AFull of anger at his father, Jody sets the barn on fire, locking Will inside. Suddenly, he has a change of heart and opens the door. Will hugs Jody and praises him for his 'hellfire' and 'redemption', his hate and love. When the town sees the barn on fire, they conclude it was set by Ben Quick (Paul Newman). They form a lynch mob to hang him, but Clara drives through town and picks him up before the mob can get to him. The mob follows them to the Varner house, but Will tells them that he started the fire himself when he dropped his cigar in the hay. The smell brings back bad memories of Ben's barn-burning father, and he tells Clara how he had to live with it till he was 10 and finally turned in his father. Later that evening, Ben tells Will that he's going to be moving on and goes up to his room to pack. Clara follows him the same lecture that he gave her earlier about running away, changing his name, and dyeing his hair, and that maybe he'll be safe from her. In the final scenes, Clara and Ben kiss, Will and Minnie enter the house arm-in-arm, and Jody and Eula race each other to the bedroom.
QWhy was Will Varner in the hospital?
APresumably for surgery of some sort, evidenced when Will (Orson Welles) is being transported home in the ambulance and some of the townfolk wonder what he had 'cut out of him in the hospital.' Also, when he is greeted by Minnie Littlejohn (Angela Lansbury), she mentions him being 'cut and stitched up.' Apparently it was major surgery because, when Will kisses Eula (Lee Remick) hello, he says 'Three months, and I ain't smelled nothin' other than the starch in the nurses' uniforms,' and he tells Jody (Anthony Franciosa) that the doctors 'took away almost every organ they thought I could spare.'
QIs 'The Long, Hot Summer' based on a book?
AYes. The Long, Hot Summer is loosely based on The Hamlet (1940), a novel by American writer William Faulkner [1897-1962]. The novel was adapted for the screen by American film writers Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr. A TV remake, also titled The Long Hot Summer, was released in 1985.
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