The Long Hot Summer (1958)

A Mississippi drifter (Paul Newman, who won the Cannes film festival best actor award for his work here) with a reputation as a "barn burner" arrives in a small town run by an imposing redneck (Orson Welles). The town's patriarch then schemes to marry off his spinster daughter (Joanne Woodward) to the hunky nomad. Meanwhile, his own son (Anthony Franciosa) finds himself in danger of being displaced by the drifter. Loosely based on William Faulkner's novel THE HAMLET and two short stories (BARN BURNING and SPOTTED HORSES), this is a wonderfully crafted piece of steamy entertainment. The screenwriters (Irving Ravetch, Harriet Frank Jr.) have soaked the dialog and atmosphere in faux Tennessee Williams fashion that one could be fooled into thinking it was the real thing and it's obvious that Welles' Will Varner is patterned after Williams' Big Daddy in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF. There's a genuine sensuality permeating almost every frame and the Alex North's superb music is one of the most erotic film scores ever written. Seamlessly directed by Martin Ritt. With Lee Remick, Angela Lansbury, Richard Anderson, Sarah Marshall and Mabel Albertson.