The Long, Hot Summer

The Long, Hot Summer is a 1958 film directed by Martin Ritt, starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Lee Remick, Angela Lansbury and Orson Welles. It is based on stories by William Faulkner, primarily "The Hamlet." The film was entered into the 1958 Cannes Film Festival, with Newman winning the award for Best Actor. Ben Quick (Paul Newman) hitches a ride to Frenchman's Bend, Mississippi from two young women in a convertible, Clara Varner (Joanne Woodward) and her sister-in-law Eula (Lee Remick). Clara's father is Will Varner (Orson Welles), the domineering owner of most of the town. Will sees in the brash newcomer a younger version of himself, ruthless and ambitious. These qualities are, in Will's opinion, lacking in his only son Jody (Anthony Franciosa). He is also disappointed with the choice of his daughter Clara, a schoolteacher. Clara's boyfriend Alan Stewart (Richard Anderson), a genteel Southern "blue blood," is a mama's boy, not the kind of son-in-law Will...