The Long, Hot Summer

Twilight Time's August crop of hi-def reissues on new Blu-ray editions follows a summery theme, and no more so than with this choice, the 1958 Martin Ritt film "The Long, Hot Summer," which is an amalgam of three (or is it six? Sources vary, but I'll go with Julie Kirgo's claim of three) William Faulkner works -- one short story, one novella, and one novel. After being adapted by screenwriting power couple Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr., the material emerged as a unified story -- a little conventional in certain respects, but so unconventional -- of the times -- in others that you accept certain rote aspects as the framework in which to set this aggressively passionate tale of men and women and fire in all its literal and metaphorical forms.

Paul Newman stars as Ben Quick, a drifter known across the state of Mississippi as an arsonist who targets the barns of those who cross him. When Quick is driven out of one town following a barn's burning, he lands on his feet in another just down the river -- a cozy place where the Varner family pretty much own everything. Ben loses no time making his acquaintance with the family; daughter Clara (Joanne Woodward) is driving the car that stops to give him a lift. Not that sensible Clara would usually do such a thing; it's her wild child sister-in-law Eula (Lee Remick) who insists on picking up the handsome stranger. But Ben and Clara's paths promptly cross once more when Ben comes looking for work.

The family patriarch, Will (played with brio by Orson Welles), has been away for medical reasons; in his absence, son Jody (Anthony Franciosa) has been keeping the family's concerns going (when that is, he's not chasing Eula, his wife, around the bedroom; she eventually voices a wish that he'd find some other pastime). It's to Jody who takes Ben on as a sharecropper, but the moment Will returns Ben's star begins to rise, pushing Jody to the margins. Like Ben, Will is a showman and a rogue; Will appreciates Ben's industry and his indifference to moral concerns. He also sees in Ben a more likely prospect for a grandson-producing husband for Clara than her long-time (and frankly disinterested) beau, Alan (Richard Anderson).

As the long, hot summer of the title wears on, the family's dysfunctional dynamics start to boil over: All of these characters -- not to mention Will's matrimonially-minded paramour, Minnie (Angela Lansbury) -- are playing with fire, and watching them dance and weave around each other is both thrilling and suspenseful.

The biggest sparks, of course, emanate from the pairing of Newman and Woodward. The two had starred together in a play several years earlier, but this was their first film together; it was also the beginning of a long, celebrated marriage and a string of cinematic projects on which the couple collaborated.

This Blu-ray edition's extras include an episode of "Hollywood Backstories," which, at 20 minutes, is both puff piece and a colorful trove of trivia, and which includes interviews with Lansbury, Anderson, and -- sharing the screen once more in sweet, long-wedded bliss -- Newman and Woodward. Two Fox Movietone newsreels are also included, as is an isolated score track and original theatrical trailer. Film historian Julie Kirgo weighs in with an essay that fairly snaps and crackles. In all, this is an irresistible package and a sweltering treat.

"The Long, Hot Summer"
Blu-ray
$29.95
https://www.twilighttimemovies.com/long-hot-summer-the-blu-ray