Picnic (1955)

Director:

Joshua Logan

Writers:

Daniel Taradash (screenplay)
William Inge (play)

Release Date:

16 February 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Electrically attracted to each other...Overwhelmingly engulfed by it...Guiltily in love!

Plot:

Emotions are ignited amongst the complacent townsfolk when a handsome drifter arrives in a small Kansas community on the morning of the Labour Day picnic.

Plot Keywords:

Picnic | Drifter | Small Town | Labor Day | Love

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

William Holden	...	Hal Carter
Kim Novak	...	Marjorie 'Madge' Owens
Betty Field	...	Flo Owens
Susan Strasberg	...	Millie Owens
Cliff Robertson	...	Alan Benson
Arthur O'Connell	...	Howard Bevans
Verna Felton	...	Helen Potts
Reta Shaw	...	Irma Kronkite
Nick Adams	...	Bomber
Raymond Bailey	...	Mr. Benson
Elizabeth Wilson	...	Christine Schoenwalder (as Elizabeth W. Wilson)
Rosalind Russell	...	Rosemary - The School Teacher
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Warren Frederick Adams	...	Stranger (uncredited)
Carle E. Baker	...	Grain Elevator Worker (uncredited)
George E. Bemis	...	Neighbor (uncredited)
Steve Benton	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Harold A. Beyer	...	Chamber of Commerce Member (uncredited)
Paul R. Cochran	...	Chamber of Commerce Member (uncredited)
Adlai Zeph Fisher	...	Chamber of Commerce Member (uncredited)
Don C. Harvey	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Flomanita Jackson	...	Committeewoman (uncredited)
Shirley Knight	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Phyllis Newman	...	Juanita Badger - Cool Girl (uncredited)
Henry Pagueo	...	Mayor (uncredited)
Harry Sherman Schall	...	Chamber of Commerce Member (uncredited)
Floyd Steinbeck	...	Chamber of Commerce Member (uncredited)
Wayne R. Sullivan	...	Foreman (uncredited)
Henry P. Watson	...	Chamber of Commerce President (uncredited)
Abraham Weinlood	...	Trainman - Before Opening Credits (uncredited)

Directed by
Joshua Logan

Writing credits
Daniel Taradash		(screenplay)
William Inge		(play "Picnic")

Produced by
Fred Kohlmar	....	producer

Original Music by
George Duning

Cinematography by
James Wong Howe		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
William A. Lyon
Charles Nelson

Production Design by
Jo Mielziner

Art Direction by
William Flannery

Set Decoration by
Robert Priestley

Costume Design by
Jean Louis		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Clay Campbell	....	makeup artist
Helen Hunt	....	hair styles
Robert J. Schiffer	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Carter De Haven Jr.	....	assistant director (as Carter DeHaven Jr.)

Sound Department
George Cooper	....	sound
John P. Livadary	....	recording supervisor (as John Livadary)

Camera and Electrical Department
Ray Cory	....	second unit photography
Val O'Malley	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Ralph James Hall	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Fred Karger	....	music advisor
Arthur Morton	....	orchestrator
Morris Stoloff	....	conductor
Bob Thompson	....	music arranger (uncredited)

Other crew
Henri Jaffa	....	Technicolor color consultant
Joshua Logan	....	produced on the stage by
Miriam Nelson	....	choreographer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation (presents)

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1955) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures Corporation (1955) (UK) (theatrical)
• Columbia Films (1956) (France) (theatrical) (as Columbia Films S.A./35 and 16mm)
• Columbia Film-Verleih (1956) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia C.E.I.A.D. (1956) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Columbia Films (1956) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Columbia International Films (1956) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (1961) (USA) (theatrical) (reissue)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (1990) (USA) (VHS) (pan and scan)
• Action Gitanes (1997) (France) (theatrical) (re-issue)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD) (The Kim Novak Collection)
• Columbia Film-Verleih (1956) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (????) (Italy) (video)
• Pioneer Entertainment (1990s) (USA) (video) (LaserDisc)
• SPHE (????) (France) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Sunset Gower Studios  sound stages (uncredited)
• Theatre Guild  produced on the stage by (as Theatre Guild, Inc)
• Ultra Film Synchron  german dubbing (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

115 min | USA:113 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (video rating) (1990) (2006) | West Germany:16 (f) | France:U | Australia:PG | USA:PG | Netherlands:AL (original rating) (1956) | UK:U (tv rating)

Filming Locations:

Halstead, Kansas, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The original Broadway production of "The Picnic" by William Inge opened on February 19, 1953 at the Music Box Theater, ran for 477 performances and won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 1953.

Goofs:

Continuity: The Neewollah president takes his hand off Alan's shoulder twice as he claims the first dance with Madge.

Quotes:

Rosemary Sidney:[Giddily to her schoolteacher friends just prior to eloping] So long, girls! You know what you can tell the principal for me!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Holiday Hotel (1978)

Soundtrack:

Ain't She Sweet?

Small Town America According To William Inge

There is so much to enjoy in this American melodrama with a deliciously miscast William Holden and a gelid, beautiful Kim Novak that the film can be seen again and again without being disturbed by the 40 year old Holden playing the drop out stallion trying to make amends with his past forging a sort of future for himself, at least that's what I think he wants and I'm sticking with that notion. Holden plays the loser with his shiny boots and smallish brain and that's what reminds us this is just a romantic drama thought by William Inge with a patina of reality and that's all that is real, the patina. I didn't care that emotionally couldn't play because emotionally worked for me thanks to the sexual power of the miscast star. William Holden is a sort of God who awakes the (seemingly) heavily sedated Novak into a towering passion. I would have too. The supporting cast is sensational. Rosalind Russell is a jarring masterpiece of an over the top clichè. The old maid, school teacher with a taste for alcohol and an understandable terror of her own future, overtaking her at an incredible speed. Susan Strasberg, in the part created by Kim Stanley on the Broadway stage is delightful but made me wonder what Kim Stanley may have done with that part. Betty Field is the one character that expresses the most saying the least. She, as per usual, is outstanding. All in all, a film/play that shouldn't be dismissed.