Ok so this is a tribute to Paul Newman. The man did a lot with charities and so forth. I think that is probably what the actor wants to be remembered for, but this about movies so here we go...
Paul Newman is Ben Quick who's reputation precedes him, he's a drifter and a bit of a con artist. Just recently being run out of one town as a barn burner he finds himself in another one. And this one has the name Varner all over it. So he goes and sees Mr. Varner, only he finds the younger Varner, Jody (Anthony Franciosa) and the girls who just happened to give him a lift Clara Varner (Joanne Woodward) and Eula Varner (Lee Remick). He wants a job and gets one.
Enter Will Varner (Orson Welles), who has been away at the hospital, getting well or having some kind of organ removed. He full of piss and vinegar. He sees a bit of Quick in himself, and the two fashion a contract of sorts.
I can't really say much more, but Ben Quick and Clara Varner are meant to be together. And I never thought of Angela Lansbury (Minnie Littlejohn, Will Varners mistress) as anything other Miss Jessica Fletcher (Murder She Wrote).
There wasn't a trailer or anything but this will have to do.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Classic Film Friday: The Long Hot Summer
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I always thought that this one was on Paul's most neglected movies; his simmering passion and TIC cynical humor are well-portrayed here. And the Varners remind me of so many Southern families; the older generation tough and hard as nails, who worked hard for what they achieved; and the younger genration soft and simple and self-seeking, confident in their position in the community without knowing how everyone really feels about them. The line from "To Kill a Mockingbird" always sticks in my mind, while watching this movie and in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" - Ladies like teacakes, by three o'clock in the afternoon covered with icings of sweat and sweet talcum...
A lot of social and sexual undertones in this movie, and a lot of deep feelings bubbling just under the surface, makes it one of the great Southern portrayals.
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