Michael_Elliott The Long, Hot Summer (1958)*** (out of 4) Con man Ben Quick (Paul Newman) is accused of burning down a barn so he's forced to hit the road where he winds up on the farm of the Varner family. While trying to woo the daughter Clara (Joanne Woodward) Ben also strikes up a partnership with her father (Orson Welles), which doesn't sit well with the son (Anthony Franciosa) who can't ever seem to do anything right.THE LONG, HOT SUMMER was the first collaboration between Newman and Woodward who would be married shortly after this film wrapped production. The film is known for that but it's also known for the heated on-set battles between Welles and director Martin Ritt. These two things usually take a lot of the spotlight away from the film itself and that's really too bad because it's a pretty good soap opera from Fox.The term "soap opera" will be seen by some of a criticism but it's certainly not meant to be. There were countless movies made during this era that likes to be over-dramatic at times with a strong sexuality and a blazing music score going in the background. This film here has the benefit of some great locations, a pretty good story and of course some legendary actors doing great work. I will admit that the one really weak thing is the music score, which is constantly blaring at the wrong time and taking away from the actors and their magic.As for the cast, the heat that Newman and Woodward were feeling off the set certainly burned on screen because the two have some wonderful chemistry here. There's no doubt that they bring a lot of smoke to the screen and the two manage to capture the sexuality of the story as well as the dramatic nature of the love story. Welles is also excellent in his part as the fiery father. Again, Welles had various issues on the set but I thought he was very believable in the part. Franciosa, Lee Remick, Angela Lansbury and Richard Anderson are all very good as well.THE LONG, HOT SUMMER features some terrific cinematography and director Ritt certainly knows how to milk all the sexuality from the story. There are certainly some flaws throughout the movie but the star power alone makes it a must see.

lasttimeisaw A Pride and Prejudice love story sited in Mississippi in the 1940s, can only cover half of this film's hub, directed by the famous "Orson tamer" Martin Ritt (MURPHY'S ROMANCE, 7/10), the other half is about a rough-diamond father's eagerness to marry off his maiden daughter and give an impetus to his incompetent son. The story impresses with a contingent proposition of provincial male chauvinism and women's self-liberated modern viewing, but a gratifying finale dents its eloquence and leaves a sour taste of bathos. First of all, it is the first-collaboration of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward couple, crowned a BEST ACTOR trophy for Newman in Cannes and the follow-up to Woodward Oscar-winning role in THE THREE FACES OF EVE (1957, 7/10), thus, a chief delightfulness hinges on their chemistry in their battle of wits as a charming but reckless suitor Ben Quick (Newman), an infamous barn- burner, and the demure but strong-mined rich lass Clara Varner (Woodard), and as we expected, the sparkle is tantalizingly ignited through their first scene together, Clara is driving with her sister-in-law Eula (the young and chirpy Lee Remick), who is talking to the hitchhiker Ben in quick fire ebullience, yet, Ben's focus is solely on Clara, whose dismissive attitude intrigues him and for men in a motion picture, this is the one worth conquering. Soon here comes the local big enchilada, Will Varner (Clara's father, a port Orson Welles) is back from hospital, resolves to find a suitor for Clara, he shapes a proxy father-and-son relationship with Ben, which instigate the rancor from his own son Jody (Franciosa), Will is a leading role for certain (strangely Welles is fourth billed), at the age of 43, Welles has to act out an old man of 61, with a little help from a senior makeup, a fake nose and his authentic stoutness, anyhow, it is a convincing job, although one should be prepared not to be shocked during his first entrance. Adapted from William Faulkner's novel, The Hamlet amalgamating with his stories Barn Burning and The Spotted Horses, the film at its best when spinning out a poor-boy-rich-girl romance with perky momentum, and at its worst, when the patriarchal arrogance pervading with its stale stench of prejudices diminish women's worth without any hint of redemption. It might be a rural leaning reflecting the reality then, but take the example of the excruciatingly designed role of Minnie Littlejojn (Lansbury), it is an agony of miscast and a smug snide on the gender-biased gold-diggers, not a sign for its future audience. Moreover, a more mystifying evasion is the ambiguity belies the true color of the mommy boy Alan Stewart (Anderson), for whom a wishful-thinking Clara falls for 6 years. Lastly, the set piece where Ben dupes Jody into digging ancient coins is a far-fetched plot device never rings plausible under any circumstances.

tieman64 Director Martin Ritt and actor Paul Newman worked together on "Hud" and "Hombre", two masterpieces. Their work on 1958's "The Long, Hot Summer", in contrast, is mostly overcooked trash.A raging rip-off of the works of Tennessee Williams and the films of Elia Kazan (despite being based on several William Faulkner stories), "The Long, Hot Summer" abounds with Southern Gothic and Southern Literature clichés. There's its sweltering hot, antebellum landscapes, its old slave homes, its fat, wealthy land barons, its disgruntled proletariat, the baron's bickering sons, its sexy, ultra masculine drifter and of course a cast of Southern women, some of whom are docile, some fiercely independent, some sexually frustrated, some promiscuous, some in need of being tamed.The film's plot is irrelevant. Better to instead focus on the film's few scenes featuring actor Orson Welles, who plays Will Verner, a hilariously bombastic family patriarch who also owns most of his small, Louisianan town. Newton is superb as well, always slick with sweat and dressed in sexy white vests. The film sports some great dialogue, and is actually well written in parts, but simply can't escape its many clichés.6/10 – Worth one viewing. See "This Property is Comdemened".

Bob Taylor When I was young, I read The Sound and the Fury and a couple of novellas (Old Man, The Bear) by Faulkner. I conceived a dislike of this man's writing that has stayed with me until this day. His tortured prose makes that of late Henry James a pleasure to read in comparison. Faulkner writes as though he were telling Homeric legends, but without the clarity and simplicity of Homer. The script fashioned by Ravetch and Frank out of various stories has the great benefit of humor and a kind of easy sexuality that is very enjoyable to watch.The Jody Varner character makes no sense--how can he be virile with Eula and impotent with his father? Franciosa seems very unsure of himself in every scene. Ben Quick and Clara have such a great time together: Newman and Woodward are establishing a rapport that would last 50 years. The story needed a convincing patriarch, and there was no-one better than Orson Welles to play Varner. I don't care if his make up was shoddy or his accent virtually incomprehensible, he is wonderful. I could have given it 10, had there not been inconsistencies of plot and characterization.