Sue Lyon – The Night of the Iguana – Original MGM Press Photograph – John Huston / Tennessee Williams – c.1964–65

Description

A striking original black-and-white MGM press photograph of Sue Lyon, dating from circa 1964–65 and strongly associated with John Huston’s The Night of the Iguana, adapted from the celebrated play by Tennessee Williams.

The photograph measures 20.2 × 18.8 cm and presents Lyon in a close, direct portrait, seated outdoors and looking towards the camera. The image has considerable presence: less stylised than the publicity material produced for Lolita, but still very recognisably part of Lyon’s early-1960s screen career.

A production-style reference at the lower-right appears to read:

HOI-6

which is consistent with The Night of the Iguana.

The reverse carries a contemporary studio identification:

SUE LYON
M-G-M

together with a Shields Gazette Library stamp and a clearly struck archive date of:

15 JAN 1965

These features establish the photograph as a genuine working studio / press print in circulation at the time, rather than a later collector reproduction.

Sue Lyon after Lolita

By the mid-1960s Sue Lyon was still closely identified with Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita, but she was also working in major studio productions. Her most important immediate post-Lolita role was Charlotte Goodall in John Huston’s The Night of the Iguana, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1964.

The film was adapted from Tennessee Williams’s 1961 play and starred:

Richard Burton
Ava Gardner
Deborah Kerr
Sue Lyon
Grayson Hall

Lyon’s role was that of Charlotte Goodall, a young tourist whose infatuation with Burton’s Reverend Shannon contributes to the early tensions in the story.

The film was one of the major prestige productions of Lyon’s early career and received four Academy Award nominations, winning for Costume Design.

MGM Provenance

The reverse of the photograph retains a period M-G-M identification stamp for Sue Lyon, which is particularly useful.

The photograph therefore benefits from:

• contemporary MGM studio identification;
• original working press format;
• Shields Gazette newspaper-library provenance;
• exact archive date of 15 January 1965;
• production-style reference HOI-6;
• strong visual and chronological relationship with The Night of the Iguana.

Although the surviving print no longer retains a full caption naming the film, these elements make the association highly persuasive.

Condition

Very good condition overall for an original working press photograph dating from the mid-1960s.

The image remains sharp and well contrasted, with very good facial detail.

There is light general age toning, minor surface and handling wear and modest edge and corner wear consistent with genuine newspaper-library use.

The reverse retains the original MGM identification stamp, Shields Gazette Library stamp and 15 January 1965 archive date.

Please study both photographs carefully as they form an integral part of the description.

Subject: Sue Lyon
Probable film association: The Night of the Iguana
Character: Charlotte Goodall
Director: John Huston
Source: Play by Tennessee Williams
Date: c.1964–65
Archive date: 15 January 1965
Studio / distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production reference: Apparently HOI-6
Photographer: Uncredited
Provenance: Shields Gazette photographic archive
Size: 20.2 × 18.8 cm
Format: Original black-and-white press photograph
Verso: Sue Lyon / MGM stamp, Shields Gazette Library stamp and archive date
Modern reproduction: No

Authenticity

This photograph has been handled, inspected and catalogued in-house at Hornseys.

Its period status is supported directly by the surviving MGM studio identification, the dated Shields Gazette archive markings and the original photographic format.

The association with The Night of the Iguana is strongly supported by the apparent HOI-6 production reference and the photograph’s date, but is stated with appropriate caution because the original full caption is no longer present.

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