SYNOPSIS

A sly drifter Ben Quick finds himself in Frenchman's Bend, Mississippi after being run out of another town following accusations of barn burning. Ingratiating himself with the ruthless and powerful local businessman Will Varner, Quick soon finds himself at odds with the entire Varner family. Varner's daughter Clara, a prim schoolteacher, is determined to resist Quick's unsubtle advances, but at the same time she is drawn to him. Quick hatches a plan to settle down in the quiet little town under Varner's wing, but his shady reputation soon catches up with him and threatens everything he has worked to achieve.

Director: Martin Ritt
Producer: Jerry Wald
Screenplay: Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr. (based on the novel The Hamlet by William Faulkner)
Cinematography: Joseph La Shelle
Editing: Louis R. Loeffler
Music Composer: Alex North
Art Designer: Lyle R. Wheeler and Maurice Ransford
Costume Designer: Charles LeMaire, Adele Palmer
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), William Walker (Lucius), George Dunn (Peabody), Jess Kirkpatrick (Armistead), Val Avery (Wilk), I. Stanford Jolley (Houston), Nicholas King (John Fisher), Lee Erickson (Tom Shortly), Ralph Reed (J.V. Bookright), Terry Rangno (Pete Armistead), Steve Widders (Buddy Peabody), Jim Brandt (Linus Olds), Helen Wallace (Mrs. Houston), Brian Corcoran (Harry Peabody), Byron Foulger (Harris), Victor Rodman (Justice), Eugene Jackson (Waiter), Robert Adler (Ambulance Driver), Pat Rosemond (Girl).
C-115m.

Why THE LONG, HOT SUMMER is Essential

The Long, Hot Summer marked the first time that Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward ever co-starred together in a film. Newman and Woodward, already a couple during the making of it, have obvious chemistry on screen which makes the movie exciting to watch. The couple married shortly after filming was completed. They made nine more films together before Newman's death in 2008.

The film also marks the first collaboration between Paul Newman and director Martin Ritt. Ritt and Newman went on to make five more films together including Hud (1963).

The Long, Hot Summer features one of the finest casts ever assembled in one film. Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Orson Welles, Anthony Franciosa, Angela Lansbury and Lee Remick all do their finest work as the colorful southern characters inspired by William Faulkner.

Director Martin Ritt was a victim of the Hollywood Communist witch hunts in the early 1950s and was blacklisted from working in films for five years. The Long, Hot Summer was one of his first jobs since his blacklisting and helped re-establish him in the business.

Though the film is over 50 years old, The Long, Hot Summer still holds up as one of the most engrossing Southern Gothic tales ever put on film. With a stellar cast, rich characters and memorable dialogue, The Long, Hot Summer is one of the more successful film adaptations of a William Faulkner story.

by Andrea Passafiume