Picnic (DVD)

Picnic (1955) starring William Holden, Kim Novak, Rosalind Russell, Cliff Robertson, Susan Strasberg. On Labor Day, 1955, former college football star Hal Carter (Holden) rolls into the small Kansas town where his old frat buddy Alan Benson (Robertson) resides. Alan is the son of the biggest (well, richest) man in town, and unemployed Hal is hoping to get a job. Nobody counts on Hal getting Madge (Novak), Alan's girl. They all go to a Labor Day picnic together, and there the action takes place. After Hal and Madge end up dancing together, the rest of the world gets forgotten. But then things turn sour, because Rosemary (Russell) is jealous of the young love she sees playing out before her -- and because she is drunk. Everyone says things they will later regret, and Hal and Madge end up running off in Alan's car. Whether they can possibly end up together then becomes the theme of the rest of the movie. It's a pretty interesting film, but was somewhat less so for me because I knew that in 1955, Holden was 37, Novak 22. Not such a clear match, seen in that perspective. The subtitles are very good. Grade: B