Hot temperatures can serve as the backdrop to a lusty affair or set the stage for tense conflict in movies. In light of midsummer heat waves sweeping the nation, along with the upcoming film “Hot Summer Nights,” here are 14 movies that will have you sweating.
The Seven Year Itch This cinema classic produced the iconic Marilyn Monroe subway grate scene and also gave moviegoers a hot weather tip: On a particularly scorching day, stick your underwear in the freezer.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof In the film adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play, Elizabeth Taylor starred as the titular Cat, Maggie, who aides in the reconciliation of her husband’s (Paul Newman) family in the midst of a sweltering summer.
The Day the Earth Caught Fire The high temperatures in this British disaster film weren’t part of a naturally occurring heat wave, but a result of nuclear bomb tests. Most of it was shown in black-and-white, though the beginning featured an orange wash of color to signify a sizzling London.
Rear Window A New York City heat wave became served as a focal plot device in this classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller. As his neighbors open their windows to let the breeze in, photographer L.B. Jeffries (Jimmy Stewart) begins tracking their movements and aides in solving a murder.
9 1/2 Weeks E.L. James, take notes. Though the implication of a toxic relationship was not lost on viewers, this 1980s erotic thriller starring Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke certainly turned up the heat, with sexual escapades involving food… and sewers. And one is arguably icy-hot — involving ice cubes. You just have to see it.
Body Heat Not only did this film feature a steamy affair during a heat wave in Florida, but it also upped the temperature with incendiary scenes involving explosives. Kathleen Turner played Matty, who conspires with the man she’s cheating with (William Hurt) to kill her husband.
Do The Right Thing The increasing temperatures in the Spike Lee film’s Brooklyn setting served as a backdrop for the heightened race relations in the neighborhood. Sweat, fans, along with bright reds and yellows, lit up the visual palette of the movie.
In the Heat of the Night This 1967 mystery film featured Sidney Poitier as homicide detective Mr. Tibbs, who investigates a murder in the swampy South. The palpable tension between Tibbs and the white officer Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger) kicked off the slow burn of a thriller.
The Blue Lagoon Wildly unrealistic, yet somewhat redeeming in its endearing naiveté, this 1980 film starring a young Brooke Shields explored a couple’s burgeoning sexuality in a flora-filled tropical landscape.
Barton Fink Paranoid playwright Barton Fink (John Turturro) moves to Hollywood in the summer and experiences a bout of writers block in this 1991 Coen brothers film. References to the heat — sheens of sweat, melting wallpaper — culminate in an all-out hotel fire.
Wet Hot American Summer Its the quintessential sleep-away camp satire. Camp Firewood sets the stage for comedians Michael Ian Black and Janeane Garofalo as well as a bunch of cluelessly jovial counselors trying to get it on.
Mad Max: Fury Road This movie is fiery — from Imperator Furiosa’s (Charlize Theron’s) to the countless high-speed car chases and eruptions in a stifling desert. Even the parched wasteland that served as the film’s setting seemed to be stuck in a perennial heat wave.
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials The third installment in the “Maze Runner” trilogy saw Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and his gang trekking across a blistering desert while fighting off Cranks, people that have been affected by the Flare virus.
Hot Summer Nights All the teasers for the new teen drama, starring Timothee Chalamet and Maika Monroe, evoke a fluorescent summer setting sticky with adolescent angst and lust. Chalamet’s character finds himself swept up in a burgeoning romance and a drug ring in 1991 Cape Cod, just before the impending arrival of a hurricane.
