The Long, Hot Summer (1958)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Martin Ritt

Writers:

William Faulkner (stories) (novel "The Hamlet")
Irving Ravetch (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

18 May 1958 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Adapted from the Sensational Novel by William Faulkner

Plot:

Ben Quick arrives in Frenchman's Bend, MS after being kicked out of another town for allegedly burning a barn for revenge...

Plot Keywords:

Mistress | Confidence Man | Arson | Patriarch | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Paul Newman	...	Ben Quick
Joanne Woodward	...	Clara Varner
Anthony Franciosa	...	Jody Varner
Orson Welles	...	Will Varner
Lee Remick	...	Eula Varner
Angela Lansbury	...	Minnie Littlejohn
Richard Anderson	...	Alan Stewart
Sarah Marshall	...	Agnes Stewart
Mabel Albertson	...	Mrs. Stewart
J. Pat O'Malley	...	Ratliff
Bill Walker	...	Lucius (as William Walker)

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) (Westrex Recording System) | Mono (35 mm optical prints)

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:Approved (certificate #18811) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Asphodel Plantation - 4626 Highway 68, Jackson, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Jerry Wald Productions

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.

Quotes:

Ben: I can see my white shirt and my black tie and my Sunday manners didn't fool you for a minute. Well, that's right, ma'am, I'm a menace to the countryside. All a man's gotta do is just look at me sideways and his house goes up in fire. And here I am, living right here in the middle of your peaceable little town, right in your back yard, you might say. Guess that ought to keep you awake at night.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in L'important c'est d'aimer (1975)

Soundtrack:

The Long, Hot Summer

The mythic South

The Long, Hot Summer is what movies are all about. Newman is so sexy it's no wonder that Agnes pleads with her friend Clara not to send this handsome stranger away too fast, even if he's a sewing machine salesman. Joanne Newman as Clara looks beautiful with her blonde hair pulled back tight and a little half twist to her hips when she walks.

Although some reviewers have said this film is more Tennesse Williams than Faulkner, Clara does not resemble Williams' tragic heroines who are mired in the past. She is mightily tempted by Newman's Ben Quick, the "modern man," who advises her than the world is ruled by the meat-eaters. It is Clara who makes their first tryst possible and though it ends with angry words, it is obvious these two are meant for each other.

Will Varner, played over-the-top by Orson Welles, is Clara's father. He owns everything in town and figures his holdings extend to his daughter. He wants sons to carry on his name and Ben Quick looks like the man for his Clara.

The movie creates a town that feels as though it will live on after the film is over and people who relate to each other as if there was no camera present. Granted it's not the real South but the mythic South. Sex goes hand in hand with the dust and the heat. Aristocratic blood is running thin. A handsome "bull" of a stranger appears to liven things up. Newman swings his battered old suitcase with the confidence of a man who knows he'll soon be sleeping on satin sheets.