Intro.
Very few people I know today who are in their twenties recognize the name William Holden. I don't have an exact number, but in conversations with my friends, I've realized most of them know Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Humphrey Bogart, but not Bill Holden. In the mid-1950s, he was the leading male star in Hollywood, and known as America's Golden Boy. I recommend most of his films (of the ones I've seen), starting with the epic The Bridge on the River Kwai. But now I have to add Picnic to that list - what a great film! And a perfect film to watch on Labor Day!Overview
Picnic opens with a train slowing down in a small Kansas town and the engineer waking a passenger. The passenger is a wandering vagrant (Bill Holden), who has an easy, friendly manner. He goes to the first house he can find and asks for work. The old woman, Mrs. Potts, tells him no one works on Labor Day and invites him to breakfast. He soon is working in her yard anyway and without a shirt, which attracts the attention of next door neighbors: mother Flo (Betty Field), daughters Madge (Kim Novak) and Millie (Susan Strasberg), and their boarder, an aging, single schoolteacher named Rosemary Sidney (Rosalind Russell). The man gets cleaned up and goes off to meet up with his old college buddy, Alan Benson (Cliff Robertson in his film debut). Alan, son of the wealthiest man around, relives some good old times with Holden's character, who we learn is Hal Carter, the former college football hero. Alan is taking his girl, Madge, to the Labor Day picnic and encourages Hal to take Millie. The whole group, including Rosemary's date Howard, goes to the picnic and has a great time. Madge is crowned Neewollah queen (a big honor in the town), uptight Rosemary relaxes as she enjoys a bottle of liquor smuggled in by Howard, and Millie starts crushing on Hal. Things heat up after sundown, as Madge and Hal give in to a growing attraction and dance together. It's a pretty intense performance that gets out of hand when a jealous Rosemary (who's already having problems dealing with the loss of her youth) breaks them up, tearing Hal's shirt. Then teenaged Millie grows ill, having stolen the liquor to deal with her own jealousy. After getting chewed out by almost everyone, Hal takes off, but Madge follows him. They spend the night together, but come morning Alan has reported his car stolen (he had lent it to Hal). Hal has to get out of town and Madge has to finally choose what she really wants out of life.Highlights
This was only Kim Novak's fourth credited film, but she is wonderful in it. It's very easy to see why she rose to be such a big star. She and William Holden make a good, believable couple, despite Holden being a few years too old for this role. There was a 15 year difference in their ages, but I think Holden's charm and box-office appeal helped make the film a success. Of course, I think the number of shirtless scenes probably didn't hurt either. When I started watching the film, all I could think of was that the whole plot really revolved around his half-naked shots. It makes sense then that the studio wanted the top male actor of 1955 in the role after it was turned down by the actor who had made it a hit on Broadway. They wanted a built-in audience and they got it.
I really liked how this film was shot. There are so many elements that go into a frame, and in Picnic each one seems to fit together like a well-woven quilt. Everything that is mentioned or seen once comes back later in the film - no loose ends. The scene where Rosemary tears Hal's shirt is reminiscent of his arrival that morning when he took his shirt off to be cleaned (I told you the whole plot revolved on him being shirtless). In the opening sequence, Hal cleans up at the river by a small waterfall - he returns to this same spot with Madge and then later when he is running away from the police. It's a key point in the film, because it's at those falls where we learn the most about his character. The shots themselves are also really well-constructed, particularly during the dance sequence, which features many shots at waist level. All we see of Hal and Madge is from their elbows to their knees. Framing alone can tell a great story.
Characters are great in this film. You can't say the film is solely about Hal. We learn just as much about Madge and Rosemary, and even quite a bit about Millie and Flo. None of them are all good or all bad, but completely and entirely human. They could be your next door neighbors. Well, neighbors in 1955 maybe. There's a side story about Madge and Flo too. Flo is still hurt by her husband walking out on her some ten or twelve years earlier, and wants Madge to marry the "right kind of man" like Alan. She keeps stressing that Madge should convince Alan to propose soon, before her beauty starts to fade. At one point, Madge says "I'm only 19!" To which Flo responds, "Then next summer you'll be 20. Then 21. Then 40." As if in answer to this warning, we see Rosemary, almost or already 40 and angry at still being an old maid. Through the course of the picnic (and steady intake of alcohol), she goes from sarcastic to jealous to downright crazy. Her resentment is aimed at the young lovers Hal and Madge, which is why she so viciously goes after Hal. Howard, as boastful and unattractive as he first appears, becomes a sympathetic character by first helping Hal and then by marrying Rosemary. Finally, Millie really makes an impact as the kid sister growing up. During the course of one day she goes from being a stubborn tomboy to a lovely young lady. She and Hal get along so well because in many ways he's still a fourteen year old boy. Millie might still be a child, but she's also the one who has insight enough to tell her sister what to do in the end.
Picnic turns out to be no picnic for any of the characters, if you'll pardon the awful pun there. It's a great film that encompasses not just one day in the life of these people or a holiday celebration in a small 1950s town, but also the hard choices we have to make about love and our own destinies. I think Mrs. Potts says it best. At the end, she admits that she liked Hal because he was so different and shook everyone out of their routine, everyday lives. It's ironic since Hal only wanted to reinvent himself and have a shot at a normal life. Whether he gets that or not is left up to us.
Review and Recommendation
I loved this movie. And not because William Holden was shirtless (although, I have to admit, he's really handsome). It's masterfully done, with great cinematography, acting and story-lines. It's one of the strongest character-driven films I've seen, and one of Holden's best performances. It's also great to see Rosalind Russell and Kim Novak together, as two such talented actresses share the same screen! I am definitely adding this to my Top Films list and recommend it to anyone interested in the real classics of Hollywood's golden age.
P.S. Thanks to TCM for all the movie backstory! Also on their website, I saw that Picnic was remade in 2000 with James Brolin and Gretchen Mol. I wonder if it can even come close to being as good as this version.
P.P.S. I was talking about this film at work the other day, and a woman in the breakroom told me that she had done the play of Picnic in high school and had hated it. She said it was the worst play. I think it could have been great if only Bill Holden had been there to take his shirt off. It's always good to hear other people's responses to works - be it the film itself or the original play or book, the medium can often affect the story itself.
