The Night of the Iguana (film) the flora and fauna / That no self-respecting iguana would do." The film grossed $12 million worldwide at the box office, earning $4.5 million in US theatrical rentals It was the 10th highest-grossing film of 1964. "Time" magazine's reviewer wrote, "Huston and company put together a picture that excites the senses, persuades the mind, and even occasionally speaks to the spirit—one of the best movies ever made from a Tennessee Williams play." Bosley Crowther wrote, Since difficulty of communication between individuals seems to be one of the sadder of human misfortunes that Tennessee Williams is writing about in his play,
The Night of the Iguana with Charlotte's care during the trip. The Reverend T. Lawrence Shannon was partly based on Williams' cousin and close friend, the Reverend Sidney Lanier, the iconoclastic Rector of St Clement's Episcopal Church, New York. Lanier was a significant figure in the New York theatre scene in the 1950 and 1960s, started a Ministry to the Theatre Arts and would become co-founder of the experimental American Place Theatre in 1962. Lanier resigned from his ministry in May 1965. The play premiered on Broadway at the Royale Theatre on December 28, 1961, and ran for 316 performances. It starred Patrick O'Neal as