The Long, Hot Summer (1958) _BEST_

This is the absolute epitome of late 50's camp and is therefore my ultimate summer movie. Paul Newman as an arsonist (??). 23 year old Lee Remick and Anthony Franciosa being horny newly-weds all hours of the day and night. Joanne Woodward just acting the pants off of everybody. Phat Orson Welles. The campy music. Newman looking like he wants to eat Woodward UP. Angela Lansbury?? Joanne Woodward's gay fiance. Everything about this is pure gold.

The Long, Hot Summer (1958)

It's a hot summer in Mississippi, and you can bet that everyone who matters in Frenchman's Bend has but one idea on their minds - sex. In Picnic, William Holden's character tells a tall tale of being picked up by two women in a convertible looking for a good time. In Picnic, it's a characters' obvious self-serving fantasy, but The Long Hot Summer starts out in almost the same way, with borderline nympho Lee Remick half leaping into the back seat to be with highway bum Paul Newman.

The score for The Long Hot Summer (1958), Martin Ritt's adaptation of several stories by William Faulkner starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, and Orson Welles, has been a long time coming to CD, and the wait was worth it. One of the most romantic movies ever made about the modern (albeit rural) South, it elicited from composer Alex North one of his most unabashedly romantic scores, starting with the title track, a rich, string-laden, hauntingly beautiful ballad sung by Jimmie Rodgers. North was a man of many musical faces and voices, and he proves no less that here, moving between romantic orchestral pop, lean and virtuosic jazz, and ominous and memorable action/effect music. There's a most effective and memorable jazz component to the score in the broad and suggestive "Hey Eula" and the moodier, sax-and-piano driven "Two Butterflies," but we also get a gorgeous, nostalgic restating of the main theme in "Easy Living," while "Jody" captures, in orchestral terms, the turmoil surrounding the character of the patriarch's dissolute son, and "Barn Burner" is a gorgeously romantic orchestral piece and one of the finest things in North's output. All of this material is remastered beautifully for this CD, with a close, rich sound that makes it one of the best listening experiences that one can have of an orchestral soundtrack from this period in movies. The music from The Long Hot Summer has been augmented on this CD by North's score for Sanctuary (1961), a little-known Faulkner adaptation to come from director Tony Richardson -- a much bluesier and less romantic body of music, it captures the dark, brooding side of North's work as little else in movies does, and makes for a startling contrast with and complement to the earlier score. The Varese Sarabande Limited Collectors' Edition CD -- with a pressing of 2000 copies -- has been well-annotated, as well as beautifully produced by Robert Townson and Nick Redman, and is well worth the premium asking price.

Attore e regista cinematografico statunitense, nato a Cleveland (Ohio) il 26 gennaio 1925. Dopo aver frequentato prestigiose scuole di recitazione (nel 1952 l'Actor's Studio) si impone in teatro, nel ruolo di un bel giovane troppo corteggiato dalle donne, in Picnic di W. Inge. Approdato a Hollywood, fa parte del drappello di attori ''ribelli senza causa'' capeggiato da M. Brando e J. Dean. Pur aderendo a un personaggio quasi obbligato, N. lo sottrae al gusto del momento rafforzandolo con una buona dimensione sociologica (Somebody up there likes me, Lassù qualcuno mi ama, 1956) o con una certa tensione psicanalitica (The left handed gun, Furia selvaggia, 1958). L'incontro con M. Ritt, regista attento all'aspetto sociale della narrativa cinematografica, e il matrimonio (1956) con l'intelligente e volitiva J. Woodward lo aiutano ad adattarsi senza fatica a vicende familiari di netto rilievo drammatico (The long hot summer, La lunga estate calda, e Cat on a hot tin roof, La gatta sul tetto che scotta, 1958; The sweet bird of youth, La dolce ala della giovinezza, 1962, ecc.).

The tung tree (Aleurites fordii) requires a moderately acid soil, an annual rainfall of 45 to 70 in., and a long hot summer, yet it must have a period of cold weather in winter. These factors limit its culture in North America to a narrow belt along the Gulf of Mexico from Florida to Texas. The majority of the orchards presently consist of miscellaneous seedlings that are about 30 years of age. By replacing these with orchards of new varieties, on suitable soil, and by following recommended practices, growers can produce oil at lower costs than previously. However, crop loss from frost is still a serious problem. Machine harvesting is now a reality. During World War II the government requisitioned the entire domestic production of tung oil for military purposes, and regular customers had to turn to other products. This market has not yet been fully won back, and growers look to utilization research to improve the market. 041b061a72