Picnic : Restored
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Movie Reviews of Picnic : Restored
Movie Review: Picnic
Summary: 5 Stars
Loved seeing Picnic again. We saw the movie on TCM and my husband wanted me to order it for future viewing.Movie Review: A great movie!
Summary: 5 Stars
I like the movie so well on TCM I'm going to order a copy to watch again. This is a rarity for me.Movie Review: Hollywood's version of a Broadway classic
Summary: 4 Stars
Until this writer saw a fully staged, live production of the original Broadway play by William Inge, I had little basis for comparison with the film I had seen 50 years ago. Then it became clear that somehow director Joshua Logan had played down the more comical moments in the story and had, instead, focused on the overriding dramatic elements in this intense, deeply focused, and overwhelming film.
Yes, the film version of "Picnic" is filled with nostalgia; it is one of those rare glimpses of small town America in the 1950's. Bucking the usual Hollywood practice of filming musicals on the studio backlot, Logan chose to film on location, using four Kansas communities: Halstead, Hutchinson, Nickerson, and Sterling. He clearly depicted a "typical" Midwestern community and apparently used many of the actual residents in the crowd scenes. The community picnics of that vanished era were a particularly warm and special thing; the film gives a good idea of such events. Logan captured so much of the time and place and provided a memorable background for the unfolding drama.
Typically, the film expanded the original story, adding certain elements such as a high-speed chase that obviously couldn't be included on the stage. Having seen "Picnic" on stage, the original focus was much narrower and more intimate than in the film. Logan managed to draw us into the memorable portrayals by a diverse and very talented cast. Yes, William Holden was too old to play Hal Carter, but he was a handsome, charismatic superstar at the time and he quickly became identified with the character. Even Kim Novak was too old to play Madge Owens, but she brought a sweetness, innocence, and optimism to the part that overrode the age issues. She is also extremely beautiful, dressed in elegant dresses typical of the time (designed by longtime Hollywood designer Jean Louis), although her character protests that she doesn't want to be thought of as merely pretty and nothing else.
There are many fine performances in the film and I agree with another reviewer that Rosalind Russell was especially good as the "old maid" school teacher Rosemary. When she becomes inebriated, she behaves with uncharacteristic candor and wild abandon, even kicking up her legs and flashing her red petticoat. Her desperate attempts to convince merchant Howard Bevans, played with great sensitivity by Arthur O'Connell, are both poignant and almost tragic. Yet Rosemary's persistence pays off and the couple decide to marry, providing one of the few really hopeful scenes in the film.
Others who are impressive in the film are veteran actress Betty Field as Flo Owens, teenager Susan Strasburg (daughter of drama coach Lee Strasburg, both of whom were friends and mentors of Marilyn Monroe) as Millie Owens, and Cliff Robertson as Alan Benson. There are also a number of smaller roles in the film which are given very competent performances.
There is a greater "darkness" in the film version than in the stage version. This is reenforced by the powerfully dramatic musical score, which also includes the imaginative adaptation of "Moonglow" during the crowning of the festival queen. Kim Novak's dance with William Holden to the haunting music has become a legendary scene.
James Wong Howe's photography remains particularly impressive. He captures a number of memorable scenes, focusing on both the stars and the actual townspeople, including a really delightful little baby. He also shows the strange clouds that actually were warnings of a tornado that passed through the area during filming, according to Logan in his memoirs.
There is considerable atmosphere in this film and it was one of the better representations of an era that will probably never return. The film was nominated for Best Picture, losing to "Marty" with Ernest Borgnine, but it still won three Oscars.
Movie Review: Baroque-Level Melodrama Portrays Lust in the Heartland With a Stellar Cast
Summary: 4 Stars
Even though I agree this 1955 movie has moments of silly excess (just look at the DVD cover), I'm still surprised how there seems to be a backlash by contemporary critics against the film for being dated melodrama. That's exactly the reason why I find this film so entertaining, for the Baroque-level elements provide a dramatic resonance to the most mundane of settings, the Labor Day picnic in a small Kansas town during the Eisenhower era. Into this insulated cornbelt hamlet comes Hal Carter, a swaggering drifter looking to connect with his old college buddy Alan for a job. His natural, testosterone-fueled charisma attracts all the women, including Alan's girlfriend Madge Owens. Contrary to her repressed mother's nagging wishes to marry into Alan's wealthy family, Madge becomes drawn to Hal much to the disapproval of most of the town. Spinster schoolteacher Rosemary Sidney rents a room in the Owens house, but she is desperately aching for her reluctant suitor Howard Bevans to marry her. Madge's little sister Millie tires of living in her beautiful sister's shadow and solicits Hal's attention, and kindly neighbor Mrs. Potts is the only one who sees Hal as the positive life force he wants to be.
The movie begs for Douglas Sirk or Elia Kazan to commandeer it with individualistic style, but direction is left in the hands of Joshua Logan, who directed the stage version on Broadway. Logan has a tendency toward focusing on the obvious in his films ("Sayonara", "South Pacific"), but he certainly captures the latent passions that drive screenwriter Daniel Taradash's florid adaptation of William Inge's play. The rural look of the film feels right, and James Wong Howe's stellar cinematography has a lot to do with that. Another contributing factor to the film's success is George Duning's familiar, Bernstein-like music score with its soaring string arrangements. The acting is uniformly strong even if the casting is less than ideal in some cases. In a role that should have ideally gone to Brando at his prime, William Holden is at least a decade too old as Hal (the actor admitted as much afterward) and a bit too haggard-looking to be the subject of such swooning. However, he conveys the empty bravado of his character with conviction.
Even though she overacts during her drunken scene, Rosalind Russell is unafraid to show the deep-seeded loneliness and innate vulgarity in Rosemary. It's a masterful performance that repels at the same time. In her first leading role, a well-cast Kim Novak manages to show Madge's insecurity in a most affecting manner especially toward the end. Her mating dance with Holden to the strains of "Moonglow" under the Chinese lanterns is still one of the most sensual scenes in movies. In fact, their chemistry is key in overcoming the contrived hurdle of believing their characters would fall for each other over the course of one day. Effective in smaller roles are Arthur O'Connell as Howard (his heartbreaking scenes with Russell provide a sharp counterpoint to the blooming romance of the young lovers), Betty Field as Madge's mother Flo, a sympathetic Verna Felton as Mrs. Potts, a young Cliff Robertson as Alan, and an even younger Susan Strasberg as Millie. I have to admit the last ten minutes of the film always get to me for its overt romanticism. The 2000 DVD contains a decent print of the film and a gallery of stills from the film set to the music score.
Movie Review: Beautiful film. Still, please read and/or watch the play,
Summary: 4 Stars
Picnic
~ Joshua Logan
If one has never read, seen, or been involved in producing William Inge's original stage script, PICNIC, as a film, is a lush, beautifully photographed, solidly acted and well scored motion picture.
However if one is familiar with the play, the film's free adaption does change much of the immediacy and intimacy of the story. And maybe not always necessarily for the better.
One of the central problems facing a producing team in bringing a stage play to life is deciding what to do about setting. Many plays occur in a single unit setting, thereby hemming the characters in a very confined space, thusly raising the emotional stakes. That limited setting and the related lush dialouge often translates rather flatly on film.
Joshua Logan and his production crew chose to open the play up and use some very picturesque settings and stagings. The picnic of the title, really a red herring in the play, takes center stage here in the film and becomes a wonderful Paganesque fertility rite (hear vividly captured in this well-struck DVD).
This choice does make for some beautiful sights and sounds, but rather dilutes the dramatic intensity that drives Inge's central narrative. Again, if one is not familiar with the play, this will not make any difference.
Much has been already written about William Holden being perhaps too old for the part of Hal-a supposed twenty-something drifter. His fine acting ability really makes it a moot point unless of course in the scenes where he is supposed to be dating the teenage Millie (Susan Strassberg)and then it really seems rather "icky".
It could of course all add up to justifying Hal's attraction to the fertility goddess that is Madge. Holden's boyish athleticism and boundless energy makes his Hal the perfect archetypal warrior.
Kim Novack was never better as the awakening Midwestern Venus, rising out of our collective unconsciousness, that is Madge Owens. Her beauty is earthy and classic. Visually, Logan has done wonders making Hal and Madge fated into connecting. They will be responsible for regenerating the country.
Of course the film is underwritten when compared to the play. Several post romantic scenes simply do not contain the emotional power and poignancy that they do on stage. Inge's play-about choices and consequences and the severity of those choices is rather lost in the translation to film. Lost too somewhat is the painfull longing and loneliness that permeates so much of Inge's finest work.
All in all, PICNIC is a fine film. Perhaps one of the finer products to come out of the mainstream Hollywood studios of the 1950's. My suggestion is watch and enjoy the movie and, when given the chance, go see the stage version. Inge's play is one of the finest ever written. It is an American classic