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Rating:  - Not necessarily William Holden's best film, but worth watching once
Some people are saying that this is only released in Full Screen. I rented it and it certainly was in 2:35 Widescreen. I rented this because I wanted to see another early William Holden film, and I heard that this was a "classic". Plus I wanted to see some films that I actually know the main song more than just the film. The song "Moonglow" and the Theme from Picnic" was a classic favorite of mine in my many instrumental classics collections. It's funny how much of my favorite music was popular before I was even born.
Well anyway, I like William Holden's "The World of Suzie Wong" and "Love is a Many-Splendered Thing" better than this less-than-energetic "Smalltown Sunday at the Park" yawner. Kim Novak was gorgeous, of course, and it was great to see an early film of Cliff Robertson (better known to me as in "Falcon Crest", "Class", and also for promoting AT&T about 20 years back.
I wish William Holden didn't keep calling Kim Novak "baby" in the film. That's so lame, but I guess that was of its time. This movie was worth watching once, but it's certainly no keeper.
Rating:  - "I'm so tired of being told I'm pretty"
William Inge's evocative portrait of small-town life, PICNIC, features the blazing star combo of Kim Novak and William Holden.
When handsome drifter Hal Carter (William Holden) decides to drop in and visit old college buddy Alan Benson (Cliff Robertson) in his small Kansas town, he ends up turning the head of Alan's girlfriend Madge (Kim Novak) and disrupting the peaceful lives of her extended family. The action comes to a climax at the Labour Day picnic, where Madge is to be crowned. As Madge comes to grips with her uncontrollable attraction to Hal; spinsterish schoolmarm Rosemary (Rosalind Russell) conspires to get her long-standing beau Howard (Arthur O'Connell) down the aisle via the shortest possible means.
Kim Novak is brilliant as Madge, the young woman torn between the man who can offer financial security, and the penniless drifter who excites her like no-one she's ever met before; Novak plays the conflict of emotions very well. In 1955, William Holden was a little too seasoned to play the muscly stud, but offers a fine performance as Hal. Susan Strasberg, as little sister Millie, provides lots of depth with a role that's written as a caricature (the brainy younger sibling marching around in glasses and bluejeans, reading "dirty books"), yet Strasberg plays the role believably. Rosalind Russell shines in the role of schoolmarm Rosemary, desperate to marry and leave her rented room (though her performance is quite hammy and broad in some of the scenes). Betty Field and Verna Felton also provide solid work, albeit in thankless supporting roles.
Although the CinemaScope visuals take some of the impact away from the claustrophobic view of small-town life that's being depicted in the story, the wide ratio displays Kim Novak to her utmost advantage (not to mention William Holden, who sheds his shirt in several scenes). George Duning supplies the evocative incidental and jazz score, which features "Moonglow" in the Labour Day dance segment.
In the tradition of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "Suddenly Last Summer", PICNIC is a searing romantic drama you're sure to fall in love with. The DVD includes bonus poster gallery and animated photo montage. (Single-sided, dual-layer disc).
Rating:  - A classic
What can anyone say about "Picnic" that hasn't already been said? Although somewhat dated, it's a wonderful movie and the chemistry between William Holden and Kim Novak is electric. Wish the love stories of today were as beautifully presented.
Rating: - Near-perfection of Broadway adapted to cinema?
The movie rates 5 stars; this DVD rates 3.
Picnic is a movie I didn't merely watch; I experienced it from age 6 forward. At Waikiki Beach, restaurant jukeboxes on beach-directed speakers played "Moonglow" incessantly on summer afternoons. That sweet music was ingrained in my psyche. Older cousins told me Picnic was about the best date movie ever made.
Flash forward to 1962, when Picnic was late-night movie fare on TV. I finally saw the fabled movie. Kim Novak was even more radiant than anticipated.
That pretty-in-pink moment at Neewollah is a seminal moment of movie history - what a vision of feminine pulchritude.
Casting of other characters was near-flawless. OK, Bill Holden was a bit too old to play a twenty-something college dropout, but he turned in a compelling performance as the tortured dreamer, Hal. Cliff Robertson played the precise balance of a reluctantly tolerant college buddy versus rightfully scornful moralist of man-child, Hal, who had destroyed his dream of a future with Madge. Bill Holden, Betty Field, Verna Felton, Arthur O'Connor, Roz Russell, and an exceptional Susan Strassberg are gone now, but in Picnic, they live on forever.
Susan Strassberg is the campus queen's kid sister you wish you met in high school. Millie is a misfit, big city girl stuck in a small town. Verna Felton is the neighbor you wish you had living on your block. Rosalind Russell fears her biological clock is in its final throes, seeing hapless, happy-go-lucky Arthur O'Connell as her final chance at companionship.
There is plenty of charm in the depiction of small-town Mid-America, and you can't believe that the tortured conflicts of the characters could possibly take place there.
The closing scene has Madge (Novak) on a bus, ostensibly to rendezvous with Hal, who has hopped a freight train. The highway parallels the train tracks, and the bus slowly pulls behind a speeding train. Most viewers would assume a happy ending.
However, do Madge and Hal find happiness? Betty Field, the mother, married a ne'er-do-well like Hal, and she has felt the pain of abandonment. She is left with high-schooler, Millie, a devious handful. Finally, does Arthur O'Connell commit to Rosalind Russell?
These are some points to ponder as the credits roll. Keep your fingers crossed that a "proper" DVD finally gets pressed, one that respects widescreen movies. I had to catch Picnic at a film festival for the theatrical widescreen version. Don't miss it.
Strains of Moonglow are playing on my computer as I write this review. It will probably be played at my funeral. It's truly amazing how some things stick in a six-year old's mind.
Rating: - Moonglow
Got this DVD specifically for the song "Moonglow". I saw the movie "Picnic" when it first came out in the fifties. The scene where Kim Novak and William Holden dance on the dock to "Moonglow" I'll never forget. It was so romantic. I guess the song/movie made a definite impact on me and when I hear it...it reminds me of when I was a kid. (before movies were rated)
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