Many of Tennessee Williams plays have been adapted into feature films. In 1961 he penned the play The Night of the Iguana than just a short 3 years later the legendary director John Huston would bring his play to the big screen. Now the good folks at Warner Archive Collection are releasing this Tennessee Williams classic adaption on Blu-ray.
Defrocked minister Lawrence Shannon (Richard Burton, Cleopatra) is a tour guide in Mexico. When a tourist group from a Baptist women's college comes to town, he finds himself attracted to Charlotte, the young niece of the group's leader, Judith Fellowes. When Fellowes swears to ruin him, Shannon strands the bus at a hotel to seek advice from the manager, an old friend. Over the course of one night, the alcoholic Shannon spirals out of control.
As with all Tennessee Williams plays there is a lot of love, lust and drama and The Night of the Iguana is no different. John Huston does a tremendous job getting the egos of the stars to be checked at the door and bring forth an intense drama unlike anything seen before on film.
One reviewer was kind of harsh on Richard Burton's performance. But all in all I think he does a pretty good job and the rest of the cast is good as well! They include, Ava Gardner (The Barefoot Contessa), Deborah Kerr (The King and I), Sue Lyon (Tony Rome), Grayson Hall (Dark Shadows) and Cyril Delevanti (Mary Poppins).
Night of the Iguana was a box office smash. It was the 10th highest-grossing film of 1964. It was nominated for four Academy Award, winning one, Best Costume Design – Black-and-White for Dorothy Jeakins.
Warner Archive transfers this 60s classic drama to Blu-ray in 1080p in 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The audio track is a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono. There is also the option for English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.
The 4K scan from the original camera negative makes the black and white palette look glorious. The picture is crisp, clean and sharp throughout the entire feature. There are no age-related artifacts to mar the viewing experience.
An absolutely gorgeous transfer of this classic drama is not all that is included on this Blu-ray. Warner Archive added some cool bonus features to this disc. Take a look at what is included.
* The Night of the Iguana: Huston’s Gamble: A near 10 minutes featurette where film historians Donald Spoto, Lawrence Grobel, and Eric Lax talk about the making of this film.
* On the Trail of the Iguana: An over 13 minute MGM-produced publicity featurette showing locations of the film.
* Teaser trailer and Theatrical Trailer
I love these bonus features. There is so much great information about the background of this film. Such a great addition to the classic 60s drama. I am glad to add this brand new Warner Archive Blu-ray release to my Tennessee Williams collection.
So if you love classic dramas or Tennessee Williams film adaptions this brand new Blu-ray from Warner Archive Collection of The Night of the Iguana is a must own. Head over to Amazon and order your copy today.
Out of Four Film Reels Sets (Four Being the Best) Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray release The Night of the Iguana receives...
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