ScoobyMint Disappointment for a huge fan!

Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Mark Turner In 1956 actor Paul Newman established himself as someone with star potential when he was featured in SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME. Two years later he found himself involved in this film, based on several William Faulkner stories. In addition to that Newman found himself involved with his co-star, Joanne Woodward, who he went on to marry and remain married to until his death in 2008.Newman stars as Ben Quick, a young man accused of barn burning and forced to leave his home. His reputation stems from the fact this was a favorite preoccupation his father had when angered at someone. Moving on Ben arrives in Frenchman's Bend, Mississippi, a town controlled and nearly all owned by wealthy Will Varner (Orson Welles).Varner is a hard man, disappointed in his children who seem to be following their own paths rather than what he'd like them to. Son Jody (Anthony Franciosa) would rather spend his days doing little and fooling around with his wife Eula (Lee Remick). Nothing he does pleases his father and any attempts he makes to do so seem to fail consistently.Then there is daughter Clara (Woodward). Uninterested in any of the businesses Will owns, she pursues her own dreams as a bookish style schoolteacher, unmarried and approaching spinsterhood at the ripe old age of 23. Clara has been dating Alan Stewart (Richard Anderson) for some time now, hoping he might make the decision to ask for her hand. As the film progresses we find out he has a reason not to, one subtly hinted at but controversial for the year 1958.Into this mix waltzes Ben. Self-assured, cocky and willing to do whatever it takes to move himself forward, he takes on a piece of property Will has that needs work. But in Ben Will sees a bit of himself, a man who takes action and wants to move up the ladder. Will may be a self-made man and wealthy but he will never be a part of the Southern aristocracy that comes from old money. In Ben he sees someone that could be a potential husband for Clara as well as someone to carry on his legacy. Of course this doesn't sit well with his real son Jody.Not only that, Clara has no interest in Ben either. At least outwardly. But he courts her, woos her and tries to get her to break down her defensive wall. It is this interplay between the two characters mixed with the forceful presence of Will and the maneuvering manipulations of Jody that brings out a dramatic tale that is enjoyable from start to finish.Directed by Martin Ritt (who would go on to direct Newman again in HUD and HOMBRE), you can feel the muggy warmth of the south oozing from the screen here. It just makes you sweat watching it. Newman offers an incredibly smooth performance here and Woodward shows that she his equal with her portrayal of Clara. Franciosa is a bit outmatched by these two and Remick is pretty much window dressing in the role of the town flirt. Welles comes off well in a role that calls for him to be pompous, forceful and caring at the same time.The movie is enjoyable to watch, one that somewhere along the line I've missed but was glad to finally get around to. Twilight Time has done their usual amazing job of offering this in a beautiful presentation in 1080p hi def. Extras include an isolated music track, Hollywood BACKSTORIES: THE LONG HOT SUMMER featurette on the making of the film, a Fox Movietone newsreel and the original theatrical trailer. As with all of their titles this one is limited to just 3,000 copies so if interested order one today.

bbmtwist 1958 was certainly the year for Paul Newman and southern drama. He appeared in both THE LONG HOT SUMMER, adapted from Faulkner short stories and one novel, and Williams' CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF. The coincidences don't end there.SPOILERS FOLLOW IN ANALYZING THE PLOTS:Both works have an overweight "boss" - Will Varner in the first, Big Daddy in the second. Both have returned from a hospital visit. Although Big Daddywill have a terminal diagnosis, Varner has seemingly none at all, although we expect any moment to learn otherwise, as Varner seems pushed to get his first daughter married and pregnant, which would seem to indicate he is aware of his mortality.Varner has an ineffectual son, Jody, who can do nothing right. Big Daddy has a son who can do nothing right, Gooper. Both Varner and Big Daddy have a fondness for the characters played by Newman, Ben Quick and Brick. There is a strong, defiant woman in each, Clara Varner and Maggie.Switching to Williams' SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH, Newman plays a drifter, Chance Wayne. In THE LONG HOT SUMMER, Newman plays a drifter, Ben Quick. In THE LONG HOT SUMMER, Varner has a local mistress, Minnie. In SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH, the Big Daddy character, Boss Finley, has a local mistress, Miss Lucy.So you can see someone stole from someone. Since the names of the Faulkner stories are not given credits, unless one is a Faulkner scholar, one can't look up the publishing dates. These could be applied to the dates both of Williams' plays premiered on Broadway. I tend to think there is a good chance that it was Williams who stole these plot ideas from Faulkner. It might be an interesting topic for a school or college paper.As far as the film THE LONG HOT SUMMER goes, it is compelling, constantly interesting, superbly directed by Martin Ritt, and universally both well cast and well played. The heat between Newman and Woodward off screen leaks convincingly on screen, helping the performances of both. Welles steals the film as the patriarchal tyrant, Will Varner - I would have given him an Oscar nomination for this performance. Lansbury is wasted in a small role as Varner's mistress, as is Remick as Varner's vapid second daughter. Franciosa is excellent as the unloved son, his pain and frustration constantly evident. However, it is Woodward who shines best. Her character is level-headed, sensible, but passionate beneath. She is as much a cat on a hot tin roof as is Williams' Maggie, seething beneath the surface with sexual passion, but unable to fulfill it.Playing CAT and SUMMER as a double bill would be an interesting event for a college level class with discussion following.SUMMER is an excellent film, well worth your time.

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".

Martin Bradley Martin Ritt's movie, based on a couple of stories by William Faulkner, may not be earth-shatteringly profound or even particularly serious but it's a hugely enjoyable melodrama nevertheless. Paul Newman is Ben Quick, an alleged barn-burner, who drifts into a sleepy small town, the whole of which seems to be the property of Will Varner, (Orson Wells, going way over the top), during that long, hot summer of the title.Quick is aptly named as it doesn't take him long to make his mark as the son Varner would rather he had instead of feckless Anthony Franciosa. Joanne Woodward is also on hand as the prim school mistress daughter who has the hots for Quick, (just as Woodward had the hots for Newman, who probably never looked more beautiful on screen). Others on board include Lee Remick as Franciosa's trashy wife and Angela Lansbury as Welles' mistress and they are all good value. Lushly photographed in widescreen by Joseph LaShelle and with a good score by Alex North this remains something of a forgotten treat.