Picnic (1955)

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.

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.

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.