Long Hot Summer

I rated this film with four stars though on most measurable levels, it is worthy of maybe three. The plot is a montage, some say mish-mash of Faulkner's literary works. Still, the film works..... most of the time. Jerry Wald's production has 1950's sensibilities written all over it. A real strength of this film lies in the charismatic on-screen performance of young Paul Newman's Ben Quick and his incendiary relationship with Orson Welles' Will Varner. It is said the editing room had to re-do much of Welles' dialogue to make it intelligible for the audience. Whatever. I am fascinated by virtually every word uttered in Welles' quirky interpretation of a portly, gravelly voiced redneck hell-bent to leave his greasy thumbprint on all who would come under his influence. For 62 year old Varner to race about town in a Jeep as his personal conveyance of choice completes the picture of a man unbowed in the presence of all others. Eager to marry his daughter off to perpetuate his legacy, Will encouraged Ben anyway he could. In all things, he could be demanding and callous, yet in a rare display of affection, Will uncharacteristically and tenderly explained to his sensitive daughter Clara, (Joanne Woodward) "Sometimes the strong just rolls over the weak." Angela Lansbury played Minnie LittleJohn, a retired women of the evening. As an inevitable consequence of age, her world weariness and palpable sense of urgency that time was running out expedited a patient and sincere pursuit of Will for his hand in marriage. Richard Anderson portrayed Alan Stewart, Clara's long-time supposed suitor, an elegant, tasteful and honorable southern gentleman. Outed by an impatient Varner, and forced to declare his sexual orientation, he had to finally declare his unsuitability for Clara's hand in marriage. To me, the one miscast major actor in this film was Anthony Franciosa as Will's disaffected son, Jody. It was difficult for me to accept a dark and somewhat ethic Franciosa as a privileged son of the deep south, though Lee Remick positively shined as his highly desirable sexually charged wife Eula. The obvious on-screen chemistry shared of Newman and Woodward in "The Long, Hot Summer" is the stuff of Hollywood legend. Those were real sparks of passion arcing between them, the camera just documented the fireworks for posterity. Their highly charged scenes make the price of admission all the more reasonable and justification enough for me to rate this film with 4 stars.

The whole ordering process was very good however the estimated delivery time was off buy about 8 days but the DVD was excellent!

The movie (DVD) the Long Hot Summer was ordered for my husband who kept mentioning how much he loved the movie, his favorite, which he had seen many many years ago, starring Paul Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward. We looked for the movie to rent (could not find anywhere), or to buy (also could not find anywhere). When we received a gift certificate for Amazon, I immediately checked to see if this movie was available, and it was. I ordered it, received it promptly, and we both enjoyed it very much. A very good movie, well acted. Nice memory of Paul Newman - one of my husband's favorite actors. He's young and very handsome and charming, as he tries his best to prove himself and to earn the respect of the new town people (especially Joanne Woodward, and her very influencial family who have given him work) and clear his reputation, as he is being accused of a crime people believe he committed in his previous town. It's very interesting to see what happens between Paul and this family. A true classic.