{"id":5509,"date":"2012-09-23T21:58:07","date_gmt":"2012-09-24T01:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=5509"},"modified":"2017-10-05T11:47:12","modified_gmt":"2017-10-05T15:47:12","slug":"dvd-long-hot-summer-the-1958","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=5509","title":{"rendered":"BR: Long, Hot Summer, The (1958)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Film: Excellent<\/p>\n

Transfer: Very Good<\/p>\n

Extras: Good<\/p>\n

Label: Twentieth Century-Fox<\/p>\n

Region: All<\/p>\n

Released: August 15, 2017<\/p>\n

Genre: Drama<\/p>\n

Synopsis: A drifter with a history of barn burning worms his way into the lives of a troubled new money family.<\/p>\n

Special Features: Isolated Stereo Music Track \/ 2001 AMC Backstory episode (21:29) \/ 1958 Newsreel (2:00) \/ Theatrical Trailer \/ 8-page colour booklet with liner notes by film historian Julie Kirgo \/ Limited to 3000 copies \/ Available exclusively from Screen Archives Entertainment<\/a> and www.twilighttimemovies.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

The first of Jerry Wald\u2019s glossy William Faulkner productions is a near-perfect blend of pulsing taboo behaviour, frank language, and the onscreen chemistry between its ensemble cast.<\/p>\n

Ostensibly a tale of a drifter who upsets the pecking order of an unstable new money family, The Long Hot Summer<\/strong> was stitched together by screenwriters Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr. from three separate Faulkner stories: \u201cBarn Burning,\u201d \u201cThe Spotted Horses,\u201d and \u201cThe Hamlet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The incredible script, which features outstanding dialogue, southern argot, and mountains of innuendo and wit flawlessly introduces accused barn burner Ben Quick (Paul Newman), a smooth talker who arrives in town with just a suitcase. By the end of his first day, Ben\u2019s managed to lease a plot of land and a farming gig from the town\u2019s de facto owner, Will Varner (Orson Welles), a widower openly seeing the town’s Madame, Minnie Littlejohn (scene stealing Angela Lansbury.<\/p>\n

Ben\u2019s also teased daughter Clara Varner and her sister-in-law Eula (21 \u00a0year old Lee Remick) with his good looks and innate charm, and challenged the authority of brother Jody (Anthony Franciosa) whom Daddy Varner already believes is too weak to take over the family\u2019s multiple businesses.<\/p>\n

Will soon offers Ben a potentially powerful position within the family network if he\u2019s able to successfully woo hot & bothered but slow-moving daughter Clara, and produce enough Varner offspring to litter the countryside. Everyone\u2019s seemingly at war with each other until a rather neat series of events brings the film to an improbable yet typical Hollywood happy ending \u2013 the only true flaw in this otherwise sharply constructed film.<\/p>\n

SPOILER ALERT<\/p>\n

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The Shakespearean dimensions of the conflicts should lead to one massively tragic demise, but all ends exceptionally well, with Jody’s attempted murder of his father rekindling a sudden burst of respect; and after everyone’s blared their beefs in one final shouting match, all couples are at peace again, poised to be married and \/ or engage in long hot nights of wild n’ steamy sex. The only loser is Clara’s prior fiance, mamma’s boy Alan Stewart (always underrated Richard Anderson), but even he returns to the stable ‘marriage’ that resides within his mother’s doting embrace.<\/p>\n

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END OF SPOILER<\/p>\n

Alex North\u2019s sparse yet memorable score is based around a languid main theme, smoothly crooned over the languid main titles sequence by Jimmy Rodgers; plus some jazzy jukebox tunes which tether the characters, themes, and subtext through brilliant variations.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Joseph LaShelle\u2019s location cinematography throughout Louisiana is sumptuous, and Twilight Time’s Blu-ray features a radiant HD transfer with deep blacks and strong colours, elements weakened in Fox’s prior 2003 DVD edition which was anamorphic but looked harsh and grainy. The new 2.0 and 5.1 configured mixes are clean, flattering North’s score which is also presented in stereo on a separate isolated track.<\/p>\n

Part of the attraction for any viewer is watching Newman and Woodard falling in love onscreen (the pair were married soon after production wrapped), and Welles in a standout scene-stealing, scene devouring performance. The included AMC Backstory<\/strong>\u00a0TV episode has the couple discussing their onscreen romance, and they also elaborate on Welles\u2019 awkward situation at the time \u2013 a has-been director struggling to find work in A-level productions to fund his own directorial projects \u2013 plus the added friction of being surrounded by a trio of Method actors (Newman, Woodward, and Franciosa).<\/p>\n

Martin Ritt was in dire need of proving himself a bankable director after being blacklisted by Hollywood, and the film’s success as Fox’s 6th top grossing production of 1958 ensured Ritt could juggle high talent, fine literary material, and deliver a winner to any studio. His recurring work with Newman (Paris Blues<\/strong>, Hud<\/strong>, The Outrage<\/strong>, and Hombre<\/strong>) are overall classics, and he showed a special affinity for characters in the rural south, especially Sounder<\/strong> (1972), Conrack<\/strong><\/a> (1974), and Cross Creek<\/strong> (1983).<\/p>\n

Welles plays silver-haired, burnished Will big and loud and sweaty, and it\u2019s almost worth the price of admission. His flair for bombast is hugely entertaining, and it runs in tandem with the rich prose that\u2019s poetic, boorish, and wry when his bizarre yet hypnotic version of a southern accent is intelligible.<\/p>\n

The 2001\u00a0Backstory<\/strong>\u00a0episode covers the film\u2019s full production, and contains interviews with Newman & Woodward, Lansbury, and Richard Anderson; each actor has amusing tales of working with ‘difficult’ \/ sonofabitch Welles, who would get one final chance at directing a film for Hollywood, the baroque cult classic Touch of Evil<\/strong> (1958). Also among the extras from the old Fox DVD is a super-short vintage newsreel capturing the premiere where Woodward, fresh from winning her Best Actress Oscar for The Three Faces of Eve<\/strong><\/a> (1957), is the central focus.<\/p>\n

Like Wald\u2019s Peyton Place<\/a><\/strong>, Fox decided to launch a TV series in the sixties of The Long, Hot Summer<\/strong> (1965-1966) with Roy Thinnes (The Invaders<\/a><\/strong>) and Nancy Malone in the lead roles, and the Faulkner stories were revisited in 1985 in a mini-series starring Don Johnson (Miami Vice<\/strong>) and Judith Ivey.<\/p>\n

Film adaptations of William Faulkner works include The Long, Hot Summer<\/strong> (1958), The Sound and the Fury<\/strong><\/a> (1958), Sanctuary<\/strong> (1961), The Reivers<\/strong> (1969), and Tomorrow<\/strong> (1972).<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2012; revised 2017 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Editor’s Blog<\/a> — IMDB <\/a>— Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

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Vendor Search Links:<\/strong>
\nAmazon.ca<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

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