Paul Newman

Joanne Woodward

Anthony Franciosa

Orson Welles

Lee Remick

Angela Lansbury

Richard Anderson

Sarah Marshall

Mabel Albertson

J. Pat O'Malley

Bill Walker

Robert Adler

Val Avery

Jim Brandt

Brian Corcoran

Lee Erickson

Byron Foulger

I. Stanford Jolley

Nicholas King

Ralph Reed

Steve Widders

Arthur Tovey

Helen Wallace

Martin Ritt

L.B. Abbott

Lionel Newman

Eli Dunn

William Faulkner

Alex North

Jimmie Rodgers

Charles LeMaire

Leonard Doss

Sammy Cahn

Jerry Wald

Eli Benneche

Maurice Ransford

Walter M. Scott

Louis R. Loeffler

Harry M. Leonard

E. Clayton Ward

Helen Turpin

Adele Palmer

Joseph LaShelle

Lyle R. Wheeler

Ben Nye

Irving Ravetch

Harriet Frank Jr.

Drama

The Long, Hot Summer

Jerry Wald Productions

20th Century Fox

United States of America

CinemaSerf

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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The Long, Hot Summer (1958) | Official Trailer