{"id":30311,"date":"2013-03-27T11:08:20","date_gmt":"2013-03-27T18:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=30311"},"modified":"2021-08-27T23:11:52","modified_gmt":"2021-08-28T06:11:52","slug":"picnic-1955","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=30311","title":{"rendered":"Picnic (1955)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;What good is it just to be pretty?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Poster-185x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"185\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-30312\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Poster-185x300.jpg 185w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Poster-79x128.jpg 79w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Poster.jpg 490w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 185px) 100vw, 185px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA hunky drifter (William Holden) arrives in a small Kansas town over Labor Day weekend, intending to look up his old college friend (Cliff Robertson) and secure some work &#8212; but he soon finds himself falling in love with Robertson&#8217;s beautiful girlfriend (Kim Novak), whose single mother (Betty Field) is eager to see Novak married off to wealthy Robertson. Meanwhile, a spinster schoolteacher (Rosalind Russell) despairs over whether her boyfriend (Arthur O&#8217;Connell) will ever marry her, and Novak&#8217;s bookish younger sister (Susan Strasberg) longs to become a writer in New York.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Betty Field Films<\/li>\n<li>Cliff Robertson Films<\/li>\n<li>Joshua Logan Films<\/li>\n<li>Kim Novak Films<\/li>\n<li>Love Triangle<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptations<\/li>\n<li>Rosalind Russell Films<\/li>\n<li>Small Town America<\/li>\n<li>Susan Strasberg Films<\/li>\n<li>William Holden Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary accurately notes that this adaptation (by Joshua Logan) of <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Picnic_%28play%29\">William Inge&#8217;s play<\/a> about a drifter &#8220;whose presence arouses passions&#8221; in a town where everyone &#8220;seemed repressed&#8221; is &#8220;badly dated, especially in its portrayal of women&#8221; &#8212; given that &#8220;Novak actually starts to believe her mother&#8217;s&#8230; propaganda that a woman must marry&#8221;. He argues that &#8220;Holden seems miscast&#8221;: <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography3-1024x460.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"288\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60788\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography3-1024x460.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography3-300x135.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography3-128x57.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography3-768x345.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography3-1536x690.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography3-601x270.png 601w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography3.png 1811w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>and that the &#8220;film would have worked better with Douglas Sirk directing Rock Hudson&#8221; &#8212; an interesting proposition, given that so much of the film (helped not at all by George Duning&#8217;s overbearing score) comes across as almost laughably melodramatic, as in the following exchange:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Novak<\/strong>: I&#8217;m only 19.<br \/>\n<strong>Field<\/strong>: And next summer you&#8217;ll be 20&#8230;<br \/>\n<strong>Novak<\/strong>: And then 21, and then&#8230;<br \/>\n<strong>Field<\/strong>: 40.<br \/>\n<strong>Novak<\/strong>: You don&#8217;t have to be morbid!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Meanwhile, Russell is, as Peary points out, &#8220;pretty intolerable&#8221;:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Russell-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Russell-1-1024x436.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"273\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60787\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Russell-1-1024x436.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Russell-1-300x128.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Russell-1-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Russell-1-768x327.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Russell-1-1536x654.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Russell-1-604x257.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Russell-1.png 1845w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>and Strasberg&#8217;s character &#8212; &#8220;an intellectual [who] isn&#8217;t supposed to need a man&#8221; &#8212; comes across as simply whiny and obnoxious. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Strasberg2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Strasberg2-1024x449.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"281\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60778\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Strasberg2-1024x449.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Strasberg2-300x132.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Strasberg2-128x56.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Strasberg2-768x337.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Strasberg2-1536x674.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Strasberg2-604x265.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Strasberg2.png 1821w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Peary argues that the film&#8217;s &#8220;highlight is the hot &#8216;mating&#8217; dance (to &#8216;Moonglow&#8217;) of Holden and Novak&#8221; &#8212; and this scene is handled nicely by both Logan and DP James Wong Howe (who infuses the entire film with a soft glow). <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Dance-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Dance-1-1024x449.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"281\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60780\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Dance-1-1024x449.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Dance-1-300x132.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Dance-1-128x56.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Dance-1-768x337.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Dance-1-1536x674.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Dance-1-604x265.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Dance-1.png 1807w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>But my favorite section of the film is when Logan opens up Inge&#8217;s play to highlight various vignettes from the Labor Day picnic (only discussed in the play, rather than shown). In truth, I&#8217;m simply not a fan of this story at all &#8212; and Novak&#8217;s vacuous central performance doesn&#8217;t help matters any. Despite its status as one of the top moneymakers of its time, modern film fanatics needn&#8217;t bother checking this one out. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The fun &#8220;picnic activities&#8221; montage<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Pie-Eating.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Pie-Eating-1024x450.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"281\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60782\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Pie-Eating-1024x450.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Pie-Eating-300x132.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Pie-Eating-128x56.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Pie-Eating-768x337.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Pie-Eating-1536x674.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Pie-Eating-604x265.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Pie-Eating.png 1829w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Crying-Baby.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Crying-Baby-1024x450.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"281\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60781\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Crying-Baby-1024x450.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Crying-Baby-300x132.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Crying-Baby-128x56.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Crying-Baby-768x337.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Crying-Baby-1536x675.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Crying-Baby-604x265.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Crying-Baby.png 1823w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>James Wong Howe&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography-1-1024x451.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"282\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60783\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography-1-1024x451.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography-1-300x132.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography-1-128x56.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography-1-768x338.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography-1-1536x677.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography-1-604x266.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography-1.png 1831w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography4.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography4-1024x452.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"283\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-60785\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography4-1024x452.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography4-300x132.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography4-128x56.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography4-768x339.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography4-1536x678.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography4-604x267.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Picnic-Cinematography4.png 1815w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo; feel free to skip this one. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0048491\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sfgate.com\/movies\/article\/FILM-REVIEW-An-Old-Fashioned-Picnic-Kim-2970973.php\">SF Gate Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s3776picn.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/86664\/picnic#articles-reviews?articleId=31586\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.allmovie.com\/movie\/picnic-v38083\/review\">All Movie Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/KwwPWBwJMiw\">Tired Old Queen at the Movies Video Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;What good is it just to be pretty?&#8221; Synopsis: A hunky drifter (William Holden) arrives in a small Kansas town over Labor Day weekend, intending to look up his old college friend (Cliff Robertson) and secure some work &#8212; but he soon finds himself falling in love with Robertson&#8217;s beautiful girlfriend (Kim Novak), whose single mother (Betty Field) is eager to see Novak married off to wealthy Robertson. Meanwhile, a spinster schoolteacher (Rosalind Russell) despairs over whether her boyfriend (Arthur&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=30311\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30311"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75357,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30311\/revisions\/75357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}