Ritt and screenwriters shamelessly borrowed the picnic auction in Oklahoma! and plopped it into The Long Hot Summer, a mish-mash of William Faulkner’s “Spotted Horses” (1931), “Barn Burning” (1939), and The Hamlet (1940), none of which includes a picnic. In this instance, Alan Stewart, a momma’s boy, declines to bid more than $50 for his fiancé’s basket. The winner is Ben Quick, an aggressive, obnoxious man Clara Varner dislikes.
As the auctioneer hands Quick the basket, he says, “This is gonna be about the most expensive chicken supper you ever et, boy…but worth every cent of it… considerin’ the charmin’ company you’re gonna be eatin’ it in. I, uh… I hope you’re gonna give him dessert for that price, Clara?” Clara stands mute. But she is not happy.
According to the Hollywood “rules for topsy-turvy romance,” it’s the beginning of a tempestuous, successful courtship. Furious, Clara spits the words at him, “You are barking up the wrong girl, Mr. Quick because it will never be you.” Ben says, “Never say never.” Clara is tough but not tough enough.
Basket contents are ridiculed by Quick as he unpacks the wicker, Ben says sarcastically:
“Uh, little fancy napkins. Little frosted cakes. And little dainty sandwiches with the crusts cut off.
You got a bigger appetite than that, haven’t you?”
See Martin Ritt. “Picnic Basket Auction” from The Long Hot Summer (1958). Screenplay by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr. based on William Faulkner’s “Spotted Horses “(1931) “Burning Barn” (1939) and The Hamlet (1940