Quentin's uncle Howard (John Beal) is an alcoholic failure. The crumbling Compson house reflects the disarray of the once-proud family. The film adaption narrows the book's wide scope down to the coming-of-age story of a single character, Quentin Compson (Joanne Woodward). As with other tame Hollywood potboilers of the time, the resulting film leaves most of its 'dangerous' themes unexplored - but also offers several very interesting performances. This time, the same writers pared a multi-generational Faulkner book down to a brief time frame, folding together characters that in the book never met one other. Producer Jerry Wald immediately tried again with 1959's The Sound and the Fury. The writing team of Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr.'a stew of Deep South situations pleased audiences wanting to see new star Joanne Woodward play opposite Paul Newman. Martin Ritt's 1958 The Long, Hot Summer played fast and loose with the 'unfillmable' William Faulkner by combining a score of his stories into one narrative. Written by Irving Ravetch, Harriet Frank Jr. Starring Yul Brynner, Joanne Woodward, Margaret Leighton, Stuart Whitman, Ethel Waters, Jack Warden, Françoise Rosay, John Beal, Albert Dekker. Street Date Septem/ available through Screen Archives Entertainment / 29.95 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title.1959 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 115 min. Hearts and trees of the wald are burning. Will he steal her from his absent brother-in-arms? Honor and loyalty are in play, as is Germania. And worst of all, Berengar battles his own promises as he finds that he loves Thusnelda. There are tribesmen who would prefer to accept the power of Caesar rather than the rigors of independence. But Berengar discovers that it is not just the legions he must fight. Berengar and Thusnelda begin to scrape together a new coalition to free the tribes from Roman rule.

In the dark recesses of the wald, the hungry survivors of the wars cling to the visions of victory seen by the ancient priestess, Rike. Separated from his beloved wald and his betrothed, Thusnelda, Ermin lives in the very palace of Augustus quickly becoming Romanized.

Ermin, the most influential of young Cheruscan nobles, is held captive.

The once numerous and independent tribes of Germania have been subjugated by a parade of Roman generals.

Wald Afire by Jason Born