VHS : Picnic (Widescreen)

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
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: February 16, 1956
Sales Rank: 3454

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Editorial Review:

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: out of 5 stars

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.

Rating:

- A great movie!
I like the movie so well on TCM I'm going to order a copy to watch again. This is a rarity for me.

Rating:

- Picnic film, beautiful romantic film
I love this movie, it's one of my favorites. I am a fan of William Holden. He was handsome, charismatic, a great actor. Known for his popular films, such as World of Suzie Wong, Love is a many splendored thing, Sabrina, Bridge on the river kwai, and others. I loved him in this movie as Hal the drifter, who catches a freight to Kansas to see an old college friend of his, whose father owns the grain mill in town. Hal ends up falling in love with Madge, his college friend's girlfriend, which breaks ... Read More

Rating:

- A Trip Back To Small Town America In The 50's
Having seen Picnic on television years ago and then having it disappear not to be shown again I wanted to find a copy of it. I was happy to see that it had been reissued! Even though the film is not in widescreen format(a big disappointment)it is a trip through some very simple and nostalgic times. Loaded with wonderful character acters and soon to be big stars it almost makes you want to relive the 50's. I could relate to many of the characters as being people that I had grown up around. Verna Felton ... Read More

Rating:

- A Classic
Picnic is one of the best films to come out of mid '50's Hollywood. Taken from William Inge's play, it is unique in that the entire film takes place in exactly 24 hours. Yet, by the end, you KNOW each and every character. William Holden heads a stellar cast. Excellent summer viewing.

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