The Long, Hot Summer

(1958)

115 minutes

Drama

Directed by Martin Ritt

Cast:

Paul Newman as Ben Quick
Joanne Woodward as Clara Varner
Anthony Franciosa as Jody Varner
Orson Welles as Will Varner
Lee Remick as Eula Varner
Angela Lansbury as Minnie Littlejohn
Richard Anderson as Alan Stewart
Sarah Marshall as Agnes Stewart
Mabel Albertson as Mrs. Stewart
J. Pat O'Malley as Ratliff
Bill Walker as Lucius 
 
The Long Hot Summer trailer

The film takes place in Frenchman's Bend, MS where Ben Quick arrives after his town kicked him out for supposedly destroying a farm for retribution. Will Varner provides Ben with a job at his store since he is owner to almost everything in the town. Will feels his son, Jody is not ambitious enough and gives up on the idea of him getting his wife Eula pregnant. He also worries over his daughter, Clara who is a schoolteacher, for he thinks she will never find a husband. He then begins to think that Ben Quick might be a good suitor for his daughter and bring some change to the family.