Description
Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Orson Welles, Anthony Franciosa, Lee Remick and Angela Lansbury co-star in this riveting tale of life in the Deep South. Provocative and compelling, it simmers with sexual tension, bawdy humor and a powerful clash of personalities. When Ben Quick (Newman), a suspected barnburner drifts into town, he catches the eye of Will Varner, a tyrannical, intimidating patriarch (Welles) who decides Quick is the ideal husband for his spinsterish daughter … More >>
A beautiful classic movie with handsome Paul Newman and the lovely Elizabeth Taylor. Both are talented along with the entire cast. A must see movie for the young as well as the old.
Rating: 5 / 5
It isn’t really a great movie, the end seems like something they came up with in about 5 minutes when they realized they needed to wrap it up or this thing would go on forever. It is offensive, however, to talk about this movie and mention William Faulkner at the same time. The ingredient list on a box of cereal has about as much in common with this terrible script as Faulkner’s works.
Rating: 1 / 5
This film seemed to be an attempt to give an encore to Newman’s searing performance in Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” complete with big Southern daddy character and twangy speech, but the missing elements were: 1) Williams’ gift for dialogue, 2) a truly compelling plot, and 3) a worthy counterpart to the female leading role of Maggie the Cat. Woodward is a talented character actress in her own right (see “The Three Faces of Eve,” for sure), but she is missing a character to play here. Plus, let’s face it, Liz Taylor she is NOT, and she does not cut it as sultry bait for Newman’s lusty drifter. I’m sorry, but the attraction between her and Newman has been and always will be a mystery to me. If you want show-stopping performances, wallop-packing dialogue, and enough heat to singe your eyebrows over an authentic Southern flame, buy “Cat…” instead.
Rating: 2 / 5
Joanne Woodward plays the 22-year-old maid with a mama’s boy beau and Paul Newman the menacing – well, roguishly and charmingly menacing, anyway – prince with eyes for her in Martin Ritt’s THE LONG HOT SUMMER.
As one of the dvd extras tells us, Woodward and Newman were hot in love during the filming of this movie, and their chemistry translates well onto the screen. The story, a young girl coming of age and finding love, didn’t do much for me. Orson Welles, hidden behind a movable rubber nose and a thick layer of insta-tan, mumbles in an incomprehensible southern accent and chews the scenery in just about every scene he’s in.
This is purportedly based on a number of short stories by William Faulkner. Save for some character names and the use of barn burning as a plot device the Faulkner link is pretty tenuous.
If you enjoy romantic melodramas, or are a fan of the stars, it’s likely you’ll enjoy this one more than I did. I thought it was just okay.
Rating: 3 / 5
Oh Lordy…. this film is pure camp. It’s like a parody of every southern story ever told. It’s Tennessee Williams on steroids….with some cream gravy. Every cliche is here complete with all those “charming” southern details anyone from the south would verify. If only the South was like this! The details are right….the big picture is way off. It also includes every southern stereotype: The fast talkin’, good lookin’ drifter, the “Big Daddy” who owns the county, the hot dumb southern babe [the men folk even come out to the big house at night to try to lure her out....even though she's married], the cold sensible southern girl with repressed sexuality about to burst from her…well…. It’s got the lame brain son & heir too stupid to carry on Big Daddy’s empire, and the mother’s boy son of the old-money family who looks down on the Big Daddy’s folks, and Big Daddy’s mistress, who’s gonna trick him into marriage. And let’s not forget the compliant but wise negros and the dumber than dirt hayseeds [and Mexicans] that populate the town. The fact that all these cardboard cutouts are played by huge actors is a big laugh….even they can’t save it.
You’d have to be as credulous as the town folk in this film to be taken in by it. Still, it’s campy fun. File it under “so bad it’s good” along with “Valley of the Dolls”. Yeeee-haw!
Rating: 2 / 5