The Long, Hot Summer

The boss (Orson Welles) of a small Mississippi town tries to pair his daughter (Joanne Woodward) with an enigmatic drifter (Paul Newman).

The Long, Hot Summer is a very well acted movie that just feels… off.

Paul Newman is fantastic as the opportunistic Ben Quick, hardened by life into a cynical shell of a man holding tight to his pride. Orson Welles is just as good as the gregarious boss who sees more than a little of himself in Quick. Anthony Franciosa is just right as Welles’ character’s son who feels abandoned after his father takes a shine to Quick, and Joanne Woodward does a good job as Welles’ character’s timid daughter, especially toward the film’s end.

Despite the great performances, The Long, Hot Summer has its faults. After a dynamite opening, the script stumbles as it introduces Joanne Woodward and Lee Remick’s characters, wallowing in stilted southern drawl that adds nothing to the atmosphere. Fortunately, Newman shows up soon after, and Welles after that, and then the film’s back on track.

Uneven beginning aside, The Long, Hot Summer has a bigger problem: it doesn’t look right. The world doesn’t have a lived in feel, as the costumes and sets all feel like props. Looking at some of the production stills, its clear the film should have been shot in black in white, like director Martin Ritt’s excellent Hud, or John Huston’s superior Tennessee Williams adaptation The Night of the Iguana; a choice likely out of Ritt’s hands, however.