Iguana

Starring:Everett McGill, Michael Bradford, Roger Kendall, Robert Case, Luis Barboo, Fabio Testi, Jack Taylor (II), Maru Valdivielso, Pierangelo Pozzato, Alessandro Tasca, Fernando CebriÃ¡n, Charly Husey, Michael Madsen, Guillermo AntÃ³n, Ricardo Navarrete, Amaya Merino, Joseph Culp, Timothy C. Ryan, AgustÃn Guevara, Fernando De Juan
Director: Monte Hellman
Studio: Anchor Bay
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
This idiosyncratic twist on Beauty and the Beast was inspired by a real-life 19th-century sailor who enslaved a group of castaways on an island in the Galapagos. Herman Melville turned the story into a sketch in his book The Encantadas, which in turn inspired Alberto VÃ¡zquez Figueroa's novel La Iguana. Director Monte Hellman brought in his visions of Phantom of the Opera, and the elements coalesce together in a harshly beautiful story of a horribly scarred sailor who declares war on mankind for all the evils men have perpetrated on him out of fear and intolerance. Everett McGill plays the angry, defiant Oberlus as a ruthless philosopher-dictator, one moment thoughtful and respectful, the next fierce and vengeful. Maru Valdivielso stars as Carmen, a free spirit in the constrictive confines of Spanish society, "a monster" herself for her social transgressions, who is captured by Oberlus and made his sexual slave. It's a hard film to define, neither adventure nor romance, and the subdued drama, stark beauty, and still mood give it a dreamy atmosphere. While not wholly satisfying, Hellman's strange, dark portrait of sex and power in a primal island paradise is certainly fascinating. Michael Madsen costars as Oberlus's first slave who becomes a faithful lieutenant, and Italian star Fabio Testi has a small but memorable role as the vicious nemesis of Oberlus.

Description

At the Blue Iguana, in the heart of LA's San Fernando Valley, the lives of five strip club dancers converge over the course of one week. Angel (Daryl Hannah), attempts to qualify as a foster mother; Jasmine (Sandra Oh), is a clandestine poet who finds love at a coffee house reading; Jo (Jennifer Tilly), faces an unplanned pregnancy; Stormy (Sheila Kelley), confronts her bewildering past and Jesse (Charlotte Ayanna) gets a tough introduction to life in LA. This glimpse into the oft-misunderstood world of the strip club bares each girl inside and out both onstage and off, providing an insight to the story behind the dance.

Customer Reviews:

A powerful and gritty film.......2007-02-18

Dancing at the Blue Iguana is a film whose story was developed during a five month improvisational workshop run by director Michael Radford. The story centers around the Blue Iguana, your average seedy strip club, this one located in a faceless semi industrial area of the San Fernando valley part of LA. Each of the lead actors developed their own character and storyline based on their own research.

There have been a couple of pathetic attempts by Hollywood to make a film about the world of strip clubs, namely Showgirls and Demi Moore's abhorrent Striptease, but both of those failed miserably. Dancing at the Blue Iguana succeeds brilliantly. Walk into any average to below average strip club in America and you'll find stories that are not at all dissimilar from the stories developed by the Blue Iguana's five dancers all played brilliantly by Darryl Hannah, Sandra Oh, Charlotte Ayanna, Shiela Kelly and Jennifer Tilly.

The one story element that sticks out as overly fantastic is that of the Russian hit man played by Vladimir Mashkov, who because his target is being held for questioning by the FBI, is stuck in a hotel next to the club and falls for Darryl Hannah's character because he sees her smoking outside the club all the time. But if you replace the Russian hit man with a businessman stuck in town for a week, it still makes sense, and would be much more believable.

Robert Wisdom who plays Eddie, the owner of the club, and W. Earl Brown, who plays his right hand man, Bobby, both do a wonderful job in this movie as well. The camera work is first rate and does a fantastic job capturing the unscripted dialogue. The soundtrack is perfect for this film.

In a film about strip clubs, there is obviously going to be a lot of nudity, and there is in this film, but it's not done in a gratuitous way. The film also kind of starts and ends in the middle of each of the stories, but that's the way life is. I found it just absolutely compelling and rivetting, in some sense the way a train wreck is compelling, because some of these young women have real problems. I could have watched another two hours of this, though, it was that good.

Strip clubs are often sad places, both the dancers and their customers often have melancholy tales. Dancing at the Blue Iguana captures that milieu in a perfectly downbeat way. Really a great film.

Smoke yourself thin .......2007-01-20

Prior to watching this, I expected something on par with "Striptease" or "Showgirls," which are films about stripping that also attempt to legitimize their titillation by tossing in dramatic subplots. Even with earnest intentions, films of this sort usually end up being clichéd and disappointing. Adding to my trepidation was the fact I had never heard of this film, which was released in 2000, prior to 2006. I finally took a chance on it and gladly admit that it really drew me in and convinced me to care about the characters. Like most people, these women only want to find love and something real in life, yet have lost their centers. Indeed, it is the actresses' portrayals of these characters that make each disappointment and set-back so painful to watch. Sandra Oh really moved me with her performance as Jasmine, a would-be poet who sabotages her own happiness because she has come to believe she cannot trust anyone, including herself. Her performance as a sensitive, intelligent person is the most tragic among these lives because she lacks the confidence to escape her current situation, even though she easily could. As Angel, Darryl Hannah is wonderful as a helplessly dim and hopelessly optimistic dreamer. (She also looks unbelievably fit!) Jennifer Tilly is also very good as the out of control Jo, a woman who tries desperately to win in a man's world, but comes to realize the playing field is not level. Charlotte Ayanna is remarkable as Jessie, an eager to please naïf, who has not yet had her spirit crushed by the weight of the world. Come to think of it, it does all sound very clichéd and there really isn't much of a plot to tie it all together, just several subplots. Nonetheless, the acting is exceptional, made all the more impressive by the fact much of it is improvised. (And yes, the ladies here all smoke, which would ostensibly account for their trim appearances) I enjoyed the entire two hours and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good character study without the hindrance of a plot. The DVD is quite decent, with a very good transfer, optional subtitles and some alternate scenes. This is a bargain for the price.

Sandra Oh, Jennifer Tilly.......2007-01-19

I'll be honest, any movie where I get to see Sandra Oh and one of the Tilly sisters nekkid is going to get 6 stars from me.
But it actually is a pretty good movie, though it is a little predictable. I would say it is fairly realistic (having dated a couple of strippers), except for the total lack of any lesbianism. But maybe thats just in the bay area.
On the plus side, this is one of the better Jennifer Tilly movies. That girl needs to get a better manager!

whether or not you admit it..........2006-12-21

youre going to go through an aspiring-stripper phase after seeing this.

with addictive plotlines, phenomenal dialogue and characters fabulous enough to make you immediately assign one to each of your friends (or at least to yourself) this movie is at very least a guilty pleasure, with star quality to boot.

to top it all off, the choreography is incredible. i recommend watching the behind the scenes, and then maybe renting "The S Factor" (the striptease workout by Sheila Kelley, who plays Stormy).

it's a movie worth seeing, and definitely a great addition to most collections. a serious classic!

Tends to Be Annoying.......2006-09-17

"Dancing at the Blue Iguana" takes a look at a week in the life (onstage, backstage, out in the real world) of a group of strippers working at the Blue Iguana. I love strippers just as much as the next guy, but these strippers you really don't care about. The movie is apparently improvised, at least for the most part, which is probably where some of the problems lie. The cast of characters includes Jessie (Charlotte Ayanna), Angel (Daryl Hannah), Stormy (Sheila Kelly), Jasmine (Sandra Oh), and Jo (Jennifer Tilly). Each night, each woman gets on stage and dances naked. Thankfully, taking away from the stereotype, when they go back stage they're not all sad and hopeless human beings who think they've failed at life. No, they're all happy people for the most part but they still have their share of problems. Jessie seems to be really lonely, and has apparently not spoken to her family in a few years. Angel is a naive, baby-like, annoying woman who longs to have a baby and finally decides to get a foster child. Stormy is probably the most stereotypical of the bunch, her brother has came into town (he's getting married) and she longs to see him but doesn't know how to approach him. Jasmine is an aspiring poet and Jo is exactly what most of Jennifer Tilly's roles are. The bad tempered rebel of the bunch, who happens to be pregnant. The writers of the film were obviously trying to develop the characters, but they didn't do a very good job of it. Yeah, you know what they aspire to do and everything but there's just something missing from the equation. With the lack of development, few of the characters are even interesting enough to follow through the two hour movie. Out of all of them, it's (surprisingly) Angel that's most annoying. Hannah uses (although, this wasn't what it would be referred to when the movie came out) a Paris Hilton voice and is just really annoying and stupid. If you're looking for a good movie (and this movie is OK, on the entertainment scale) that exposes the lives of strippers off the bar; This isn't for you. If you're looking for a few well known actresses to take off their clothes, then this may be your kind of movie. W. Earl Brown ('Deadwood')
co-stars.

GRADE: C+

Average customer rating:

Go Diego Go! - The Iguana Sing Along
Starring: Go Diego Go!
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Go Diego Go! - Underwater Mystery
Go Diego Go! - Ready, Set, Go!
Go Diego Go! - The Great Jaguar Rescue
Dora The Explorer - Summer Explorer
Dora the Explorer - Shy Rainbow

ASIN: B000NA21XG
Release Date: 2007-05-22

Product Description

Join Diego and his team on another exciting interactive adventure to help Iggy the Iguana find his way home in time for the sing along, rescue Oli and Oscar River Otters; get Linda the Llama to the library opening on time, and help Ana the Anaconda find a new river home.

Average customer rating:

Best Williams, Best Burton, Best Huston
TRULY a classic-for-all-time
an intelligent yet heart-felt drama
the movie that MADE puerto vallarta hot
Night of the Iguana "Timeless"

The Night of the Iguana
Starring: Richard Burton , Ava Gardner , Deborah Kerr , Sue Lyon , and Skip Ward
Director: John Huston
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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Mogambo
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ASIN: B000EBD9TE
Release Date: 2006-05-02

Amazon.com

The Night of the Iguana may be Richard Burton's finest hour on the screen: beautifully cast as an anguished, defrocked reverend, doomed to his own purgatory in Mexico as tour guide to a group of nattering biddies. (The expression on his face as the ladies warble "Happy Days Are Here Again" on the tour bus is worth a Shakespearian monologue.) John Huston's clean, black-comic adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play is a forceful snapshot of a man down to his last chance, and the superb black-and-white location photography by Gabriel Figueroa captures the end-of-the-world vibe. The women who tempt and taunt the reverend are Ava Gardner (with her maraca-shaking beach boys), Deborah Kerr, and Sue Lyon. The movie--and its backstage publicity, with Burton and Liz Taylor carrying on their Cleopatra affair--put Puerto Vallarta on the map, but it deserves notice for Burton's gutsy acting and Huston's characteristic sympathy for life's losers. --Robert Horton

Description

In the sleepy village of Puerto Vallarta, the defrocked Reverend T. Laurence Shannon works as a tour guide. While leading a group of school teachers, he attracts the attention of their junior member Charlotte Goodall. To save money, he takes the group to a rundown hotel owned by his friend, Maxine Faulk. Once there, his interest shifts to Hannah Jelkes, a poor artist. But in the end it may be Maxine whom he stays on with.

Customer Reviews:

Best Williams, Best Burton, Best Huston.......2007-06-30

A gorgeous film, powerfully acted and directed, and probably William's best script for the stage if you consider that here for the first time we have a play about women who are adjusted to the world and have a chance. "Streetcar" which is a better play in some ways, nonetheless is about maladjustment, neurosis, and death. It may a great tragedy, but it is not about living in the world and finding happiness. This one is. Hannah, the spinster, and Maxine, earth mother, have both found peace on their own terms. Shannon, the defrocked minister turned has-been tour guide, has also found a way to cope. At the end of the play we believe there is a future for them all. The play is suffused with a life-affirmation that is absent from much of William's writing. It is a grand, sprawling epic, not one of these tidy little 70-minute one-acts today's playwrights call full-lengths. Here, as directed by the great John Huston, we are deep into Puerto Vallarta, that Mexican oasis far away from the Texas border with its busy-bodies, baptists, and worldly responsibilities. Sex and rum cocos are not metaphors down south, so Williams writes full out, in what finally is a celebration of survival.

TRULY a classic-for-all-time.......2007-06-15

This film spoke to many topics that were verboten, even in Hollywood of that day ... this is my favorite B&W movie of all time, my favorite Richard Burton movie, my favorite Ava Gardner movie, my favorite Tennessee Williams screenplay - a GREAT movie ...

an intelligent yet heart-felt drama.......2007-05-29

John huston's on location direction, Richard Burton's portrayal of a man at the end of his rope, ava gardner's tough as nails performance - this all leads to one thing - a great movie... From a Tennessee williams play, 'night at the iguana' manages to succeed as a one of a kind gem.. I can't think of anything else like it.. It stirs to the depths in a plot that takes on faith in the face of reality... highly recommended..

the movie that MADE puerto vallarta hot.......2007-05-12

the film version of tennessee williams's last hit play stars richard burton as a defrocked episcopal priest who cant keep his zipper zipped and winds up a seedy tour guide for americans visiting the then remote mexican village of puerto vallarta. for its time, john hustons film is pretty uncompromising in its depiction of sleaze, and he brings out solid work from ava gardner and sue lyon, but deborah kerr fails to fully bring out the frustrated sexuality of her character. im not a williams lover (hes too in love with his own symbolism for my taste), but i think this was about as good a version of this work as could have been made.

Night of the Iguana "Timeless".......2007-03-29

This movie is black and white but you can't help but think "wait a minute"...the issues, lessons in this great film could be of and for today!
A classic, that is timeless.

Tennessee Williams Film Collection (A Streetcar Named Desire 1951 Two-Disc Special Edition / Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 1958 Deluxe Edition / Sweet Bird of Youth / The Night of the Iguana / Baby Doll / The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone)

Average customer rating:

Essential boxset for fans of American theater of the 1950s
A Boxed Set Named Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams' plays as movies
A Bit Of Heaven In This Southern Madness
Amazing Box Set Collects Some of the Finest Film Performances of Mid-20th Century American Cinema

Tennessee Williams Film Collection (A Streetcar Named Desire 1951 Two-Disc Special Edition / Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 1958 Deluxe Edition / Sweet Bird of Youth / The Night of the Iguana / Baby Doll / The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone)
Starring: Vivien Leigh , Marlon Brando , Kim Hunter , Karl Malden , and Rudy Bond
Director: Elia Kazan , and Richard Brooks
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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ASIN: B000EBD9UI
Release Date: 2006-05-02

Amazon.com

A much-needed DVD tribute to one of the essential American playwrights, The Tennessee Williams Collection gathers six Williams titles and one vintage documentary. Taken together, it's a potent introduction to the specific terrain (geographical and emotional) of this brilliant writer. The set is anchored by Warner's deluxe two-disc treatment of A Streetcar Named Desire, which has copious extras (among them a fine 90-minute documentary about director Elia Kazan). The multi-Oscar-winning Streetcar is one of the better stage adaptations in film history, and it captures the electrifying Marlon Brando, re-creating his stage role, in the part that changed American acting: the brutish New Orleans sensualist Stanley Kowalski. Vivien Leigh won an Oscar opposite him, as the faded (except in her own mind) Southern belle Blanche DuBois, whose arrival in the Kowalski home leads to disaster.

Kazan also directed Baby Doll, which Williams scripted from a couple of one-act plays. This outrageous sex comedy casts the excellent Carroll Baker as the 19-year-old wife of middle-aged Karl Malden, who anxiously awaits the day he can finally consummate his maddening marriage; immigrant cotton magnate Eli Wallach shows up at Malden's crumbling plantation house just in time to take the bloom off the rose, as it were. Famous for being condemned in 1956, Baby Doll remains a very modern (and gloriously dirty) movie. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Richard Brooks, faithfully brings three of Williams's indelible characters to the screen, even if the script discreetly changes the original stage text: the hot Maggie the Cat (Elizabeth Taylor), her reluctant husband Brick (Paul Newman), and Brick's rich Big Daddy (Burl Ives). All three performers act the lights out.

Sweet Bird of Youth reunites Paul Newman with director Brooks, and also showcases Geraldine Page's performance as an aging film star tagging along with young stud Newman to his Southern home town. Some of Williams' more depraved touches are toned down, but the milieu is unmistakable and the movie is intense. The Night of the Iguana gives Richard Burton perhaps his finest hour onscreen: as Williams' dissolute defrocked priest, playing tour guide in Puerto Vallarta to tour groups of nattering biddies. The movie has director John Huston's sympathy for life's losers, as well as a trio of women built to torment Burton's reverend: Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr, and Sue Lyon. The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, based on Williams's novel, is not a great movie, but gives Vivien Leigh a good workout as a wounded actress dallying with Italian gigolo Warren Beatty.

Tennessee Williams' South is a 1973 documentary featuring some marvelous observations from Williams, as he holds court for filmmaker Harry Rasky. It also has long scenes from his plays, enacted by good folks such as Maureen Stapleton, Colleen Dewhurst, and Burl Ives. Especially valuable is a Streetcar sequence with Jessica Tandy re-creating her original role as Blanche. Williams himself reads the narration from The Glass Menagerie, a privileged moment. This is not an exhaustive Williams set (Joseph Mankiewicz's Suddenly, Last Summer and Sidney Lumet's The Fugitive Kind are among the best Williams films), but it maps out the steamy, tortured landscape awfully well. --Robert Horton

Description

Streetcar Named Desire 2 Disc SE Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Deluxe Edition Sweet Bird of Youth Night of the Iguana Baby Doll Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone

Customer Reviews:

Essential boxset for fans of American theater of the 1950s.......2007-02-23

This is a terrific boxset, collecting six of the films based on Tennessee Williams's plays (plus another disc with the documentary "Tennessee Williams' South"). All the films are transferred with great care, and look quite wonderful. And the films themselves are fascinating, because (with the exception of BABY DOLL), they're invariably sanitized, as the major studios (Warner Brothers, MGM) struggled to constrain the unfettered imagination of one of America's most floridly uninihibited playwrights. Yet Williams' reputation as one of the premiere writers for actors allows some classic performances, starting with Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, Karl Malden and Kim Hunter in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, one of the most potent displays of Method acting which helped to revolutionize American film and theater. Kazan's hyperbolic direction of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE is tempered in BABY DOLL, possibly the most charming film in the set (with terrific performances from Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, Eli Wallach, and, most hilariously, Mildred Dunnock). It seems incredible that, at the time (1956), BABY DOLL was the most controversial film of its year, with condemnation and cries of "filth" being bandied about. But BABY DOLL is a comic interlude in Williams' career. CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF is the most heavily censored, so that all the talk of mendacity makes the film seem mendacious, because no one is talking about what the film is really about. But all the actors go to town with their Southern accents, especially Elizabeth Taylor and Judith Anderson.

But if CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF seems antiseptic, that's nothing compared to SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH, which is alternately lurid and dainty. To watch Geraldine Page rip through in an absolutely corrosive and riveting performance is to see one of America's greatest actresses at her peak. THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA is uneven, but, again, some of the performances (in particular, Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, and, especially, Deborah Kerr and Cyril Delevanti) are superb. The long sequence with Burton and Kerr talking about demons and love while Burton is tied in the hammock is one of the most poetic sequences in all of Williams, handled with great insight and power.

THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE has worn well with the years, as Vivien Leigh gives an elegant performance as the aging woman desperate for love nad even more desperate for her dignity.

Of course, these are all works which could be done now with a greater fidelity to Williams' original texts, but it would be hard to beat the incredible performances, done (in many cases) in the original acting styles of the period (in STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH, many of the original Broadway casts were also cast in the films). This is a chance to see some legendary actors in the classic parts which they made famous.

A Boxed Set Named Tennessee Williams.......2007-01-08

He may be considered the great American playwright of the 20th Century, but until I got the boxed set of DVDs featuring adaptations of his works, I had never really been exposed to Tennessee Williams. This set of six movies gives a good sampling of Williams and shows why he got his reputation for both daring and excellence.

In chronological order by film date, the first film in the set (and probably the best) is A Streetcar Named Desire. This story focuses on the interrelationship of three characters: Blanche DuBois (played by Vivien Leigh), her sister Stella (Kim Hunter) and Stella's husband, Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando). Blanche moves in with the couple, fleeing from scandal in her hometown and with only a weak grip on sanity. The brutish Stanley is her natural antagonist, with Stella stuck in the middle. Eventually, however, Blanche and Stanley will have to confront each other.

Though Blanche may be the main character, it is Stanley who steals the show due to Brando's wonderful performance. After seeing this movie, I can understand how significant of an impact that Brando had in the world of movie acting; prior to Streetcar, acting performances like Brando's were quite rare. This is a great film, and the only Williams movie I was really familiar with prior to watching, both due to its immortal scenes ("Stella!") and the brilliant Simpsons musical adaptation (in "A Streetcar Named Marge").

Next is Baby Doll, with Karl Malden as an impoverished cotton-miller and Carroll Baker as his very young wife, the Baby Doll of the title. She has been viewing her much older spouse with increasing contempt and has held him to a promise that they would not consummate their marriage until she turned 20, an event soon to happen. Eli Wallach enters the film as both a business and romantic rival to Malden. For the time this movie was made (1956), this film was sexually daring, and though not as explicit as modern movies, it still holds up well.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof features Maggie (Elizabeth Taylor) and Brick (Paul Newman) as a married couple on the edge. A deep secret has kept them estranged and there is the additional complication of the impending death of Brick's very wealthy and dominating father. Brick may be Big Daddy's favorite, but their problems threatens to cut Brick out of an inheritance he doesn't want; Maggie, however, has other ideas.

Newman is back in a different role in Sweet Bird of Youth as a young hustler who returns to his hometown as the lover/employee of an aging actress. He is hopeful that she will help him make it big in Hollywood, but he is also interested in winning back his old girlfriend, a goal her corrupt political boss father will do anything to stop.

Night of the Iguana has Richard Burton as a drunken reverend turned third-rate tour guide winding up at a hotel run by the widow (Ava Gardner) of an old friend. His job is threatened when a young tourist (played by Sue Lyons of Lolita fame) keeps trying to seduce him. As things fall apart for him, it's up to the widow and an artist (Deborah Kerr) to keep him from destroying himself.

Finally, there is The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, featuring Vivien Leigh as a recently widowed actress who takes a young lover (played by an early Warren Beatty). This is probably the weakest in the set, and the only one I felt rather bored while watching.

Actually, there is a problem that is consistent with many of these movies in that they often just seem like filmed plays. That is, everything seems very staged and there is little real action; the focus is on dialogue, which often takes the somewhat formal form you see in the theater. That is not to say that these are bad movies; actually, they are almost all good: Streetcar is a five star film, Baby Doll, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Sweet Bird of Youth merit four, Night three and Roman Spring two. There are also a good number of extras in the set, including commentaries on Streetcar and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a bunch of mini-documentaries and a bonus disc called Tennessee Williams' South. This bonus disc is an early-1970s documentary featuring interviews with Williams and various actors doing scenes from his plays; it is mildly interesting.

One does not watch Williams expecting happy endings and everything nicely resolved (although some of the films do end more upbeat than others, in part, I believe because of a Hollywood demand for such conclusions, despite how the plays may have been written). Instead, you get a level and type of drama that was rarely shown prior to the Williams. Overall, this set rates a high four stars; it may not be perfect, but you do get some good films that pushed the limits of what was allowed at the time.

Tennessee Williams' plays as movies.......2007-01-06

Each of the plays of Tennessee Williams that has been rended as a movie is worth watching. The rawness of emotions, the actors and the direction all make these movies immensely watchable.

A Bit Of Heaven In This Southern Madness.......2006-10-09

Being a sucker for a good box set, I have accumulated quite a few. You end up with some great DVDs, but also some titles that you might not have purchased on their own. This Tennessee Williams collection is one that I wholeheartedly recommend--each selection might not be a true classic, but each represents a significant part of Williams' lexicon and lore. Put together, they symbolize and honor a master craftsman and a time when words, dialogue and screenplays were more important than quick edits and loud soundtracks.

Of course, the undisputed champion of this set is the two disc "A Streetcar Named Desire." An absolutely perfect rendering of a brilliant play, "Streetcar" boasts some of the most powerful performances you're likely to see. With Oscars going to Vivien Leigh, Karl Malden and Kim Hunter--this is one of the most honored films in history. And Marlon Brando's Stanley Kowalski has become a legend.

I'm not going to individually review every film, each offers its own merits. What is amazing about these films is how adult they were for their day and how well they stand up today. Southern melodrama never looked or sounded so good.

"Cat on A Hot Tin Roof" is a flawed, truncated version of Williams' play--but still an entertaining vehicle for Newman and Taylor. "Sweet Bird Of Youth" is one of my absolute favorites proving once and for all that Geraldine Page was an acting icon! Those that dismiss "Baby Doll" as a more minor work miss some of its subtlety. It's a very clever romp. "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" and "The Night of the Iguana" are both intriguing and eminently watchable, but not without their problems.

These films represent very adult topics, some great writing--sometimes leaning toward lurid melodrama--and awesome performances. It's easy to see why so many top caliber actors and directors are attached to these pieces--and why so many were honored for their works.

If you love film (or plays for that matter) and you haven't seen some of these titles, do yourself a favor--BUY THIS SET and enjoy. Tennessee Williams was a singular talent and a unique voice. KGHarris, 10/06.

Amazing Box Set Collects Some of the Finest Film Performances of Mid-20th Century American Cinema.......2006-05-24

If playwright Tennessee Williams's Southern gothic writing style makes his works feel more ornately melodramatic than those of O'Neill or his closest contemporary Arthur Miller, they do provide resonant showcases for the actors inhabiting his characters. This is clearly evidenced in this six-film, eight-disc collection that epitomizes some of the most powerful acting to come out of Hollywood in the 1950's and early 1960's, all directed by true filmmaking masters. Probably because they are the least censored by the studio system at least in the form presented now, the best of the set are Elia Kazan's "A Streetcar Named Desire" and John Huston's "The Night of the Iguana". The others are Kazan's "Baby Doll", Richard Brooks' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", Jose Quintero's "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" and Brooks' "Sweet Bird of Youth".

A feral, smoldering Marlon Brando justifiably made his reputation as brutish Stanley Kowalski in 1951's "A Streetcar Named Desire", and his animalistic charisma still leaps off the screen. Intriguingly, one of the extras included in the two-disc set for the movie is footage from a 1947 screen test of Brando when he was 23, and his stardom seems assured even then. The plot of the movie amounts to the inevitable clash between Kowalski and his visiting sister-in-law, Blanche DuBois, a fading Southern belle on the verge of a mental breakdown. Having proven her ability to be a convincing Southerner in "Gone With the Wind", Vivien Leigh expertly handles all the florid dialogue with her particular blend of defiance and vulnerability.

Strong supporting work comes from Kim Hunter as Blanche's naive sister Stella and Karl Malden as Blanche's seemingly respectful suitor Mitch. Now over ninety, Malden is on hand to provide his own eloquent recollections of the production on an alternate track, and film historians Rudy Behlmer and Jeff Young provide more objective commentary on another track. Film critic Richard Schickel's 1995 feature-length look at Kazan is the centerpiece of the second disk, and there is also a more interesting five-part documentary on the film and original Broadway show, the best portion focusing on censorship and the several minutes that have been reinserted in the DVD version of the film.

1964's "The Night of the Iguana" deals with a similarly dysfunctional group of people, but this time the setting is a dilapidated Mexican beach resort where Reverend Shannon, newly defrocked, has taken a group of spinsters from a women's college. Huston made his reputation on his strong literary adaptations, and his affinity shows in the fulsome characterizations, striking visuals and dark humor. Richard Burton is in peak form as Shannon, and there is also sterling work from Deborah Kerr as the spinsterish Hannah and especially Ava Gardner as the slatternly resort owner, Maxine Faulk. The DVD contains a recent making-of featurette and a vintage video, both fascinating.

"Baby Doll" is an entertaining hoot that doesn't seem as sensationalistic as I'm sure it was when the film was first released in 1956. It's simply a Southern-fried farce about the potential deflowering of a nineteen-year old child bride with a nice, pouty turn by Carroll Baker in the title role and a surprisingly funny one by Karl Malden as her randy husband, cotton mill owner Archie. 1958's "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" is far more vaunted but ultimately hamstrung by the overly careful portrayal of Brick as an asexual protagonist, this in spite of stellar performances from Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman and Burl Ives.

Newman is even better as gigolo Chance Wayne in 1963's "Sweet Bird of Youth", and he is matched all the way by Geraldine Page's all-cylinders-on performance as faded movie queen Alexandra Del Lago (a role that would have ironically been ideal for Ava Gardner). The weakest film of the set is 1961's "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" about an aging American actress living in Rome who falls recklessly in love with an indifferent gigolo. A decade after "Streetcar", the glamorous-looking Leigh excels in the title role, while a young Warren Beatty fits the physical requirements as the gigolo Paolo even though his faux-Italian accent is a little too emphatic. All four of these movies come with making-of featurettes and original trailers, and "Cat" also includes commentary from Williams' biographer Donald Spoto.

The focal point of the eighth disc is a 1973 documentary, "Tennessee Williams' South", which highlights insightful interviews with Williams in the New Orleans area. The film also includes classic scenes from his plays reenacted specifically for the documentary. You can have the privilege of seeing Broadway's original Blanche DuBois, Jessica Tandy, and compare her work to Leigh's, as well as an impressive turn by Maureen Stapleton as Amanda Wingfield in "The Glass Menagerie". This is an incredible film collection for anyone who wants to see some of the greatest performances of mid-20th century American cinema.

Average customer rating:

Kelly Lynch dancing with a five legged Iguana was sort of amusing.
Ultimately Pretty Pointless
DOESN'T DESERVE NEGLECT
A Guilty Pleasure

Warm Summer Rain
Starring: Kelly Lynch , Barry Tubb , Ron Sloan , Larry Poindexter , and Lupe Amador
Director: Joe Gayton
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00094AS5O
Release Date: 2005-07-26

Description

What happens when two strangers running from their pasts run into each other? Kelly Lynch (Drugstore Cowboy) heats up the screen with a "strong, emotionally truthful performance" (Los Angeles Times) in this intense erotic thriller that proves that everyone's got a secretand that you don't have to know someone's name in order to share the same fears and desires. After mysteriously leaving her life behind and buying a one-way ticket to anywhere, Kate (Lynch) wakes up married to a handsome stranger (Barry Tubb) she met at a bar. Hiding out in an abandoned house in the desert, the pair embarks on a torrid journey of sensual and romantic discoverybut it soon becomes clear that things can't stay this way forever.

Customer Reviews:

Kelly Lynch dancing with a five legged Iguana was sort of amusing........2006-06-08

"Warm Summer Rain" brings to us feelings we have all experienced... isolation, hopelessness, bewilderment, doubt... and opens a vein of self-examination that asks basically... why? Why me, why life, why love? I thought this movie was a bit odd to me, but I quickly got into the momentum. As on one of the reviewers stated previously that it reminded him of the Twilight Zone, I clearly see why.

In seeking meaning and purpose in the midst of social disparity, the couple exploits a temporary pseudo-marriage relationship that allows them intensity. If the dialogue, the feelings, and the interactions sometimes seem awkward, it is in keeping with the ages of the characters...

The astonishing thing about this film is that it is perfectly aware of its characters problems, yet it doesn't bore us with much details....they meet, they do the most logical thing and have sex constantly in an abandoned house...they state their causes...and then try to conform somewhat to the outside world by the films ending. Kelly wants to be alone and she wants to be isolated. Combined with stunning imagery and camera work...even if you mute the sound's still feel the isolation and quiet moodiness of the film..compared to "Last Tango"...this film is much better. "Tango" is loud it is repellent insensibly...this film is bright, evocative and mildly entertaining...it shouldn't be entertaining it's mostly suttle.

If you are a film buff, and do not mind a different style of film, this is worthwhile. It does not leave you with such a great feeling, but overall it is done very well. Psychological, even philosophical; thought-provoking.

Ultimately Pretty Pointless.......2006-01-06

The only thing that kept me watching this movie was to see if there was going to be a Twilight Zone-type ending that tied it all together.

Remember the Zone where five wildly-different people (a clown, a cowboy, a ballerina, etc.) are trapped in a round room and, when they finally escape, you find out that they're just dolls in a trash can? It was a lame Zone, but I thought of that watching this movie as Kelly Lynch wanted to stay inside that abandoned desert house--and wondered if that house was going to be a place between Life and Death. That Kelly might have been hovering between the two in that room and that her new "husband" was Satan. Or an angel. Something really off-the-wall.

But it didn't happen. It's pretty much a straight-forward story of dysfunctional low-lifes trying to figure out their messy lives--without telling us very much about themselves. The acting is very good and Kelly Lynch looks great naked (even with bandages on her wrists and wearing a dirty hosptial gown for the whole movie), but the story gets lost in the desert.

And what the heck happened to that baby that shows up for a couple of scenes and then disappears?
That's what I was wondering about for the rest of the movie but nothing more is said.

DOESN'T DESERVE NEGLECT.......2005-12-22

Although given short shrift by the few critics who watched it, this is a worthy effort, marked by good acting, direction, technicals, and an intelligent script. Although in a state of undress through much of the film, Kelly Lynch is given an opportunity to display the full panoply of her acting range as there are essentially only two actors. And, as so often with independent films, all involved have an opportunity to be truly creative. The desert setting enhanced the starkness of the extreme emotions to which the viewer is exposed.

A Guilty Pleasure.......2005-07-03

Kelly Lynch gives a captivating performance. Even the professional reviewers are unable to agree what exactly the story line in this movie is. There is a considerable amount of nudity, which perhaps distracts some people. Other people do not want to watch self-destructive people. I enjoy the movie and consider it one of my "Guilty Pleasures".

Average customer rating:

Live from London
Starring: The Fabulous Thunderbirds
Manufacturer: Iguana Project
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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