TotalTelly.co.uk

Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV

Picnic [1955]


RRP: £12.99
Our Price: £3.92 (subject to change)

Editorial
Amazon.com

William Holden is the hunky drifter who rides the rails into a small Midwest town with dreams of landing a "respectable" job with his rich college buddy (Cliff Robertson). Kim Novak is the small-town beauty queen engaged to Robertson who falls for the cocky dreamer, as do repressed schoolmarm spinster Rosalind Russell and Novak's tomboyish kid sister Susan Strasberg. Their unleashed passions reach a crescendo at the Labor Day picnic. Joshua Logan directed William Inge's play on Broadway and carried it to Hollywood, earning Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director in his screen-directing debut. Holden is years too old for the role but oozes sex appeal and makes a swoony stud when he takes his shirt off (or when, better yet, it's ripped from his back by a boozing Russell), and Novak is a lovely lost girl yearning for something she can't quite grasp. Arthur O'Connell earned an Oscar nomination as Russell's tippling boyfriend. The film was a huge popular and critical hit, but Logan's stiff and strident direction hasn't dated well. He makes his points in big capital letters--subtlety was never his strong point--and loses the natural beauty of the Kansas locations when he takes the climactic picnic scenes into an obviously artificial soundstage. Picnic remains a loved American classic, largely for Holden's tough-guy vulnerability and James Wong Howe's brilliant widescreen color photography. --Sean Axmaker


Watchable, but dated
Review date: 2008-11-07 Rating: 6 out of 10

I can see that this film was more ground-breaking in the 1950s than now, in that it depicts fractured family relationships and is far-removed from the Doris Day-type movies of the time. The acting is at times over-the-top and William Holden's character a bit cheesy as he repeatedly takes his shirt off to reveal well-oiled pectorals. Nevertheless, I watched it to the end.

Similar Products

Reviews


Picnic
Review date: 2007-02-25 Rating: 10 out of 10

This 1955 movie was seminal in its impact on all that was to follow in
the cinema. A virile drifter arrives in a small mid-west town on Labour
Day and makes his brawn, handsomeness and virility known.
This was high-end sexual innuendo - just about permissible in the mid fifties, and the evocative music of the soundtrack possesses the same impact as the 'Bolero' music of '10' .

A young Holden was at the top of his form here and Novak perfectly co-starred.
The movie well earned its academy award and academy nominations.
Its a joy to now find a region 2 DVD available.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Susan Strasberg
William Holden
Kim Novak
Cliff Robertson
Betty Field

Creators:
William Holden (Primary Contributor)
Kim Novak (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
EAN: 5035822179530
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2006-06-19
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Audience rating: Universal, suitable for all
Region code: 2
Running time: 108 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1955
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)
Language: Finnish (Subtitled)
Language: Romanian (Subtitled)
Language: Danish (Subtitled)
Language: German (Subtitled)
Language: Greek (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)
Language: Hindi (Subtitled)
Language: Norwegian (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: Italian (Subtitled)
Language: Portuguese (Subtitled)
Language: Hungarian (Subtitled)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Bulgarian (Subtitled)
Language: Swedish (Subtitled)
Language: Arabic (Subtitled)
Language: Turkish (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: French (Dubbed)
Language: Spanish (Dubbed)
Language: German (Dubbed)
Language: Italian (Dubbed)

Add to Cart

© 2006 Darren Hester, DesignsByDarren.com, Some Rights Reserved.
Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional