The William Inge play upon which the film is based was a biting look at the prejudicial and insular communities of small-town America. In out-of-town runs, Joshua Logan (who directed both play and film) discerned that audiences preferred a more positive viewpoint, resulting in the story we see on screen. Logan also opened up the play's one set to include the entire community very effectively, better than most stage-to-film productions.
This may be my favorite film of all time. There is so much to like, from the script to the acting, from the music to the editing.
With the changes made by Logan, Picnic is--at its heart--a love story. William Holden plays Hal Carter, a young man who drifts into a small Kansas town and meets Madge Owens (Kim Novak), the beautiful daughter of a woman who is grooming her for marriage to a young man from a well to do family. Madge feels trapped by the expectations of her mother and the entire town, a victim of her own beauty.
Holden plays Hal as someone who is desperate. He feels time passing him by. With no prospects on the horizon, he blows into town to see his old college buddy, Alan Benson (Cliff Robertson), hoping to find a job. Hal has a chip on his shoulder and projects a façade of confidence that is easy to see through.
Madge is desperate in her own way. She wants to establish her own identity, but she is playing a role proscribed for her by the town. As queen of the annual fall festival, she is a virginal offering to the gods of propriety and tradition.
All of the actors in this film do tremendous jobs. I must single out Rosalind Russell who plays Miss Rosemary Sydney, a middle-aged school teacher who boards in the Owens household. She too is desperate, feeling doomed to live the remainder of her life without fulfilling her dreams of marriage with all its trappings. Like Hal, she puts on a brave front, but the film's narrative brings her to a point where she is stripped of pretensions and the viewer sees and feels her desperation. I always wondered why Russell did not receive the Academy Award for this multi-leveled, gut-wrenching performance. Then I read that she was upset that she was not billed as the female lead. After years of top billing and box office success, she was billed below Kim Novak--a relative newcomer. So, she asked that she not be considered for Best Supporting Actress. This is one of her best performances.
Picnic gives us so many memorable scenes--from the scenes of the fall festival, to the dancing scene between Holden and Novak, to the final scene of the film. Some of the best scenes take place in the plot of grass that lies between the back of the Owens house and the alley that borders the backyards. When Hal first arrives in town, broke and travel-weary, he walks down that alley and observes another world, where families live and interact, where there is a sense of belonging. He knows that if he can make his way from the outside world represented by the alley to the inside world represented by the back steps of the houses, he might gain access to another world, with its vague promise of a better life.
As a young man looking to find his place in life, Holden's portrayal of Hal deserves to be elevated to iconic status, along with the rebels of Brando and Dean.
This may be my favorite film of all time. There is so much to like, from the script to the acting, from the music to the editing.
With the changes made by Logan, Picnic is--at its heart--a love story. William Holden plays Hal Carter, a young man who drifts into a small Kansas town and meets Madge Owens (Kim Novak), the beautiful daughter of a woman who is grooming her for marriage to a young man from a well to do family. Madge feels trapped by the expectations of her mother and the entire town, a victim of her own beauty.
Holden plays Hal as someone who is desperate. He feels time passing him by. With no prospects on the horizon, he blows into town to see his old college buddy, Alan Benson (Cliff Robertson), hoping to find a job. Hal has a chip on his shoulder and projects a façade of confidence that is easy to see through.
Madge is desperate in her own way. She wants to establish her own identity, but she is playing a role proscribed for her by the town. As queen of the annual fall festival, she is a virginal offering to the gods of propriety and tradition.
All of the actors in this film do tremendous jobs. I must single out Rosalind Russell who plays Miss Rosemary Sydney, a middle-aged school teacher who boards in the Owens household. She too is desperate, feeling doomed to live the remainder of her life without fulfilling her dreams of marriage with all its trappings. Like Hal, she puts on a brave front, but the film's narrative brings her to a point where she is stripped of pretensions and the viewer sees and feels her desperation. I always wondered why Russell did not receive the Academy Award for this multi-leveled, gut-wrenching performance. Then I read that she was upset that she was not billed as the female lead. After years of top billing and box office success, she was billed below Kim Novak--a relative newcomer. So, she asked that she not be considered for Best Supporting Actress. This is one of her best performances.
Picnic gives us so many memorable scenes--from the scenes of the fall festival, to the dancing scene between Holden and Novak, to the final scene of the film. Some of the best scenes take place in the plot of grass that lies between the back of the Owens house and the alley that borders the backyards. When Hal first arrives in town, broke and travel-weary, he walks down that alley and observes another world, where families live and interact, where there is a sense of belonging. He knows that if he can make his way from the outside world represented by the alley to the inside world represented by the back steps of the houses, he might gain access to another world, with its vague promise of a better life.
As a young man looking to find his place in life, Holden's portrayal of Hal deserves to be elevated to iconic status, along with the rebels of Brando and Dean.