The Long, Hot Summer (1958)

★ 7.0 1h 55m IMDb

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

The Long, Hot Summer

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Cast

Paul Newman
Paul Newman as Ben Quick Died 2008 · Shaker Heights, Ohio, USA Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver, auto racing team owner, and auto racing enthus...
Joanne Woodward
Joanne Woodward as Clara Varner Age 96 · Thomasville, Georgia, USA Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward (born February 27, 1930) is an American actress, producer, and philanthropist. She is best known for her performance in The Three Faces of Eve (1957), which earned...
Anthony Franciosa
Anthony Franciosa as Jody Varner Died 2006 · New York City, New York, USA Anthony Franciosa (born Anthony George Papaleo; October 25, 1928 – January 19, 2006) was an American actor. Franciosa began his career on stage and made a breakthrough after portraying a brother of t...
Orson Welles
Orson Welles as Will Varner Died 1985 · Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio....
Lee Remick
Lee Remick as Eula Varner Died 1991 · Quincy, Massachusetts, USA Lee Ann Remick (December 14, 1935 – July 2, 1991) was an American actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the 1962 film Days of Wine and Roses, and for the 1966 Tony Awar...
Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury as Minnie Littlejohn Died 2022 · London, England, UK Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury DBE (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was a British-American actress and singer who has appeared in theater, television, and film roles. Her career was spanned almost e...

Audience Reviews

CinemaSerf 7/10 Sep 29, 2024
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.

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