The Long, Hot Summer movie storyline. Sixty-one year old widower Will Varner (Orson Welles), in ill health, owns many businesses and property in Frenchman’s Bend, Mississippi, including a plantation. To him, his children are a disappointment, who he sees as not being able to carry on the Varner name in the style to which he has built around it. Son Jody (Anthony Francoisa) has no ambition and does not work, spending much of his time fooling around with his seductive wife, Eula (Lee Remick).
He finds twenty-three-year-old daughter Clara (Joanne Woodward) clever, but he feels she also wastes her time on more contemplative pursuits. While most of her contemporaries are married, Clara has been dating Alan Stewart (Richard Anderson), a genteel mama’s boy, for six years. Will would not mind Alan so much if he too thought Alan had a bit of a forceful man in him, which he could demonstrate by actually asking Clara to marry him. Conversely, Jody laments that nothing he does is ever good enough for his father, while Clara plain does not like the way he treats them.
Into their lives comes Ben Quick (Paul Newman), who Jody hired while Will was hospitalized, to do some sharecropping on currently vacant land. Despite Will believing the unsubstantiated stories that Ben burned down someone’s barn as an act of vengeance, Will becomes to view Ben as the son he never had, as he is much the same mold. As such, Will does whatever he can to get Ben to be part of the family to carry on the Varner name the way Will wants it be, which means marrying Clara. Through the process, Clara may come to a realization about what she really wants in life, while Jody does whatever he can to retain his position in the family.
The Long, Hot Summer is a 1958 American drama film directed by Martin Ritt. The screenplay was written 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 Paul Newman – was released five 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 (Orson Welles), the patriarch, has doubts about his son, Jody (Anthony Franciosa) and sees Ben as a better choice to inherit his position. Will tries to push Ben and his daughter Clara (Joanne 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 Long, Hot Summer (1958)
Directed by: Martin Ritt
Starring: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Orson Welles, Lee Remick, Angela Lansbury, Richard Anderson, Sarah Marshall, Mabel Albertson, J. Pat O’Malley, Bill Walker
Screenplay by: William Faulkner, Irving Ravetch, Harriet Frank Jr.
Production Design by:
Cinematography by: Joseph LaShelle
Film Editing by: Louis R. Loeffler
Costume Design by: Adele Palmer
Set Decoration by: Eli Benneche, Walter M. Scott
Art Direction by: Maurice Ransford, Lyle R. Wheeler
Music by: Alex North
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: April 3, 1958
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