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 production. In 1940s Mexico an ex-minister, the Reverend T. Lawrence Shannon, has been locked out of his church after characterizing the Western image of God as a "senile delinquent", during one of his sermons. Shannon is not de-frocked, but he is institutionalized for a "nervous breakdown". Some time after his release, the Rev. Shannon obtains employment as a tour guide for a second-rate travel agency. Shortly before the opening of the play, Shannon is accused of having committed statutory rape of a sixteen-year-old girl, Charlotte Goodall, who is accompanying his current group of tourists. As the curtain rises, Shannon and