and Elizabeth, Deborah Kerr, Sue Lyon, Ray Stark, and me and solemnly presented each of us with a small gold-plated derringer and five bullets, each engraved with the name of one of the other recipients. Naturally, the old fox hadn’t put his name on any of the damn bullets.”
5Ingrid Bergman Was Almost One of Its Stars
Night of the Iguana was a hot property, with the film rights sold before the play even hit Broadway. So it’s not surprising that nearly every star of the era was either cast in the film, tried to be cast in the film, or rejected offers of being cast in the film. In addition to Bergman being initially cast as spinster Hannah, Bette Davis was rumored to be reprising the role of innkeeper Maxine, which she played onstage. Nancy Kwan was considered for an unknown role. Burt Lancaster was considered for the role of defrocked and emotionally fragile Rev. Shannon, as was Paul Newman, but both turned it down. One of the film’s producers wanted Huston himself to play Nonno, Hannah’s ailing grandfather, but Cyril Delevanti portrayed the character instead.
6Nothing Too Gossip-Worthy Happened On Set … But That Didn’t Stop People From Speculating
Daily Express/Archive Photos/Getty Images
Considering that Burton and Taylor were each still married to other people, were famous for their alcohol-fueled rows, and had recently been condemned by the Vatican for “erotic vagrancy,” it’s a wonder that no great gossip ever came from the set. But it didn’t. Gardner — who had also been a tabloid favorite due to her complicated love life, including a relationship with Frank Sinatra that began while we was still married to his first wife — similarly refrained from doing anything newsworthy on set, as did Kerr, Lyon and Huston. “There was a tendency … towards mutual congratulations,” The New York Times reported from set. “The explosions have been relatively minor.” Huston told the paper that, though he had expected combustible behavior from the personalities involved, “It is the easiest picture I have done in years, maybe in all the years. It is almost too easy.” In the end, no cast members had to use their little golden guns.
But that didn’t keep everyone’s tongue from wagging. At the 1964 Writers Guild of America dinner, comic songwriter Allan Sherman sang a ditty about the scandals, to the tune of “The Streets of Laredo.” “They were down there to film The Night of the Iguana/ With a star-studded cast and a technical crew/They did things at night midst the flora and fauna/ That no self-respecting iguana would do.”
Remind