IMDb > The Long, Hot Summer (1958)
The Long, Hot Summer
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The Long, Hot Summer (1958) More at IMDbPro »

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The Long, Hot Summer (1958) -- Trailer for this story of the south

Overview

User Rating:
7.2/10   2,978 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 5% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
William Faulkner (stories) (novel "The Hamlet")
Irving Ravetch (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Long, Hot Summer on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
18 May 1958 (West Germany) more
Genre:
Tagline:
Adapted from the Sensational Novel by William Faulkner more
Plot:
Accused barn burner and con man Ben Quick arrives in a small Mississippi town and quickly ingratiates himself with its richest family, the Varners. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
1 win & 3 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
Paul Newman: 1925 - 2008
 (From IMDb News. 27 September 2008, 8:49 AM, PDT)

Actor Tony Franciosa Dead at 77
 (From WENN. 22 January 2006)

User Comments:
Debut for legendary screen team more (39 total)

Cast

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Additional Details

Runtime:
115 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) (Westrex Recording System) | Mono (35 mm optical prints)
Certification:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Director Martin Ritt was forever known after this movie as the man who tamed Orson Welles. During filming Ritt drove Welles into the middle of a swamp, kicked him out of the car and forced him to find his own way back. more
Quotes:
Ben: All right then, run, lady, and you keep on running. Buy yourself a bus ticket and disappear. Change your name, dye your hair, get lost - and then maybe, just maybe, you're gonna be safe from me. more
Movie Connections:
Soundtrack:
The Long, Hot Summer more

FAQ

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17 out of 25 people found the following comment useful.
Debut for legendary screen team, 15 April 2007
8/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

The Long Hot Summer is chiefly noted for the fact that Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward made their joint cinematic debut in this film. One of Hollywood's best personal and professional partnerships, Joanne had won a Best Actress Oscar for The Three Faces of Eve the year before and it took Paul thirty more years to match it for their mantelpiece in The Color of Money.

Based on some William Faulkner short stories, The Long Hot Summer commences when Joanne Woodward and Lee Remick, daughter and daughter-in-law of local patriarch Orson Welles give drifter Paul Newman a lift into town. Woodward's a repressed school teacher and Welles despairs of her finding a suitable match.

Because he started dirt poor and worked his way up to the top, Welles takes a liking to Newman and pushes, a little too hard for Newman and Woodward to team up. That's not sitting real well with Anthony Franciosa who is Welles's son and sees Newman displacing him in the family pecking order.

In fact my favorite in the film is Franciosa, he usually is in any film he's in. When he's on the screen, you don't pay attention to anyone else, not even Orson Welles.

Welles borrows a bit from Tennessee Williams's Big Daddy Pollitt from the Paul Newman film the year before, Cat On a Hot Tin Roof. His Will Varner though is a bit softer around the edges, also lends itself more easily to caricature. I think the creators of The Dukes of Hazzard used Welles in The Long Hot Summer as their model for Boss Hogg.

In fact it's interesting to see the contrast in The Long Hot Summer and Cat On a Hot Tin Roof. It's obvious to me that William Faulkner liked the people of Mississippi a whole lot more than the southerners that are in Tennessee Williams's work.

Almost fifty years later, The Long Hot Summer is still enjoyable viewing and still may be the best of Paul and Joanne's joint ventures.

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