Three stories by William Faulkner are liberally adapted into this nifty Southern Gothic potboiler, directed by Martin Ritt, and starring a very young Paul Newman in (my humble opinion) his first truly great performance.

Newman stars as Ben Quick, a wily drifter with a bad reputation in the deep South (he's long been suspected of being a barn-burner, in which he torches the places he previously worked as a hired hand). After hitching a ride, he ends up in a small town run by Will Varner (Orson Welles), a wealthy, manipulative and egocentric land owner. Though initially suspicious, Varner sees a lot of himself in Quick, and eventually hires him to run one of his many businesses. This is all to the chagrin of his son, Jody Varner (Anthony Franciosa), who can't bring himself to be as hard and ruthless as his dad. Meanwhile, Will is desperate to maintain his bloodline with an heir, and enforces his will (the character is aptly named) upon his eldest daughter, Clara (Joanne Woodward), insisting she find a husband (quickly) who will produce some grandsons; he also sees Quick as the perfect sire for his daughter. Clara, unlike her brother and the rest of the townspeople, is fiercely independent, constantly butting heads with her overbearing father on the subject of marriage, especially with regards to his choice of suitors. Ironically, though she openly expresses her contempt for Quick and all he stands for, the two have more in common than either would care to admit; both are head-strong, stubborn and not easily manipulated by Will. This leads to an inevitable confrontation between the three leads, in which much soul-searching is done. Faulkner's work has never been easily translated to the big screen, but the script by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr. does an admirable job with the source material - I've always found Faulkner to be a bit pretentious, long-winded and frustratingly ambiguous, so the changes the screenwriters have made in the stories make a lot of cinematic sense. However, the quirks and eccentricities of Faulkner's characters remain (more or less) intact, and they are wonderfully realized, sometimes simplistically, through some great performances, especially by Newman; despite his character's reputation and dubious view of human nature, it is a credit to the actor that we still identify with and root for this guy. One could gripe about Welles' performance; depending on who you ask, he either creates an effectively oppressive and overbearing foil, or he's guilty of tremendous over-acting, not to mention the fact that much of his delivery is often unintelligible. Anthony Franciosa is also a guilty in the hamminess department; while most of the other performances are relatively low-key, he over-emotes to the point where comparisons to William Shatner could be drawn. Director Martin Ritt serves the story well, save for an uncharacteristically inept scene in which some disgruntled townspeople confront Quick after another fire breaks out - they lumber toward him like zombies from "Night of the Living Dead," thus drowning out most of the suspense in that scene. Still, that's a small complaint. For the most part, "The Long, Hot Summer" offers a lot of seedy, sweaty fun.

This is a 45 year old movie, so a flawless picture is probably asking a lot. There are some noticeable scratches, as well as a lot of dark-to-light flickering, but the color tones are suitably accurate and well-restored. The soundtrack doesn't fare quite as well. It is only offered in English stereo, and the high-end sound of the dialogue is sometimes grating.

One of the great things about many DVD releases of classic Fox films is the inclusion of some great documentaries that originally aired on AMC, and this one is no exception. Included on this disc is the "AMC Backstory" feature on this film, as is the "Movietone News" coverage of the movie's premiere. There is also the original theatrical trailer. Unfortunately, no commentaries are included.

Useless trivia: "The Long, Hot Summer" was remade in 1985 as a two-part TV movie, starring (ugh!) Don Johnson and Cybill Shepherd. Trust me...stick with the original. Summary: Unlike many similar films of the era, time has been kind to this one. It's a great cinematic showcase of an actor on the rise (Newman), and I suppose, an equally great showcase of an actor on the decline (Welles), as well as one of the better examples of Southern Gothic to ever show up on the screen. Besides, the movie happens to be a hell of a lot of fun.