Ava Gardner kept changing one of her lines in the film from "In a pig's eye, you are!" to "In a pig's ass, you are!", much to the delight of the rest of the cast and crew, including director John Huston.
Sue Lyon's then-fiancé, Hampton Fancher III, accompanied her to the set, but after interfering with production too many times, John Huston had him banned from the set.
According to one of the biographies of Tennessee Williams, "The Kindness of Strangers," by Donald Spoto, the character of Maxine, who is portrayed in this film by Ava Gardner, was purportedly based upon Williams' landlady of the apartment he rented in Santa Monica while he was working at MGM Studios in the 1940s. Her mannerisms, attitudes and even her distinctive one-syllable laugh were detailed by Williams and are expertly performed by Gardner.
In order to defuse the tension prior to shooting (due mainly to the isolated location the stars would be working in together), John Huston made each lead actor a gold-encrusted pistol with bullets--one with each actor's name on it. This way, when the actors wanted to kill one another, they would use the designated bullet. This proved to be successful. No problems among the cast arose.
Nearly half the film's $3 million budget was used to pay the three major star's salaries: Richard Burton ($750,000), Ava Gardner ($400,000) and Deborah Kerr ($250,000).
The characters of the Rev. T. Lawrence Shannon (Richard Burton), Maxine Faulk (Ava Gardner), and Hannah Jelkes (Deborah Kerr) were played in the original 1961 Broadway production by Patrick O'Neal, Bette Davis, and Margaret Leighton. The play, its producer and Leighton all were nominated for 1962 Tony Awards, but did not win.
The original Broadway production of "The Night of the Iguana," which made its Broadway debut on December 28, 1961 and ran for 316 performances, was Tennessee Williams last hit play. Iguana was nominated for the 1962 Tony Award for Best Play.
This movie put Puerta Vallarta, Mexico, on the map - it didn't even have scheduled air service before John Huston shot the film there. Elizabeth Taylor's appearance on the set and her ensuing scandalous affair with Richard Burton made headlines around the world. Now it's a top resort destination with thousands of hotel rooms and is a popular cruise ship port.