Picnic | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Joshua Logan |
Screenplay by | Daniel Taradash |
Based on | Picnic 1953 play by William Inge |
Produced by | Fred Kohlmar |
Starring | William Holden Kim Novak Betty Field Rosalind Russell |
Cinematography | James Wong Howe |
Edited by | William A. Lyon Charles Nelson |
Music by | George Duning |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 115 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $3 million [2] |
Box office | $9 million (rentals) [2] |
Picnic is a 1955 American Technicolor romantic comedy-drama film filmed in CinemaScope. [3] [4] It was adapted for the screen by Daniel Taradash from William Inge's 1953 Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name. [5] Joshua Logan, director of the original Broadway stage production, directed the film version, which stars William Holden, Kim Novak, and Rosalind Russell, with Susan Strasberg and Cliff Robertson in supporting roles. Picnic was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won two.
The film dramatizes 24 hours in the life of a small Kansas town in the mid-20th century during the Labor Day holiday. It is the story of an outsider whose appearance disrupts and rearranges the lives of those whom he encounters.
On the morning of Labor Day 1955, a freight train brings vagrant Hal Carter to a Kansas town to visit his fraternity friend Alan Benson. While he stays with kind Helen Potts, he also meets Alan's girlfriend Madge Owens, her sister Millie, and their mother. Alan is happy to see the "same old Hal" and shows him his family's sprawling grain-elevator operations. He promises Hal a steady job as a "wheat scooper" (though Hal would prefer to start off as an executive) and invites him to attend the town's Labor Day picnic.
At the picnic, Hal divides his attention among Madge, Millie, and middle-aged schoolteacher Rosemary, who is accompanied by her friend Howard Bevens. As Hal dances with Madge, an intoxicated Rosemary watches. When Rosemary doesn't like the way Howard is dancing with her, she interrupts Hal and Madge and insists he dance with her. Hal is uncomfortable and resists, and Rosemary tears his shirt. Millie gets up, claiming to be sick. As Madge tries to help her, Millie pushes her away, saying everyone always thinks "Madge is the pretty one." She runs off, leaving Howard to find a bottle of alcohol she left behind, which her mother Flo inadvertently sees. When she wants to know who has been giving liquor to her underage daughter, Rosemary blames Hal. Embarrassed by the rejection, she dresses him down, telling him he's been acting like a big shot since he got into town and that he acts young, but isn't. She accuses him of being a fake who is just scared to act his real age, afraid of ending up in the gutter "where you belong."
Madge follows Hal to Alan's car and gets in with him. By the river, he tells her he was sent to reform school as a boy for stealing a motorcycle and that his whole life is a failure. They kiss. Outside Madge's house, they promise to meet after she finishes work the next evening.
Hal drives back to Alan's house to return the car, but Alan has called the police and wants him arrested. Hal flees the house in the car with the police following close behind. He shows up at Howard's apartment, asking to spend the night there. Howard is very understanding and now has his own worries: Rosemary has begged him to marry her. Back at the Owens house, Madge and Millie cry themselves to sleep in their shared room.
The next morning, Howard comes to the Owens house, intending to tell Rosemary he wants to wait, but at the sight of him she is overjoyed, thinking he has come to take her away. He wordlessly goes along with the misunderstanding. As Howard passes Madge on the stairs, he tells her Hal is hiding in the back seat of his car. Hal is able to slip away before the other women gleefully decorate Howard's car.
While Howard and Rosemary happily drive off to the Ozarks, Hal and Madge meet by a shed behind the house. He tells her that he loves her and asks her to meet him in Tulsa, where they can marry and he can get a job at a hotel as a bellhop and elevator operator. Mrs. Owens finds them by the shed and threatens to call the police. Madge and Hal embrace and kiss.
Hal runs to catch a passing freight train, crying out to Madge, "You love me! You love me!" Upstairs in their room, Millie tells Madge to "do something bright" for once in her life and go to Hal. Madge packs a small suitcase and, despite her mother's tears, boards a bus for Tulsa.
Columbia acquired the rights to the play for $350,000 in September 1953. [6]
Harry Cohn offered the job of directing to Joshua Logan, who had directed the stage version. Logan was grateful as he had just had a manic breakdown.
The then 37-year old William Holden was already cast when Logan came on board. Holden was "happy to finish his Columbia Pictures contract with such a prestigious project" despite the film paying him $30,000 instead of the $250,000 he would have otherwise earned. [5] In the film, Holden keeps his hair combed in an untidy fringe over his forehead and has the sleeves of his shirt rolled up throughout. He shaved his chest for the shirtless shots and was reportedly nervous about his dancing for the "Moonglow" scene. Logan took him to Kansas roadhouses where he practiced steps in front of jukeboxes with choreographer Miriam Nelson.
Logan said Cohn suggested that Columbia contract star Kim Novak be cast, but did not insist on it. Logan felt Novak was very close to the character she played. The "blonde bombshell" Novak screen tested twice and was given the part, playing it as a redhead. Picnic was one of Kim Novak's early film roles, and this movie made her a star.
Janice Rule, who played the part on Broadway, did a screen test, but Logan said that it went poorly. Writer Daniel Taradash pushed for Carroll Baker, and who tested, but Logan felt that she was too young.
Eileen Heckart played the school teacher on Broadway, but Harry Cohn wanted a bigger name, so Rosalind Russell was cast. This was her first Hollywood movie after a big success on Broadway with her Tony Award-winning performance in Wonderful Town (1953). The film credits her with "co-star" status.
Paul Newman was under contract to Warner Bros and was unable to reprise his role as Alan, so Logan cast Cliff Robertson, who had been in a touring company of Mister Roberts . [7]
Millie, the independently minded girl who memorizes Shakespeare sonnets and rebels against her older sister, was an early role for Susan Strasberg, the daughter of prominent Method drama teacher Lee Strasberg. Kim Stanley played the youngster sister on stage, but Logan thought she was too old on film and cast Strasberg.
Elizabeth Wilson had a bit part as one of the smirking schoolteachers. Verna Felton, a longtime radio and TV character actor who was well-known to audiences in the 1950s, had a strong supporting role as neighbor Helen Potts.
Bomber, the paperboy, was played by Nick Adams, an actor who dated Natalie Wood and was a friend of both James Dean and Elvis Presley.
Mr. Benson was played by Raymond Bailey (without his toupee), later known on television as Beverly Hillbillies banker Milburn Drysdale.
Reta Shaw, Elizabeth Wilson and Arthur O'Connell recreated their roles from the original Broadway production. [8]
The extensive use of Kansas locations highlighted the naturalistic, small-town drama. Picnic was shot mostly around Hutchinson, Kansas. [5] Other Kansas locations include:
During filming of the actual picnic scenes in Halstead, Kansas, a tornado swept through the area, forcing the cast and crew to take cover. While the storm spared the set, it devastated the nearby town of Udall, Kansas, and the film crew drove their trucks and equipment there to help clean up the damage. [11] : 10
Heavy thunderstorms with tornado warnings repeatedly interrupted shooting of the scene on location, and it was completed on a backlot in Burbank, where Holden (according to some sources)[ specify ] was "dead drunk" to calm his nerves.
The film's release was accompanied by a Time cover story. [12] It earned theatrical rentals of $6,300,000 in the United States and Canada and $9 million worldwide. [13] [14] [2]
In a contemporary review, critic Mae Tinee of the Chicago Tribune wrote:
It is a taut two hours of masterful movie making ... The story presents a cross-section of many lives, but the telling is never hurried, the detail is impressive, and the performances are some of the finest of the year. ... The film tells a moving and human tale, and does it in superb fashion. It is one of the finest examples of superior motion picture production." [15]
Once the movie premiered at the Radio City Music Hall, film critic A. H. Weiler of The New York Times wrote:
[I]t should be noted that William Inge's distinguished comedy-drama is slightly travelworn here and there. The hearts and minds of the commonplace Kansas townsfolk that were so beautifully revealed on stage still leave a sharp, poignant and lasting impression on a moviegoer. But the new CinemaScope surroundings appear too vast an occasion for these basically intimate stories. Lebensraum apparently is not what these Plains people need. And, while the titular picnic of this sprawling dramatization is inventive, eye-catching and eye-filling, it is not particularly germane to the dramas at hand. ... In returning to film making after a long absence, Joshua Logan, who has lived with the play from the beginning, has made its characters come alive again through his directorial artistry. Although he is occasionally overwhelmed by the CinemaScope process, Mr. Inge's principals are not. They still make Picnic a memorable and moving drama. [16]
The film was restored in the mid-1990s [17] and brought many art-house bookings. [18]
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
The film's "Theme from Picnic", composed by George Duning and Steve Allen (although Allen's lyrics were not used in the film), was released in three versions:
At one point, the three singles were in the Top 40 simultaneously, and the Stoloff and Cates versions ranked consecutively at #3 and #4 in the Top 100 chart of June 2, 1956.
The soundtrack album reached #2 on the Billboard album chart, where it remained for 56 weeks beginning in February 1956. [21]
In 1957, marketing researcher James Vicary said he had included subliminal messages such as "eat popcorn" and "drink Coca-Cola" in public screenings of Picnic for six weeks, claiming sales of Coca-Cola and popcorn increased 18.1% and 57.8% respectively. However, after being unable to replicate the results, Vicary later admitted that he had falsified the data. [22]
Picnic was remade for television twice. The first was in 1986, directed by Marshall W. Mason and starring Gregory Harrison, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael Learned, Rue McClanahan and Dick Van Patten. The second remake was in 2000, starring Josh Brolin, Gretchen Mol, Bonnie Bedelia, Jay O. Sanders and Mary Steenburgen. The adaptation by Shelley Evans was directed by Ivan Passer.
She Done Him Wrong is a 1933 pre-Code American crime/comedy film starring Mae West and Cary Grant, directed by Lowell Sherman. The plot includes melodramatic and musical elements, with a supporting cast featuring Owen Moore, Gilbert Roland, Noah Beery Sr., Rochelle Hudson, and Louise Beavers. The film was adapted from the successful 1928 Broadway play Diamond Lil by Mae West. The film is famous for West's many double entendres and quips, including her best-known "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?". She Done Him Wrong was a box-office success and the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
William Franklin Holden was an American actor and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film Stalag 17 (1953) and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for the television miniseries The Blue Knight (1973).
Splendor in the Grass is a 1961 American period drama film produced and directed by Elia Kazan, from a screenplay written by William Inge. It stars Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty as two high school sweethearts, navigating feelings of sexual repression, love, and heartbreak. Pat Hingle, Audrey Christie, Barbara Loden, Zohra Lampert, and Joanna Roos are featured in supporting roles.
William Motter Inge was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s he had a string of memorable Broadway productions, including Picnic, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize. With his portraits of small-town life and settings rooted in the American heartland, Inge became known as the "Playwright of the Midwest".
Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Novak is an American retired film and television actress and painter. Her contributions to cinema have been honored with two Golden Globe Awards, an Honorary Golden Bear, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Bus Stop is a 1956 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Joshua Logan for 20th Century Fox, starring Marilyn Monroe, Don Murray, Arthur O'Connell, Betty Field, Eileen Heckart, Robert Bray, and Hope Lange.
Thoroughly Modern Millie is a 1967 American musical-romantic comedy film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Julie Andrews. The screenplay, by Richard Morris based on the 1956 British musical Chrysanthemum, follows a naïve young woman who finds herself in a series of madcap adventures when she sets her sights on marrying her wealthy boss. The film also stars Mary Tyler Moore, James Fox, John Gavin, Carol Channing, and Beatrice Lillie.
Susan Elizabeth Strasberg was an American stage, film, and television actress. Thought to be the next Hepburn-type ingenue, she was nominated for a Tony Award at age 18, playing the title role in The Diary of Anne Frank. She appeared on the covers of LIFE and Newsweek in 1955. A close friend of Marilyn Monroe and Richard Burton, she wrote two best-selling tell-all books. Her later career primarily consisted of slasher and horror films, followed by TV roles, by the 1980s.
Picnic is a 1953 play by William Inge. The play premiered at the Music Box Theatre, Broadway, on 19 February 1953 in a Theatre Guild production, directed by Joshua Logan, which ran for 477 performances.
Deception is a 1946 American film noir drama released by Warner Brothers and directed by Irving Rapper. The film is based on the 1927 play Monsieur Lamberthier by Louis Verneuil. The screenplay was written by John Collier and Joseph Than. It stars Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains, who had also appeared together in the highly successful Now, Voyager (1942), which was also directed by Rapper.
Jeanne Eagels is a 1957 American biographical film loosely based on the life of stage star Jeanne Eagels. Distributed by Columbia Pictures, the film was produced and directed by George Sidney from a screenplay by John Fante, Daniel Fuchs and Sonya Levien, based on a story by Fuchs.
Higher and Higher is a 1944 musical film starring Michèle Morgan, Jack Haley, and Frank Sinatra, loosely based on a 1940 Broadway musical written by Gladys Hurlbut and Joshua Logan. The film version, written by Jay Dratler and Ralph Spence with additional dialogue by William Bowers and Howard Harris, diverges significantly from its source.
The Pajama Game is a 1957 American musical film based on the 1954 stage musical of the same name, itself based on the 1953 novel 7½ Cents by Richard Pike Bissell. The film was produced and directed by George Abbott and Stanley Donen, with most Broadway cast members repeating their roles in the movie with the notable exception of star Doris Day. The choreography is by Bob Fosse, who also staged the dances for the Broadway production.
The Mating of Millie is a 1948 American romantic comedy film directed by Henry Levin and starring Glenn Ford, Evelyn Keyes and Ron Randell. It was produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures.
Summer Brave is a play by William Inge, a revision of his Pulitzer Prize-winning 1953 play Picnic. Set in Independence, Kansas, a small town in Kansas in the early 1950s, it focuses on Hal Carter, an attractive young stranger who drifts into town just before the annual Labor Day celebration and sets off a chain of events that prompts various residents to reflect on the present and contemplate an unpromising future.
Hollywood Hotel is a 1937 American romantic musical comedy film, directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Dick Powell, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane, Hugh Herbert, Ted Healy, Glenda Farrell and Johnnie Davis, featuring Alan Mowbray and Mabel Todd, and with Allyn Joslyn, Grant Mitchell and Edgar Kennedy.
It's a Date is a 1940 American musical film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Deanna Durbin, Kay Francis, and Walter Pidgeon. Based on a story by Jane Hall, Frederick Kohner, and Ralph Block, the film is about an aspiring actress who is offered the lead in a major new play, but discovers that her mother, a more experienced actress, was hoping to get the same part. Their lives are complicated further when they both get involved with the same man. Distributed by Universal Pictures, It's a Date was remade in 1950 as Nancy Goes to Rio.
Smilin' Through is a 1932 American pre-Code MGM romantic drama film based on the 1919 play of the same name written by Jane Cowl and Jane Murfin under the pseudonym of Allan Langdon Martin. It was adapted from the play by James Bernard Fagan, Donald Ogden Stewart, Ernest Vajda and Claudine West. The film was directed by Sidney Franklin and stars Norma Shearer, Fredric March, Leslie Howard and Ralph Forbes.
Washington Melodrama is a 1941 American drama film directed by S. Sylvan Simon and starring Frank Morgan, Ann Rutherford, and Kent Taylor. It was produced in Hollywood by major studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
"Moonglow and Theme from Picnic" is a 1956-released medley of both "Moonglow" (1933) and "Theme from Picnic" (1955), by Morris Stoloff. It is from the film Picnic, starring William Holden and Kim Novak.
The DVD greatly benefits from a mid-1990s film restoration project that saw Picnic back on the big screen in art houses across the country.