My birthday wish to Tennessee Williams

Yesterday, between work appointments, I watched "The Night of the Iguana," my two dollar birthday wish to playwright Tennessee Williams on what would have been his 100th birthday.

Based on Williams' 1961 play (which was itself based on his 1948 short story), the film focuses on the breakdown of Episcopal minister T. Lawrence Shannon (Richard Burton) and his relationship with three different women (Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr and Sue "Lolita" Lyon) over one long night at a cheap Mexican hotel. It's a heck of a picture, also starring Grayson Hall, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of a sexually frustrated Baptist school vocal teacher.

Gardner is her usual sexy self. Hall gives the performance of her career. Lyon exudes sex appeal, maybe more so (and less creepily) than she did in "Lolita."

Kerr steals the picture with her quiet, dignified portrayal of the chaste artist Hannah Jelkes. Cyril Delevanti gives a meaningful turn as Nonno, Hannah's grandfather poet, who delivers the film's denouement with the reading of his final poem.

Burton's performance is more complicated, more difficult to critique. It's good -- not great -- but a bit overdone, almost distracted. That might be because his real-life lover and future wife, Elizabeth Taylor (who passed away last week), visited him on the set in Mexico -- while she was still married to Eddie Fisher. The paparazzi followed.

So, too, came Williams himself. Rather than causing a distraction to director John Huston, Williams made himself useful, rewriting part of the script that wasn't working. According to film historian Lawrence Grobel, Huston thought that what Williams created, the scene between Burton and Lyon in his hotel room involving the broken glass, "was genius" -- and went with it.



Williams has a connection to Knoxville. In his column this week, Jack Neely tells you all about it, about Williams' father's funeral, and about the playwright's meeting with the writer David Madden at the Andrew Johnson Hotel.

"The Night of the Iguana" doesn't get the attention that other Williams works, say "A Streetcar Named Desire" or "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," receive. Maybe it's because it's not as good a play.

But, it's a heck of a movie, one to see. I liked it much better than the film adaptation of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."

Williams biographer Donald Spoto says "The Night of the Iguana" is "a film that is unashamed to be a meditation on human need, and human frailty, and enduring a dark night. And all we have in this dark night, by God's grace, the great thing we have, is one another."

Last trip to Regas

Took our last trip to Regas yesterday.

Bittersweet. Good meal. Thanks for the memories.

Heard the news about its closing while in Townsend a couple of weekends ago. Knew we had to go back. Jenn and I had enjoyed a special meal there in the summer. It was her first trip.

For me, the memories go back a ways. We used to spend our New Year's Eves there. Dinner and a movie. Just about every year.

If you missed Jack Neely's Metro Pulse piece about Knoxville's oldest restaurant, surf on over to the MP website and check it out. Go ahead. I'll wait.

Good piece, huh? Funny to think that Regas was once a lunch counter. And that the late Dave "Wendy's" Thomas once worked there.

Regas was always the place to go when something special was going down. I'd almost always wear a coat and tie. Always dressed up. Never once received bad service. Not once.

I loved the steak and the Scrod. And the red velvet cake, if I left room.

Didn't feel well at all yesterday. Darn migraine has lasted nearly six days. But such was the pull of the place that we couldn't not go. One more time. For auld lang syne.

Amanda Noel came out of the kitchen to greet us. Hard to believe she's all grown up. Darn good chef, too.

In years past, I saw Jake Butcher, met Howard Baker in the front lobby, dined with mayors, but never ordered lobster.

Now it's leaving us and I think a part of our community is leaving with it. The dress requirements -- sadly -- have long been relaxed. But, for me, Regas will always be synonymous with class, fine dining, good service, great food, coat and tie, special night, New Year's Eve.

Here's to you, for auld lang syne, lest we forget.