The Long, Hot Summer
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The Long, Hot Summer

Year:
Duration:
115 min
Genres:
Drama
IMDB rate:
7.4
Director:
Martin Ritt
Awards:
2 wins & 4 nominations
Details
Country: USA
Release Date: 1958-05-18
Filming Locations: Plantation Village Studios - 4626 Highway 68, Jackson, Louisiana, USA
Cast
Actor
Character
Paul Newman
Ben Quick
Joanne Woodward
Clara Varner
Anthony Franciosa
Jody Varner
Orson Welles
Will Varner
Lee Remick
Eula Varner
Angela Lansbury
Minnie Littlejohn
Richard Anderson
Alan Stewart
Sarah Marshall
Agnes Stewart
Mabel Albertson
Elizabeth Stewart
J. Pat O'Malley
Ratliff
Bill Walker
Lucius (as William Walker)
Robert Adler
Ambulance Driver (uncredited)
Val Avery
Wilk
Jim Brandt
Linus Olds (uncredited)
Brian Corcoran
Harry Peabody (uncredited)
Lee Erickson
Tom Shortly (uncredited)
Byron Foulger
Harris (uncredited)
Eugene Jackson
Waiter (uncredited)
I. Stanford Jolley
Houston (uncredited)
Nicholas King
John Fisher (uncredited)
Terry Rangno
Pete Armistead (uncredited)
Ralph Reed
J.V. Bookright (uncredited)
Victor Rodman
Justice of the Peace (uncredited)
Pat Rosemond
Minor Role (uncredited)
Helen Wallace
Minor Role (uncredited)
Steve Widders
Buddy Peabody (uncredited)
Did you know?
Trivia
The title song "The Long Hot Summer" was a hit single for Jimmie Rodgers who had a peak year in 1958 with 7 consecutive hit recordings.
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Orson Welles always wore a fake nose when he worked, so when he would sweat on this film, his fake nose would slip. Make-up people had to keep applying material to keep the fake nose from falling.
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Director Martin Ritt was forever known after this movie as the man who tamed Orson Welles. During filming Ritt drove Welles into the middle of a swamp, kicked him out of the car and forced him to find his own way back.
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Quotes
Will Varner: Thousands of acres out there. Millions of seeds put down in the ground, and every year the seeds come up again. Life goes on. Where's my crop, huh? What follows me? What happens when I'm dead?
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Alan Stewart: My people have stood off Indians, Yankees, carpetbaggers. The least they could expect of me is to stand up to a Varner.
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Will Varner: I put down a big footprint. I said: 'Here. Step here. Fill it.' You never did.
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Faq
Q
How does the movie end?
A
Full 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.
Q
Why was Will Varner in the hospital?
A
Presumably 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.'
Q
Is 'The Long, Hot Summer' based on a book?
A
Yes. 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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