The Long, Hot Summer

1958

1h 55m

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

212

YOUR RATING

Rate

POPULARITY

Play trailer

1 Video

41 Images

Drama

Accused barn burner and conman Ben Quick arrives in a small Mississippi town and quickly ingratiates himself with its richest family, the Varners.

Directors

Martin Ritt

Writers

William Faulkner(short story by)

Sammy Cahn(lyricist by)

Irving Ravetch(screenplay by)

Stars

Paul Newman

Joanne Woodward

Anthony Franciosa

See production, box office & company info

Videos1

Trailer
Watch The Long, Hot Summer (1958) | Official Trailer

Top cast

Ben Quick

Clara Varner

Jody Varner

Will Varner

Eula Varner

Minnie Littlejohn

Alan Stewart

Agnes Stewart

Elizabeth Stewart

Ratliff

Lucius

Ambulance Driver (uncredited)

Val Avery

Wilk (uncredited)

Jim Brandt

Linus Olds (uncredited)

Brian Corcoran

Harry Peabody (uncredited)

Lee Erickson

Tom Shortly (uncredited)

Byron Foulger

Harris (uncredited)

I. Stanford Jolley

Houston (uncredited)

Directors

Martin Ritt

Writers

William Faulkner(short story by)

Sammy Cahn(lyricist by)

Irving Ravetch(screenplay by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

This reminded me a little of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1954) with Paul Newman playing the roguish "Quick" who arrives in a small town, dominated by the "Varner" family and quickly tries to ingratiate himself into their wealthy ways. They, indeed the whole town, are dominated by the patriarchal "Will" (Orson Welles) who seems determined that his daughter "Clara" (Joanne Woodward) will marry local dullard "Stewart" (Richard Anderson). She, on the other hand, takes an instant shine to the newcomer and when brother, and general loafer, "Jody" (Anthony Franciosa) starts to feel a little threatened by this man who is seemingly of much more interest to his father than he is, things start to become a little tense around the place - to say the least. It's a small point, but the audio from Welles isn't the best and sometimes its quite difficult to make out what he's saying, but as the family dynamic becomes more strained and the backstory fills in a tale of a group of people for whom it's really only money that has become the thing that matters now - we end up with a characterful study of avarice and ambition tempered with some dark humour and an increasingly engaging effort from Welles and a smouldering - if maybe a little too predictable - chemistry from Woodward and Newman. It can be a bit wordy at times, but Martin Ritt keeps the pace even and taut as these folks evolve before us. It's not as intense as it might be, but it's still an easy two hours looking at the less salubrious side of human nature.

Geronimo196729 Sep, 2024