shrinkwrap Posted April 1, 2022 Share Posted April 1, 2022 Nice to finally view a clear, crisp copy of this film on TCM recently. Previous screenings always featured a soft, blurry print ! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
filmnoirguy Posted April 1, 2022 Share Posted April 1, 2022 It makes all the difference in the world. This is my favorite movie of 1964, and I never enjoyed it more than with this pristine print. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bethluvsfilms Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 How can you go wrong with a movie with Richard Burton, Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr? Also in the cast are Sue Lyon and a pre-DARK SHADOWS Grayson Hall. Really good movie. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fausterlitz Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 36 minutes ago, Bethluvsfilms said: Elizabeth Taylor ...aka Ava Gardner 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bethluvsfilms Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 Thanks for pointing out my typo, I just rectified that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougieB Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 10 hours ago, Bethluvsfilms said: Thanks for pointing out my typo, I just rectified that. Burton played a similar role of a clergyman at a crossroad opposite Elizabeth Taylor in The Sandpiper, so that may account for the slip. That one was glossy (but kinda fun) melodrama, but The Night of the Iguana was sweaty and bawdy, with beautifully atmospheric black-and-white photography. It was one of those "mismatched group suddenly thrust together" movies, but really elevated by some well-drawn characters and standout performances. I particularly remember the old poet's end of life summation in his final poem. ('How calmly does the orange branch observe the sky begin to blanch.") I'm really sorry I missed this new print. Totally as an aside, one of my top wish-I-were-there moments would be Bette Davis doing the role of Maxine in the original Broadway production. One of her biographers, as a way of setting her character, began the book with her stepping onto that stage, planting her feet, and glorying in the applause of her fans, breaking the fourth wall and upsetting an important theatrical tradition. Sometimes a combative person playing a combative character is a natural fit and sometimes it's a hot mess. I sure wish I could have seen for myself. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
filmnoirguy Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 14 hours ago, Bethluvsfilms said: How can you go wrong with a movie with Richard Burton, Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr? Also in the cast are Sue Lyon and a pre-DARK SHADOWS Grayson Hall. Really good movie. Grayson Hall was the only cast member to get an Oscar nod, in her case Supporting Actress. Burton was nominated that year for Becket. Both Deborah Kerr and Ava Gardner deserved nominations. As well as Cyril Delevanti for Supporting Actor. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fausterlitz Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 5 hours ago, DougieB said: Burton played a similar role of a clergyman at a crossroad opposite Elizabeth Taylor in The Sandpiper, so that may account for the slip. Yes, and also Taylor was famously present on-set in Puerto Vallarta throughout the filming of Night of the Iguana, during an early phase of their then-scandalous love affair. (There was much speculation that she had come in part to make sure Burton didn't get TOO friendly with Ava Gardner.) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronxgirl48 Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 "Don't make me take steps, Mr. Shannon!" (I'm still trying to figure out if I'm living my life on the fantastical or realistic level....) Deborah Kerr is particularly fine. But then, she always is. Burton is wonderful, especially when given a strong script and director. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhillyCinephile Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 "Oh, you beeeeeeeeeeeast! You BEEEEEEEEEEEEAST!" One of my favorite films. On 4/2/2022 at 12:10 PM, filmnoirguy said: Grayson Hall was the only cast member to get an Oscar nod, in her case Supporting Actress. Burton was nominated that year for Becket. Both Deborah Kerr and Ava Gardner deserved nominations. As well as Cyril Delevanti for Supporting Actor. Ava Gardner was nominated for a Golden Globe and she should have been nominated for an Oscar. I'm a huge Grayson Hall fan, but Ava is the standout for me. Really, though, I think nearly every cast member has at least one standout moment. It's a shame that Grayson Hall wasn't able to parlay this role into other equally strong film roles. She followed this film with a thankless role in THAT DARN CAT. Of course, if she had gone on to a more prominent film career, she probably wouldn't have been cast on DARK SHADOWS. Plus, her heart belonged to the New York stage, so I assume she was not as aggressive in pursuing roles as another actress in her position might have been. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bethluvsfilms Posted April 4, 2022 Share Posted April 4, 2022 People always say Audrey Hepburn was robbed of an Oscar nomination for MY FAIR LADY, but I think it was Ava and Deborah who got the raw end of the deal. They both should have earned an oscar nod, though in most cases, they probably would have cancelled each other out anyway, but still, nominations should have gone their way. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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