I finally watched "Night of the Iguana" last night after taping it for about the third time.  (Every other time I've taped it, I haven't gotten around to watching the tape, taped over it accidentally, etc. etc.)

Grayson Hall must have been in her element with this role -- she was a hoot!  I missed some of the dialogue of some of the other actors, but not a syllable was indistinct with Grayson Hall's no-megaphone-needed style of delivery.

I was also blown away by Tennessee Williams' play.  My top pick of American plays are "Streetcar," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," and "Glass Menagerie" (followed by Miller's "Salesman" and most of Wm. Inge), and I've read and/or seen two or three others of Williams plays, but I had never seen "Iguana."  I think I'd need to read the script or at least watch the movie a couple more times to begin to get a grasp of all of the philosophy (and humanity) in this play.  The other Williams plays I mentioned are great drama with great characters and poetic writing, but I don't remember member them being as complex with "ideas."

One thing that didn't seem clear to me, though, from Ms. Hall's performance, was that she was a "suppressed lesbian."  Until the Ava Gardner character brought that up, I had no indication of this from her character.  Did I miss something?

It's surprising that Grayson Hall's film career didn't take off more than it did given the Academy Award nod, which I thought was well deserved.  And I was surprised that her role was as big as it was.  Some of the supporting role nominees seem to be little more than cameos.

I'm also puzzled how it is that Deborah Kerr is in every movie that I've seen in the last few weeks.  First it was "Eye of the Devil," then "The Innocents," now "Night of the Iguana."

Also coincidentally, last weekend when talking with my parents, my mother said she had been thinking of old movies she'd like to see again, and the one she mentioned was "Night of the Iguana."  So I said I had been planning on taping it in just a few days!

The cast overall was excellent.  Richard Burton was so talented ... the expression on his face in one scene was priceless.  I was also surprised at how humorous the play/movie was.

Does anyone know how Grayson Hall got on with her co-stars?  Is there information online about the filming of the movie?

I'll hang up now and listen.

 

Got mine. Read it. 

OK, so the book is about the same length as War and Peace.  It takes me about six months to read a novel 1/16 th of that length.

Any advice?

 

Like Jennifer, I find 1970 PT to probably be my least favorite storyline.  At least at this point in the game it seems that way, which is not too great since we're still fairly early on in the storyline.  1970 PT starts off very promising -- I really like Hoffman, and the mystery of Alexis and Angelique is good.  I remember things get pretty creepy once their stepfather gets into the picture.

I'd forgotten, though, how early on in the storyline Bruno makes his entrance and how much air time he gets ... Consequently, I'm fast-forwarding like crazy through this storyline in a way I never did with Leviathan, at least not for weeks and weeks of Leviathan ... I also especially dislike the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ripoff, which doubles my fast-forwarding habit in this storyline.  Chris Pennock does an admirable job as Cyris Longworth, and the contrast with his "Jeb" character shows he really can act.  Yet I fear that his tendencies towards ... "excess" ... will be all to apparent now with his alter personality hogging the stage.

I love the original Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story, and the theme of doubles and dopplegangers, which one finds in much literature of that era, so I'm not quite sure why I dislike it so much when DS tries to do it.  My feelings about it are similar to the Adam storyline -- great source material, but ...

The Quentin character remains irritating throughout, as I remember ...

Lest I sound too negative, though, I am intrigued with what happened to Angelique at the seance and what's up with Damien Edwards ... and I've completely forgotten from my previous viewing!

For once I like Jerry Lacy again ... this role and his lawyer character are the only ones I can tolerate ...

It sounds like you have a nicer independent bookseller in your area, Rainypark.

One in my area was quoted in the newspaper as saying he had only ordered 4 copies but probably should have planned on a few more since other stores were selling out, but it wasn't the type of book his clientele would be interested in.

He also ventured to add that maybe Harry was the one killed off in Book 5, and then Ms. Rowling would surprise everyone by not writing any more.

Some people may enjoy his cynicism ... but I get rather tired of living in the midst of it day after day ... at least I don't work in that "hip" area any more.

My copy is coming from England, but I'm not in a hurry because I still have a little catching up to do (in my free time, when I'm not watching Dorian Gray, The Innocents, Eye of the Devil, or DS 1970 PT) ....

Sadly unhip,

Vlad

Vlad, I think the David Hemmings character was supposed to be gay, but it was so understated in the finished film as to be practically unnoticeable.  It was also implied, I thought, that the Sharon Tate character had a queer side, and isn't there dialogue that identifies her as a witch?  basically anybody who was in tune with the outdoors, animals, herbs, etc. was often described as a witch in village society.

G.

There was some remark in the movie that Odile hated all men.  But she seemed to have a very close relationship with her brother, which I vaguely wondered about ...

You're right, I thought of the "witch" association after I was home ... Since our pre-Christian ancestors were pagan, magic was central to their lives.  Post-Christianity, I imagine the former magical practices came to be viewed as "witchcraft," with all the negative associations ...

Regarding Odile's possible witchcraft:  this was ambiguous.  The little boy sees her change a toad into a dove, but the little girl -- who excitedly professes to believe in magic -- does not see anything happen.  The implication is that Odile may be using her hypnotic powers.  The movie has a theme of trance states ...

But the boy is also clearly marked for carrying out the age-old tradition ...

Now ... what should I watch this weekend?  "Eye of the Devil" ... "The Innocents" ... DC's "Picture of Dorian Gray"??  1970 PT??

 

I know ... witches AND homosexuals ... sounds like what typical housewives of the 1960s were reading, doesn't it??  I'm not sure if I can handle it           I don't actually remember either from the movie (guess I'll have to make a point to watch it a third time ...) although I did read on someone's website (but not verified elsewhere) that cuts were made due to censorship (Leonard Maltin refers to studio-mandated cuts but says nothing about censorship issues).

Patti, I'm not sure when I'll get to the book, although I did read a few pages last night, and so far it bore no resemblance to the movie!

You could probably get it at your local library. I planned to go that route before buying it, but our city library is in a temporary setting and this book (and about 75 percent of the library's holdings) are in offsite storage until 2006.   

I wonder whether the portrayal of Gray in the Wilde film may have been based upon the account of Gray in a very gossipy book by Rupert Croft-Cooke, Feasting with Panthers.  Croft-Cooke also wrote a book about Wilde's sex life that was loaded with salacious anecdotes about folks like John Gray and his very twisted lover, Andre Raffalovich.

Interesting, too, that John Gray became Fr. John Gray, a much respected Catholic priest and canon (not sure if I'm right about that term as I know little about Catholicism).

One of his books of poetry I was interested in was called "Silverpoints," and I think he may also have written a play (or possibly short story) that sounded interesting.

I'm pretty sure that at one time Lord Alfred "Bosie" had some poems included in anthologies.

Regarding the Dan Curtis production of "Dorian Gray," I have viewed this twice but it has been quite a while ago.  My feeling was that I would recommend it to someone who was very interested in the book, but maybe not to the casual viewer -- largely because of it being a videotaped filming.  Rather an interesting choice for a late-night TV offerring ... I think this may have been about the same time as "Frankenstein: The True Story" (scripted by Christopher Isherwood) which was produced on film and with a far more luxurious budget.

I remember thinking that the final scene where his wife (!) goes up the stairs was rather a dud.  She begins by rushing up the stairs, then unaccountably slows down, apparently for no other reason than to "build suspense."  (Unfortunately, it didn't.)

There was a lot of dialogue taken directly from the novella, I think, and I agree with the review that the sets and costumes appeared very authentic.  I thought the portraits compared favorably with the Ivan Albright ones of the original movie, but I could be wrong.