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:

Sexual Attraction | Beautiful Woman | Rural Area | Labor Day | Lust

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 10 nominations

Cast

William Holden	...	Hal Carter
Kim Novak	...	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

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:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (re-rating) (1990) | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Halstead, Kansas, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

William Holden was so nervous about having to dance in the Moonglow scene that Joshua Logan took him to Kansas roadhouses to practice his dance steps, along with choreographer Miriam Nelson. When the scene came to be shot, Holden, an alcoholic, was drunk to calm his nerves.

Goofs:

Continuity: Toward the end of the film when Hal hops a freight train to Tulsa, he jumps onto a boxcar that has its door shut. He climbs the ladder and stands on top of tMadge. In this long shot the boxcar door is now open.

Quotes:

Millie Owens: The ones we love are always pretty, but the ones who are pretty to begin with... everyone loves them.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: War of the Colossal Beast (#4.19)" (1991)

Poignant, bittersweet

I like the surface simplicity of this movie, beneath which lie important questions: Can we be free of our ancestors' demons? Can love between two emotionally crippled people be healthy?

Madge and Hal are -- probably tragically - made for each other. Each is a product of a broken home. Each wants to create a life worth living, despite family history, circumstances, and friends who expect little of them. My heart goes out to both of them. (The sad truth is that Madge's mother's warning will probably come true.)

I love the ambiguity of the movie's ending. I read that William Inge (or was it the screenwriter?) had originally had Madge return to her five and dime deadend job. I much prefer the ending that Mr. Logan chose.

Alcohol ought to be listed in the cast credits. It plays a big role at the picnic, and the effects of parental alcoholism pervade Hal's and Madge's lives.

Roz Russell the town schoolmarm and Howard the shopkeeper provide delightfully lighthearted counterpoints.

No car crashes, no karate. Just a simple story, simple setting, and timeless questions.