The Long, Hot Summer (1958)

Directed by

Martin Ritt

Genre

drama film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 55m

Rated

NR

Rating

7.0 of 10 from 227 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A drifter arrives in a small Mississippi town and stirs up trouble for a powerful local family. The patriarch likes him more than his own son and tries to arrange a marriage between the drifter and his daughter.

sultrytensemelodramaticslow-burnfamily-conflictambitiousromantic-tensionsouthern-gothic

What happens

The Long, Hot Summer is a 1958 American drama film starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Orson Welles, Lee Remick, and Angela Lansbury. It was directed by Martin Ritt, with a screenplay by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr., based in part on three works by William Faulkner: the 1931 novella "Spotted Horses", the 1939 short story "Barn Burning" and the 1940 novel The Hamlet. The title is taken from The Hamlet, as Book Three is called "The Long Summer". Some characters, as well as tone, were inspired by Tennessee Williams' 1955 play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a film adaptation of which – also starring Newman – was released 5 months later. The plot follows the conflicts of the Varner family after ambitious drifter Ben Quick (Newman) arrives in their small Mississippi town. Will Varner (Welles), the patriarch, has doubts about his son, Jody (Franciosa) and sees Ben as a better choice to inherit his position. Will tries to push Ben and his daughter Clara (Woodward) into marriage. Filmed in Clinton, Louisiana, the cast was composed mostly of former Actors Studio students, whom Ritt met while he was an assistant teacher to Elia Kazan. For the leading role, Warner Bros. loaned Newman to 20th Century Fox. The production was marked by conflicts between Welles and Ritt, which drew media attention. The music score was composed by Alex North and the title song, "The Long Hot Summer", written by North and Sammy Cahn, was performed by Jimmie Rodgers. The film was well received by critics but did not do particularly well at the box office. Its critical success revitalized Ritt's career, after his having been blacklisted during most of the 1950s. Newman won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
• The Fugitive Kind (1959)
• Edge of Fury (1958)
• As Young as We Are (1958)
• Hot Spell (1958)
• No Time to Be Young (1958)
• The Long Hot Summer (1985)
• Some Came Running (1958)