The Night of the Iguana (1964)

I don't much like Tennessee Williams - I think he must have been quite unloved as a child. All of his characters are either desperately unhappy, horribly despicable, or both. Exception (of those I've seen) is Streetcar Named Desire – I like that one.

That said, Night of the Iguana is second to Streetcar in the TW adaptations I've seen. It didn't make me miserable; I watched it all in one sitting. Ava Gardner impressed me with her range...from rough businesswoman to the wounded face of supposed rejection. The speeches – as always with TW were too long and not near as revelatory as I'm sure he thought. One quote, however, really stood out and I thought it was beautiful. Deborah Kerr said of what most would find nasty or, at the least, aberrant behavior, something along the lines of "Nothing human disgusts me. Unless it's unkind. Or violent." I think I'll adopt that as my mantra.

C+