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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: VHS Tape EAN: 9786301607926 Format: Color, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC ISBN: 6301607929 Label: Sony Pictures Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Sony Pictures Release Date: June 24, 1994 Running Time: 115 minutes Sales Rank: 1102 Studio: Sony Pictures Theatrical Release Date: February 16, 1956
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
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Widescreen now available
Both Borders and Barnes and Noble now carry a widescreen version of Picnic:
Widescreen on one side, fullscreen on the other. It says "Columbia Classics" across the top of the package.
I wish Amazon would carry this version, as I don't want to open a new account at one of those other places just for one item.
Rating: - picnic
I ordered this film on DVD last week, and was very excited that I had finally purchased it on DVD. Sat down to watch it, and was horrified that it was butchered (i.e. the full screen, pan-and-scan thing). I went online today to see if I had accidentally chosen the wrong format, and found to my shock that this version is the only one out there.
I have to give it at least 3 stars, because the movie is so damned good. But this is a lousy transfer. I find it hard to believe that at this late date in the DVD game, a new, improved, widescreen, digitally enhanced version has not been made. ... Read More
Rating: - Too Stagey
Picnic is the story of a drifter (William Holden), an ex-football hero who has never had trouble with women. He feels doomed to repeat his father's life, a life of alcoholism and jail. When he stumbles upon an old college friend, things seem to be looking up, that is until he meets his friend's girlfriend (Kim Novak). The sexual tension is outrageous between them and they don't do a good job at covering it up. Naturally, this spells problems for the drifter and the girl who desires to be something more than just a pretty face.
Unfortunately, this movie just doesn't hit the spot. The acting ... Read More
Rating: - "Picnic" is a Classic!
It's difficult to believe that "Picnic" was shot 50 years ago!
Excellent look at small town festival time, rich guy , pretty girl from other side of tracks , ex- college jock passing through town , desperate
to marry aging beauty , all wrapped up with the great theme song joining "Picnic " & " Moonglow". The scene with Kim Novak ,the pretty girl , swaying down a ramp, clapping her hands to the music , then
touching hands and slow dancing with William Holden is one most viewers
who are young at heart will cherish !
Rating: - Picnic
Brought back many pleasant memories to my wife and I from our high school days. This has always been a favorite movie of ours.
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